Did u guys get this hard time?

[asalazar]

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I'm going to be a junior this upcoming semester, and I wanted to shadow a dentist or some sort of specialist this summer.
I didn't want to go to my family dentist bc his son is my age and he's also tryin to get into the same dental school as me. 👎 So I didn't want to enter that zone of competition, plus I knew, therefore, I wasn't going to be able to get a good LOR from the father/dentist.
So I called a local perio, but it was such a hassle. I couldn't talk to him ... which in turn it would probably mean that at the end of the summer writing a LOR would probably be too time consuming for him.
I had to talk to his whole office staff before I could speak to him. It seems like he is a pretty special/important guy. 👎 I know, he has a whole office to run! Finally, when I did get a chance to speak to him he gives me the run around of if I want to come in and observe, I'm going to be in everyone's way. He says one day would be fine, but a whole summer ... "I would be in everyone's way." 👎 So w/e I have an interview with him on Wed, but it seems like a no go. What do you guys think?

 

[drat]

I wouldn't want to shadow a guy who has a bad attitude from the get-go. There are plenty of dentists that love their job and would really enjoy showing you the ins and outs. Keep on searching.

 

[ISU_Steve]

I'd say that you might need to expand your search area a little. And perhaps stop and think for a moment how many people probably call wanting to talk to the dentists you see to think are so standoffish. Granted the perio seems to be little unfriendly, but you have to remember that the first concern of his is doing his job, not helping to qualify you for dental school. He's probably had a bad experience with shadowing in the past and that's why he has the attitude that he does. It's just like when we have people come along on the ambulances because they are considering being an EMT for a living- my first concern is for my patient, not for the observer. I'm happy to show the observer anything I can, but if they hinder me from doing my job, they may very well get left at a scene. Of course, the perio could just be trying to test you- to see how you'll react. One of our local OMFS's did this to me. Turned out he just wanted to see if I could conduct myself in a professional manner when I wasn't getting my way. Just make it very clear that you appreciate any time he is willing to spare, make a great impression and take it from there.....that's all the advice I have for dealing with someone like that.

 

[Sprgrover]

Contact some general dentists near you. I am sure that you quickly find one that would be willing to let you come shadow him/her. I would say that your little run-around with the perio guy is not the norm when it comes to shadowing as all of the dentists I contacted were very enthusiastic about the idea, so don't be discouraged by it.

 

[dentwannabe]

yea really.. some dentists/specialists really wanna show off their stuff and would love to have an observer to kiss their ass....

 

[airvent]

I'm going to be a junior this upcoming semester, and I wanted to shadow a dentist or some sort of specialist this summer.
I didn't want to go to my family dentist bc his son is my age and he's also tryin to get into the same dental school as me. 👎 So I didn't want to enter that zone of competition, plus I knew, therefore, I wasn't going to be able to get a good LOR from the father/dentist.
So I called a local perio, but it was such a hassle. I couldn't talk to him ... which in turn it would probably mean that at the end of the summer writing a LOR would probably be too time consuming for him.
I had to talk to his whole office staff before I could speak to him. It seems like he is a pretty special/important guy. 👎 I know, he has a whole office to run! Finally, when I did get a chance to speak to him he gives me the run around of if I want to come in and observe, I'm going to be in everyone's way. He says one day would be fine, but a whole summer ... "I would be in everyone's way." 👎 So w/e I have an interview with him on Wed, but it seems like a no go. What do you guys think?

You act like the man owes you something. He would be doing you the favor. Anyway like the above posts suggest try more than one dental office. Also try for a general dentist.

 

[frogger33]

I saw that you are a UF indergrad, so I assume that you will not be in gainesville over the summer as there are TONS of people there you can follow. Where do you live? If there is a university around your area, see if they have a pre-dental society. Through them you could find a group of dentists that WANT to help and therefore put their name out there so students feel more comfortable calling to shadow. Otherwise, do what everyone above said. There are many out there who would LOVE to help!!

 

[dexadental]

Talk to Dr. Angel Reyes, great guy and great dentist. He usually takes lots of predents all the time. He teaches at UF College of Dentistry as well. I shadowed him for a year.

 

[Tzips]

I actually had a similar problem - I contacted two dentists (GP's) in my area and they were not very interested, so ultimately I just volunteered at the dental clinic of a nearby hospital. Yeah, there were days when I ended up doing grunt office work, but it was really nice being able to talk to all the residents, who were a lot closer to where I am now than my dentist, who graduated 30 years ago, is. But yeah, if you want to do the private practise route, there should be several dentists who would be happy to help you out. Just keep asking.

 

[asalazar]

I wouldn't want to shadow a guy who has a bad attitude from the get-go. There are plenty of dentists that love their job and would really enjoy showing you the ins and outs. Keep on searching.

Well I have an interview with the Perio tomorrow morning. So we will see how that goes. If he says no, I'll just ask someone else. The thing is that I want to shadow him, but I think he wants to tag me on to one of his assistants. I'll see what he says tomorrow.

 

[asalazar]

You act like the man owes you something. He would be doing you the favor. Anyway like the above posts suggest try more than one dental office. Also try for a general dentist.

Oh no I don't think he owes me anything. I know he would be doing me a favor.

 

[asalazar]

Talk to Dr. Angel Reyes, great guy and great dentist. He usually takes lots of predents all the time. He teaches at UF College of Dentistry as well. I shadowed him for a year.

Yeah. I'm planning to shadow in Gainesville in August. I'll remember his name.

 

[ISU_Steve]

Good luck.

I lucked out. We have a endo/perio team here (I believe they are husband and wife, but I don't know and I don't think it's any of my business to ask) who seemed very excited about having an observer. As I've said before on other threads there are only like four or five predents in our area so it's not like they see us very often. But I wish you luck in your meeting with the perio tomorrow. 🙂

 

[asalazar]

Good luck.

I lucked out. We have a endo/perio team here (I believe they are husband and wife, but I don't know and I don't think it's any of my business to ask) who seemed very excited about having an observer. As I've said before on other threads there are only like four or five predents in our area so it's not like they see us very often. But I wish you luck in your meeting with the perio tomorrow. 🙂

Thank you. Everything worked out great. I'm going to be working for him 3 days a week for the entire summer. Lets pray he ends up writing a great LOR.