Do adcoms check ur dental experience?

[JustwantDDS]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What I mean by this is....
will they talk to the dentists?
I kind of doubt it but anyway
I have ALOT of shadowing hours- but I actually chair side assisted for a few months one summer but it didnt work out between me and the dentist & she asked me to leave.
I don't know whether to list this, because it is chairside assistanting ...but then again it wasn't for a long time and i was "late several times" [bs] and told to leave?

 

[jeffity]

I would just use it. You have an explanation. You were immature or whatever. Actually assisting is something many applicants don't get to do. If it's quality experience, go for it. They are likely not going to call her or something. If anything, maybe the world is small and someone in an interview went to school with the lady. Just be honest about it and FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES of the experience. I think there's more good to come from it than harm.

 

[dentalWorks]

What I mean by this is....
will they talk to the dentists?
I kind of doubt it but anyway
I have ALOT of shadowing hours- but I actually chair side assisted for a few months one summer but it didnt work out between me and the dentist & she asked me to leave.
I don't know whether to list this, because it is chairside assistanting ...but then again it wasn't for a long time and i was "late several times" [bs] and told to leave?

If they have the time to contact your dentist, then they have the time to contact 2000 other dentists (from other applicants). Does this sound like something the admission's office of a dental school (between 5-10 individuals) would do?

I guess anything is possible, it is certainly within their right to call the dentist, but I doubt they care. If they see something fishy about your application, its easier for them to reject you and move on to the next application rather than picking up the phone and calling a dentist whos (most likely) going to put them on hold until he is done with current patient.

 

[JustwantDDS]

yeah you guys are right...
i did chairside assistanting last summer - and i interviewed in feb of this yr
but at the time i applied i wasnt assistanting and so i didnt put it down in my app...and it wasn't talked about at my interview
i mean, my overall shadowing was dicussed but not that
so i dont want it to seem like im lying about the assistanting or something.....

 

[doc toothache]

They may get suspicious if you cannot tell which end of the mirror to hold.

 

[MatthewLeeDDS]

I think this could be cause for concern if she has a relationship with the school you are applying for. Here's a quick (and somewhat crazy) story for you:

I was shadowing a dentist in a city about 30 miles south of where I go to school now. He was a general dentist and I shadowed him for the majority of my hours. After the end of several months, as I was getting close to applying, I asked him to write a LOR for me. He said NO! His explanation was the he was ON the admissions committee at the OU College of Dentistry and he didn't feel comfortable writing a LOR for a student that he would have a hand in deciding whether or not to keep during the admission process. Well... as fate would have it... I got some LOR's elsewhere and what do you know, he was one of my 4 interviewers! Can you imagine if he didn't like me? 😱

Now I'm not saying you should play it safe here and not put it down, I think it's great experience. But, be sure that this lady doesn't have a connection (part-time faculty, etc.) with the school or she might hear it through the grapevine that her name is on an app, look at it, and have a little more to "add". If the event above had never happened to me, I'd say go for it, but since I was in a situation that is 'somewhat' similar, just do your research first.

 

[jeffity]

It seems like a tighter network than most would think. You apply online knowing there are thousands of applicants and you assume paths will never cross. Then you hear crazy stories.

What about adjunct faculty? One of my dentists gave me a copy of the letter to look over. I didn't know she was adjunct faculty at my #1 until I saw her signature. I'm assuming it's fine.