Dentist Recommendation....What to include?

[rpatel8]

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I asked a dentist to write me a recommendation letter and he originally said to call the office and set up a meeting to discuss. I called today, and because of a busy schedule, he could not meet at a reasonable time before it is due so he said to email him what the letter needs to include. I am going to send him my resume, transcript, etc. but what should I tell him to write in the letter? Thank you

 

[komradrobot]

I'm in the same boat. I am essentially in power of the letter, as in I can have them write whatever I want. I have no idea what is supposed to go in that letter...

 

[DDSTX]

Did you guys not shadow these dentists long enough that they can write something about you?

just wondering.....

 

[Blue Panther]

Did you guys not shadow these dentists long enough that they can write something about you?

just wondering.....

They are not obligated to write anyone a letter nor allow someone to shadow. However, they may be busy with their own practice and life that they do not have time to write you one but are willing to help you out and sign one that you wrote.

 

[rpatel8]

He did not tell me to write one that he can endorse. To be honest, I think he has not been asked previously because I got the impression that he has not had many people come to shadow. It is a specialist office that is tucked away and most people would not just know about it...I was referred by a friend who knows the dentists' son. I shadowed him around 3-4 different times. He simply just asked me what the letter should include.

 

[peanutb123]

Instead of just shooting transcripts and resumes at Dr. patel.

Why dont you just write bullet points on what you have leaned and all the conversations that you guys have regarding dentistry, etc... what you observed and what questions you have asked him... Get to the point.

Why would a dentsit need your transcript/resume to say ohh Mr. kemcho did this and he worked at this place. and he got an A in orgo etc... come on now dont be lazy.

 

[komradrobot]

My fear is that at an interview someone will look me in the eye and ask "so...your letter from that dentist...you wrote that didn't you?"

😱

 

[ItalianPrincess]

^^^ 😱 hahaha omg that would blow!

i just asked the dentist i shadowed for one and he wrote it, sent me a copy of it even tho i waived my rights and it was all about what i did and how egar i was to learn, my drive for the profession, etc

nothing about grades at all

 

[dentalWorks]

I spent about 50 hours shadowing a non-family member dentist.

50 doesn't sound a lot, but I used to go out to lunch with him like everytime I was there. We got to know each other on a [kinda] personal level

When the time came for him to write the letter for me, he was so nice, he actually called me on the phone and told me he was working on my letter. He started asking me some personal questions like where did I graduate from, what kinda grades do I have, what was software engineering like, ya know the same kinda stuff we used to talk about when we hung out during lunch hour....also personal information about my life in general.... I am assuming he needed that stuff to make the letter sound more personal

I think every dentist is different. One of my friends shadowed a physician who basically told him to write the letter and the doctor would have no problem reading it then signing it. Everyone is different I guess

 

[dentalWorks]

My fear is that at an interview someone will look me in the eye and ask "so...your letter from that dentist...you wrote that didn't you?"

😱

thats just your fear talking.... they are not there to conduct a massive witch hunt to see who bs-ed parts of their application and who didn't....

Most applicants will have some sort of "gray" area in their application that they will try to hide away.... I think adcoms know and see this, 4500 applicants get accepted each year to dental schools, there no way in hell they were all 100% legit about EVERY aspect of their application