First shadowing complete; asking for more hours

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jjancari

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My neighbor is a dental assistant and hooked me up with shadowing the dentist at her office. To keep it short the dentist was pretty standoffish, didn't smile or sound enthusiastic at any point but wasn't rude. From what my neighbor indirectly said, that's her personality. I shadowed for 4.5 hours, then asked at the end of the day if I could come back next week at the same time. The dentist responded with, "I have some things to take care of, two weeks is better." I feel like she doesn't want me to come back! I know she had two other girls shadow her over the summer, both were unprofessional attire wise on the first day, I wore scrubs and did my best to be a fly on the wall. I'm going to go back, milk the cow until it's dry.

Is there a better way to ask to come back again? I have a consultation to get my wisdom teeth removed in about two weeks, should I just be upfront and ask if I can shadow for a few mornings/afternoons?

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Personally, I feel like you're overthinking this.
 
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My neighbor is a dental assistant and hooked me up with shadowing the dentist at her office. To keep it short the dentist was pretty standoffish, didn't smile or sound enthusiastic at any point but wasn't rude. From what my neighbor indirectly said, that's her personality. I shadowed for 4.5 hours, then asked at the end of the day if I could come back next week at the same time. The dentist responded with, "I have some things to take care of, two weeks is better." I feel like she doesn't want me to come back! I know she had two other girls shadow her over the summer, both were unprofessional attire wise on the first day, I wore scrubs and did my best to be a fly on the wall. I'm going to go back, milk the cow until it's dry.

Is there a better way to ask to come back again? I have a consultation to get my wisdom teeth removed in about two weeks, should I just be upfront and ask if I can shadow for a few mornings/afternoons?

Yes be upfeont and ask you will be fine
 
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Get your hours in. When it comes time to apply and you dont have the option anymore you will regret it. Look for other offices too but dont lose what you've got, once you're in dental school it won't matter anymore. What year of undergrad are you in?

Side note: I had to ask about 25 offices before ONE office let me shadow. It was the best thing I ever did because they ended up hiring me as an assistant and have been teaching me everything they know hands on. The tips and tricks you will learn from shadowing (and even better) assisting are priceless.

I have learned so many problem solving tricks both clinically and communicatively they don't teach you in dental school. Shadow as much as you can, its not just to fulfill a requirement
 
Get your hours in. When it comes time to apply and you dont have the option anymore you will regret it. Look for other offices too but dont lose what you've got, once you're in dental school it won't matter anymore. What year of undergrad are you in?

Side note: I had to ask about 25 offices before ONE office let me shadow. It was the best thing I ever did because they ended up hiring me as an assistant and have been teaching me everything they know hands on. The tips and tricks you will learn from shadowing (and even better) assisting are priceless.

I have learned so many problem solving tricks both clinically and communicatively they don't teach you in dental school. Shadow as much as you can, its not just to fulfill a requirement
You can say I'm a non traditional student but I'm a junior. I plan on applying for d school summer 2019. I'm going to be a volunteer dental assistant this semester starting in 2 days so I'm looking to gain a lot of experience there but I actually learned a lot with shadowing for 4.5 hours.
 
just be up front about it. If they allow it, then good to go, if not, ask other dentists.
Ask around and I am sure you will find someone to let you shadow.

Some like to teach, some like to stay quiet. The DDS I shadowed was very quiet and wasn't so interested in educating a pre-dent, so it really wasn't that interesting. I didn't even get to learn basic instruments, etc, etc till I got into dental school. It's a shame, but it's their personality.
 
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