Hospital shadowing

[kcc96]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I was curious if anyone has had any luck with shadowing in a hospital. I have had an interest in the orthodontic field for many many years, however after jaw surgery 4 years ago I have also had an interest in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
I was wondering if it was even possible for me to get my foot in the door at a large, teaching hospital where I had my surgery. Is it worth a try or should I stick to a smaller clinic?

Thank you

 

[Bingwen]

Arizona is a little different in that just about everything is a private practice. Here though I shadowed an OMFS group that does mainly implants and I also shadowed a surgeon that did larger surgeries. I would say it definitely would not hurt to ask. I was very interested in oral surgery and shadowing these doctors helped feed that interest. Just understand that dental schools prefer general dentistry shadowing for the majority of the hours if you are looking to fill in shadowing hours.

 

[deleted678432]

It’s tough, you definitely need to know the right people. I worked at an OMFS office for 7 years and eventually got to shadowing in the hospital where I started to gain more connections. Very rarely can you just walk into the hospital (especially a large teaching hospital) and shadow large OG, trauma, oncology, etc. cases.