dentist LOR

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darius99

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did most of you get letters of recommendation from the dentists you shadowed/worked for, even if the school didnt ask for one?
i assume many people did, but what would u do if the dentist was your father?
 
I got one of mine from a dentist I worked for. If it's your father, I'd recommend getting a letter from a different dentist.
 
is anyone else in this situation?
 
KxM99 said:
did most of you get letters of recommendation from the dentists you shadowed/worked for, even if the school didnt ask for one?
i assume many people did, but what would u do if the dentist was your father?
i don't think you should get LOR from a relative
 
Yea i definitely wouldn't get a LOR from your dad. Family members cant really give dental schools unbiased opinions on you as a person.

Another thing to keep in mind is that most schools like to see confidential LOR's, so even if your dad kept the LOR confidential from you, I doubt any dental schools would believe that you haven't seen the letter.
 
If you're dad is a general dentist, then your best option is probably to ask him which specialist he refers the most patients to, then go and spend a day or two with that specialist and ask him to write your letter for you. No specialist (with the exception of periodontists) would pass up on an such a good opportunity to earn major points with the guy that is sending him so many patients. In the end, its a win-win situation...you get a good LOR and a chance to shadow a specialist for a few days, and he gets more referrals from dear old dad(or mom).
 
This is exactly what I did. My father is a dentist and I shadowed a specialist he refers to. I gained a lot from the experience, and got a LOR as well 😛
 
yea good ideas, i was planning on doing that. but why do u say not periodontists?
 
Does it matter if the Letter is from a specialist or a general. If it doesn't matter is this true for all schools?
 
KxM99 said:
yea good ideas, i was planning on doing that. but why do u say not periodontists?

while its not true of all periodontists, generally speaking they don't seem to care about being nice to their referral base(general dentists) as much as the other specialties...but thats not to say there aren't alot of great periodontists out there who would write you wonderful letters. in the end, it just really depends on which specialists your parents are friends with...
 
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