Hard to find a dentist to shadow!

[student1982]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Wow, I didn't think it would be this hard to find a place that would let me shadown and volunteer for. I tried like 10 places close to my house and only got two that would call me back to let me know. I'm willing to put in volunteering hours for them and they just flat out say they don't need anybody or their is no shawdowing opportunities. Is it me or are there a lot of dentists that just care about making money in their practice and have forgotten what it was like before they graduated. sighhhhh, Anybody know if there is an easier way to find a doctor to shadow for rather than just calling up random places?
Ohh by the way, I live in Houston. There is like a dentist at every block almost.

 

[wigglytooth]

Wow, I didn't think it would be this hard to find a place that would let me shadown and volunteer for. I tried like 10 places close to my house and only got two that would call me back to let me know. I'm willing to put in volunteering hours for them and they just flat out say they don't need anybody or their is no shawdowing opportunities. Is it me or are there a lot of dentists that just care about making money in their practice and have forgotten what it was like before they graduated. sighhhhh, Anybody know if there is an easier way to find a doctor to shadow for rather than just calling up random places?
Ohh by the way, I live in Houston. There is like a dentist at every block almost.

1) Don't give up--call more dentists.
2) Try your own dentist (???)
3) Focus your search... try to get a list from your college of alumni who have become dentists (and who hopefully live by you). Alums tend to like helping out students from their alma mater.
4) Look for dental societies in your area, and ask them if they have some sort of program going.
5) Check the hospitals/clinics in your area. The dentists working there would have a tendency to actually *like* to teach and maybe have their own practice on the side you can shadow at.
6) Call all your friends and see if they like their dentist, and if they'd introduce you to him. Tell him his patient of X years sent you, and he should help... otherwise he looks really bad in front of a long-time patient.

If there are dentists literally at every corner, you should not have any problem finding a dentist. No excuses! Just be persistent!

 

[mlle]

you're not wrong about this. try to find a local universtiy hospital with a dental clinic, or your county dental association. they may have dental shadowing programs set up. good luck.

 

[deejay]

free clinics are always a nice place to work

 

[polarnut]

Wow, I didn't think it would be this hard to find a place that would let me shadown and volunteer for. I tried like 10 places close to my house and only got two that would call me back to let me know. I'm willing to put in volunteering hours for them and they just flat out say they don't need anybody or their is no shawdowing opportunities. Is it me or are there a lot of dentists that just care about making money in their practice and have forgotten what it was like before they graduated. sighhhhh, Anybody know if there is an easier way to find a doctor to shadow for rather than just calling up random places?
Ohh by the way, I live in Houston. There is like a dentist at every block almost.

Do you know anyone close to you (relative, friend, etc) who has been going to same dental office for a long period of time? If so, you can ask that person to ask his/her dentist if you can shadow for a bit.

People will have hard time trying to just barge into an office and expect a dentist to let a stranger stand behind his/her back for hours and stare at them.

You should try to get reference from people who know you who happens to know a dentist and go on from there.

Good luck!

 

[Uracil]

Do you know anyone close to you (relative, friend, etc) who has been going to same dental office for a long period of time? If so, you can ask that person to ask his/her dentist if you can shadow for a bit.

People will have hard time trying to just barge into an office and expect a dentist to let a stranger stand behind his/her back for hours and stare at them.

You should try to get reference from people who know you who happens to know a dentist and go on from there.

Good luck!

That's a good idea...in my case, I actually called around 20 dental offices to see if I could shadow...and only 1 said yes!!!! 😡

 

[lgreen_aci]

Maybe just try a little bit of a different approach. There are lots of ways to do it, but I have found this approach 100% successful so far. (Dentist in my area seem to be a bit more casual and what not, so results may vary if you live in a bigger city)

Call the office of the dentist you want to shadow, introduce yourself to the receptionist (say your name, your university/college), say you are thinking about going into dentistry and would like to know if you could schedule a time to stop by and meet Dr. so and so and talk to him about job shadowing. Usually the receptionist will look through the schedule and set you up a 5-15 min time slot to come in.

Show up on time, repeat introducing yourself to the dentist, they will usually say "so what can I do for you", tell them you are interested in dentistry and looking for a dentist that might be interested in letting you come in and shadow. AND bam. You should be in.

You might have better luck hitting up practices that aren't so busy. Also, if you find one in, that dentist usually has buddies who he/she can hook you up with.

My approach is basically to try and be as little a pain in the arse as possible and be very considerate of their schedule and the way they run things.

Also keep in mind, the dentist runs the show, so I wouldn't even bother asking the receptionist if you can shadow. They aren't going to go interupt the dr while he/she is doing something to ask for you.

 

[Uracil]

Maybe just try a little bit of a different approach. There are lots of ways to do it, but I have found this approach 100% successful so far. (Dentist in my area seem to be a bit more casual and what not, so results may vary if you live in a bigger city)

Call the office of the dentist you want to shadow, introduce yourself to the receptionist (say your name, your university/college), say you are thinking about going into dentistry and would like to know if you could schedule a time to stop by and meet Dr. so and so and talk to him about job shadowing. Usually the receptionist will look through the schedule and set you up a 5-15 min time slot to come in.

Show up on time, repeat introducing yourself to the dentist, they will usually say "so what can I do for you", tell them you are interested in dentistry and looking for a dentist that might be interested in letting you come in and shadow. AND bam. You should be in.

You might have better luck hitting up practices that aren't so busy. Also, if you find one in, that dentist usually has buddies who he/she can hook you up with.

My approach is basically to try and be as little a pain in the arse as possible and be very considerate of their schedule and the way they run things.

Also keep in mind, the dentist runs the show, so I wouldn't even bother asking the receptionist if you can shadow. They aren't going to go interupt the dr while he/she is doing something to ask for you.

I did that exactly exactly...I guess I had no luck then...oh well I am done shadowing

 

[polarnut]

Usually the receptionist will look through the schedule and set you up a 5-15 min time slot to come in.

more like rarely. they wouldnt just randomly give you 15 minutes of doctor's time like that to non-paying visitors. most likely they'll say something like "please leave your number, we'll call you back" or "sorry, we are not available." i know this because i've worked in different dental offices for 2 years as DA/manager and i've said these things myself to poor college dudes who just randomly show up with shirt & tie. you must be from a friendly neighborhood!

 

[lgreen_aci]

Wow. Sorry to hear others are not having as good of luck.

Every office I have called, the receptionist actually scheduled me a specific time, and then upon meeting the dentist, they all said yes w/ no hesitation and were excited.

Like I said though, things are way more laid back and not so rushed around here.

 

[student1982]

My long time dentist died from cancer about 2 years ago so that option is gone. I guess I understand about what some of yall are saying about receptionist not even trying to bother the dentist for my request to shadow. I even tried to stop by a couple of offices to see if I showed up in person then maybe I can get some sympathy, but to no avail they told me no again. I figured I need to just schedule an appointment with an office to get my teeth clean, then maybe they can get to know me a little better. Ohh, I forgot to mention that in my search I skipped over all the Vietnamese dentists in my area. My brother who is a dentist himself told me not to shadow a Vietnamese dentists because they only care about making money and they would give the wrong impression about the field (we're vietnamese ourselves). In my experience I think that vietnamese doctors tend to offer their service for less than others, but they rush the procedure like crazy. Also, I can't shadow my brother because he lives in another city. I guess I'll just have to do more searching. Ohh by the way, I've been a pre-opt major for 5 years and now I just graduated so I don't have any connection with pre-dents. Well thanx for the replies guys.

 

[Ms Latte]

I live in Tyler, TX, not too far from Houston and there are tons of dentists practicing here also. I found a couple of dentists to shadow by going into their offices in person which I would highly recommend. Go in close to the end of the day maybe around 3 to 4 pm, some offices close earlier than others. Anyways the two that I am shadowing so far were really nice. I talked to the receptionist and said that I was a pre-dental student and wanted to talk to the dentist about shadowing him. I waited a little while and was able to talk to the dentists and they asked when I wanted to come in, etc. So far I am shadowing a general practicioneer and one that calls his practive the Center for Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry. Both are graduates of UT Houston. I am still looking around for dentists in other fields to shadow, an orthodontist, pediatric dentist, endodontist, and periodontist. Anyways, my advice is to go and talk to them in person. I went into one orthodontist office and the receptionist told me that I needed to leave a resume for the dentist to review and possibly call me back. I thought it was somewhat weird, since shadowing is not paid, but whatever I decided to find another orthodontist. Good luck.

 

[abzirian]

You know, I've heard that dentists HATE calling back potential shadowers.. I had to actually go to their clinics and ask in person. I've shadowed in 3 different clinics and actually NONE of them called me back, but ALL of them let me shadow when i went in person and asked.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[nodoubt]

Sometimes they do act funny. Its hard sometimes to shadow because they dont call you back, the office is too small, or they just dont let people shadow..I hate that answer. how crazy is that. Shadow somewhere free. I shadow at a VA Hospital..its great.

 

[Lemons]

I'm getting really frustrated with this lately.

I really like my dentist but he is not the ideal person to shadow and even though I didn't feel unwelcome, I didn't feel welcome either. I could tell he wasn't completely comfortable with having someone following him around and watching him all day and was shocked I was staying the whole day. After that, I felt that asking to shadow him the rest of the week would be asking too much. I got the feeling he was only humoring a patient and felt nervous having me watch him.

I am very jealous of my friend who has a dentist that introduced her to admissions committee members, gave her tons of advice, set her up with friends in various different specialists to shadow, and even before she could ask, sat her down to write a LOR for her so he wouldn't forget.

I've tried to contact dentists hoping they let me shadow them but most don't call me back. I really hate how we have to bribe dentists by becoming a patient before they let a student shadow them.

It's very frustrating and even though I have a cleaning coming up, I'm going to wait and see which dentist allows me to shadow them and then schedule an appointment with them. I refuse to bribe someone but I'll obviously become a patient of whoever allows me to shadow them because I want to give my business to someone who helps out pre-dents regardless.

Seriously though, what do dentists have to hide? We're much more likely to become patients and recommend them to people if they let us shadow them. Why wouldn't they let us shadow them? What do they have to lose?

 

[razblo]

I just flat out asked my dentist after I had a check up if he would mind me shadowing him some mornings and he said that would be fine and to talk to the receptionist at the front desk to find a good day(s) to do it. He runs a small business (him and two assistants with one usually working the front desk) so he wanted me to go find a day that would have some more interesting things going on than just checkups so I wouldn't be bored.

 

[La fea]

Does your pre dental adviser have any suggestions?
Dont know if shadowing at a dental school is an option- shadowing a resident?

As it is said before- VA, free clinics, county health departments are options.