How many Shadowing/Volunteering hours?

[mjg713]

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As far as EC' go, I have 90 hours volunteering/shadowing at a very busy dental clinic and thousands of hours of work experience (not dental related). I am not taking any classes this summer and would like to boost my EC's do I don't have to worry about it. I plan on shadowing an Oral Surgeon and a few more dentists. What does everyone recommend in terms of enough hours? thanks.

 

[customx]

100 hours shadowing seems to be the golden #.

 

[Dgeorg6]

I'm shooting for around 100 hours shadowing, 100+ hours volunteering, and being a part of a couple clubs at my university.. Hopefully that with a 3.7+ GPA and good DAT will be enough lol

 

[mjg713]

So do I count my hours at the clinic as volunteering or shadowing hours?

 

[Dgeorg6]

Are you helping them or shadowing a dentist?

 

[mjg713]

I assisted, cleaned utensils, and took x-rays.

 

[Dgeorg6]

Then it's volunteering. They will see that you were volunteering at a dental clinic and it will look better and they will realize it is kind of shadowing as well, but I think it should be put under volunteering

 

[MedDevil]

Does anyone know how dental schools view clinical volunteering v. nonclinical volunteering. Is the former an absolute necessity?

 

[LaLaLove92]

100 hours shadowing seems to be the golden #.

What exactly does shadowing consist of ?

 

[y3nd0]

What exactly does shadowing consist of ?

Following dentists, watching them perform procedures, occasionally asking questions about what they're doing, or their job... You're pretty much their shadow that talks. xP

 

[GoBlue24]

Does anyone know how dental schools view clinical volunteering v. nonclinical volunteering. Is the former an absolute necessity?

It depends what you mean by "clinical volunteering". Do you mean shadowing or assisting a dentist? Or do you mean other clinical volunteering (hospital, etc.).

If you mean the former, then yes. Most dental schools require a 100 hours of dental shadowing (observing and watching the dentist treat patients while asking questions, seeing how a dental office is run, respectfully interacting with the patients and staff, etc.) and this is as "clinical" as you need to get.

If you mean the latter, then no. You don't necessarily need to add other clinical volunteering on top of shadowing. Clinical volunteering is not a necessity nor is it necessarily favored over non-clinical volunteering by admission committees.

Dental schools want to see that you're diverse. Clinical volunteering is great but if you do non-clinical volunteering such as packaging food at a homeless shelter, helping the poor, marshaling a fundraising marathon, etc. because you have a passion for giving back to the community and whatnot, that is equally great.