How much shadowing do ya'll do a week

[mynameistino]

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Hi, i start my shadowing hours tomorrow from 9:30 through 1:30 pm. I dont really know how much hours i should put in a week. This dentist that i meet today seemed very strict and demanding. I am wondering how much do you all put in each week and is it a good idea to work with this guy for only 5 months and go to someone else? Will it be reasonable to come back to him and ask for a letter of recommendation later on?
Thank you

 

[colt]

Considering you only need about 30-50 hrs, you shouldn't need too many hrs per week. I guess it depends on when you plan on applying.

 

[PDizzle]

I would reccomend 100+ hours. With the competition how it is, why not do that little extra that might inch you above the other thousand applicants you have to contend with!

 

[Cold Front]

I did 50 hours, and that was more than enough to get me into few schools.

The more hours you do, the better it will look on your application, and the more you get to know about the profession.

 

[Comet208]

More shadowing hours you can do better it is. There are many on this forum who have done 300+ hours. Stick with the hours the doctor gives you. Longer hours you can put in per visit better it is since you will get to see the whole picture. you are there to observe the dentist as well as seeing how the office is being run. take a note of who comes into the office first and what they do, what time does the dentist come in? what is the first thing he does? what time do they leave? what do they do last? interaction between staff and dentist, between dentists, etc
Also, try visiting different office seetings to see different aspects of dentistry, different levels of professionalism, different patient pools, etc. When you do this, you will soon discover that dentistry varies from office to office!!

 

[Yellow Snow]

Shadowing is valuable but don't you think you would add more to your application by becoming a volunteer for a few hours each week? I am personally shooting for 50 shadowing hours come application time. I am also volunteering in the community to show my "compassionate side". And because I enjoy it.

 

[mynameistino]

More shadowing hours you can do better it is. There are many on this forum who have done 300+ hours. Stick with the hours the doctor gives you. Longer hours you can put in per visit better it is since you will get to see the whole picture. you are there to observe the dentist as well as seeing how the office is being run. take a note of who comes into the office first and what they do, what time does the dentist come in? what is the first thing he does? what time do they leave? what do they do last? interaction between staff and dentist, between dentists, etc
Also, try visiting different office seetings to see different aspects of dentistry, different levels of professionalism, different patient pools, etc. When you do this, you will soon discover that dentistry varies from office to office!!

Did you ever learn any of the advanced stuff. Such as taking care of insurance or anything like that. When you shadowed, what were you allowed to do? What did the dentist show you?

 

[PDizzle]

Did you ever learn any of the advanced stuff. Such as taking care of insurance or anything like that. When you shadowed, what were you allowed to do? What did the dentist show you?

At first, all I did is stand there and watch but after a few weeks I as filling impressions, developing and setting x-rays, steralizing and setting up the equiptment packets, preping and breaking down chairs and even assisting the dentist (mostly sucking spit!). It was a ton of fun and made my decision to become a dentist as solid as it possiblly could have been. I'm glad I spent so many hours there and was allowed to do so much. I owe a lot to that dentist and hope to do the same for another youngster when I'm a dentist.

 

[lgreen_aci]

sounds like you got a great experience pdizzle

you're making me drool.

I hope I find a dentist that will let me get some hand on experience.

 

[DentistBunaHay]

sounds like you got a great experience pdizzle

you're making me drool.

I hope I find a dentist that will let me get some hand on experience.

Shadowing was such an annoying experience. You feel like such a burden especiall if the dentist you are working with doesn't say a word to you for the 8 hours he was there. I got into a bunch of schools and i shadowed three dentists for 25 hours each. So don't go nuts on it, just get the jist of it. I don't think it's all that helpful after the first 8 hours you're there.

 

[flyermann1]

Speaking of shadowing dentist, I have done about 15 hours with my current dentist (general dentistry) already and I really like him. Is it necessary to switch from office to office? I mean I understand there are some differences, but I have a good relationship with my current one and dont' really feel like switching. And also in terms of shadowing the specialist, which one would you guys recommend? Which field i should start first Endodontics, Prosthodontics??? I would love to do OMFS? Has any of your have experience w/ OMFS?

 

[lgreen_aci]

Shadowing was such an annoying experience. You feel like such a burden especiall if the dentist you are working with doesn't say a word to you for the 8 hours he was there. I got into a bunch of schools and i shadowed three dentists for 25 hours each. So don't go nuts on it, just get the jist of it. I don't think it's all that helpful after the first 8 hours you're there.

Yeah, I always feel like a burden too. More so at the dentist though than at the orthodontist.

I've done 10 hours so far. With the ortho, I follow him from seat to seat, he explains to me the patients situation, shows me their models made from the impressions, and usually tells me what there doing at the give time and how that is going to correct the situation. In between patients he talks about dental school, patient compliance issues. Any time he leaves the main ortho bay he usually take me w/ (to the lab, xray, office, etc). I don't physically do anything, but nonetheless the conversation and observation is priceless.

With the gen dent, I basically hang out in the lab, the hygenist tells me what the procedure is going to be for a patient, the doctor tells me the procedure, the patient arrives, I enter the operatory, the doctor a few min later, he explains some of the stuff, and the hygentist explains some of the stuff to me. Basically I sit and watch though. Good nonetheless. We had an awesome dicussion on how anesthesia works at the cellular level.

I am not getting my hopes up that they will let me do something physically, as they haven't so far, but it would be a great experience if they ever did. Otherwise, I'm going to buy a dremel, dremel wand attachment, and start drilling the crap out of stuff laying around my house for fun. I still have all my impression models from ortho when I had braces. Could be fun. 😀

I also found it helpful to talk to the other staff. Ask them about their education and job...make them feel really special. They will really appriciate that. From what I noticed doing this, the staff will be much more willing to teach you stuff if you aren't arrogant and just wanting to be w/ the doc all the time.

 

[lgreen_aci]

Speaking of shadowing dentist, I have done about 15 hours with my current dentist (general dentistry) already and I really like him. Is it necessary to switch from office to office? I mean I understand there are some differences, but I have a good relationship with my current one and dont' really feel like switching. And also in terms of shadowing the specialist, which one would you guys recommend? Which field i should start first Endodontics, Prosthodontics??? I would love to do OMFS? Has any of your have experience w/ OMFS?

I would. That's cool you found someone you can stick with. It is also nice to see things from different perspectives though. I think shadowing at a very well setup practice vs. a newer practice has provided me with some very important insights. You don't have to quit shadowing with one, to shadow w/ another. I am hoping to get like 2-4 going at the same time, especially for over the summer.

Shadow which ever specialty interests you. Do OMFS.

 

[Comet208]

For beginners, I would recommend to shadow a GP for at least 30 hours before they start shadowing a specialist just b/c you need some basis to compare things with. In one of the offices that i shadowed, there were 5 dentists including one orthodontist and i was able to shadow them all. It was a great experiences. Normally, the showed me the case before hand and filled me in as to what was going to be done. Then we would walk into the op and the dentist would introduce me as a "future dentist" or "dentist to be" and ask the patients permission if i could stay. They all said yes without questioning what that meant. Often time they would also explain the procedure as they were performing it (to the extent that it would not scare the patient.. funny how certain parts were conveniently censored!!)

As to learning about office stuff, i just made sure to look at the interaction among staff. I did not do anything about the billing but the main dentist and the business manager told me a lot of stuff about running a dental office.

 

[mynameistino]

Shadowing was such an annoying experience. You feel like such a burden especiall if the dentist you are working with doesn't say a word to you for the 8 hours he was there. I got into a bunch of schools and i shadowed three dentists for 25 hours each. So don't go nuts on it, just get the jist of it. I don't think it's all that helpful after the first 8 hours you're there.

Did you ask all 3 for LOR?

 

[1992Corolla]

i shadowed a GD for 80 hours, it took a month to get all the hours.

 

[Comet208]

i shadowed a GD for 80 hours, it took a month to get all the hours.

wow. thats about 20 hours/week or 4 hours/day over the span of 4 weeks.

 

[1992Corolla]

wow. thats about 20 hours/week or 4 hours/day over the span of 4 weeks.

Good! You solved my dat quant. reason question 😀

It was really fun. I drove an hour and stayed for 4-6 hours and then left. Learned a lot!

 

[PDizzle]

sounds like you got a great experience pdizzle

you're making me drool.

I hope I find a dentist that will let me get some hand on experience.

My shadowing experience was great. I absolutley loved every one in the office from the receptionist all the the way to the dentist. We had so much fun, just joking around and talking between patients. When it came down to procedure, we were all very serious but still light hearted about it. The patients picked up on our possitive, fun loving attitude and I think it reduced the patient's anxiety of the dental visit.

I will strive to have a similar practice when I graduate.

 

[lgreen_aci]

That is how it for me sort of w/ my orthodontist. I hope to have a practice like his, which is very similar to what you are describing.

Does anyone else feel like your a burden though? It seems like at the dent and ortho they always schedule me on slow days so I wont get in the way. And then even when I am there on slow days, I feel like I'm in the way.

I want to find a dentist that really enjoys having me come to shadow and will sort of 'take me under their wing', but maybe I am setting my hopes to high.

 

[mc1459]

Speaking of shadowing, I've done a lot of work as an assistant for a family member who is a dentist. I'm assuming this counts as shadowing. But is it frowned upon to shadow a family member? I started assisting before I had decided to do dentistry and this definitley helped me make my decision. I am going to try to get a few hours shadowing an orthodontist before I apply, but does anyone have an experience with any situation like this?

 

[moonlight123]

Hello all!!! May I ask how do you get to shadow???? How do you apply for it ? Or just call the dentist office and ask if they need student for volunteer ???? Is it the same as volunteer ? sorry I'm new and I'm Pre-Dent but still very new to it so I still don't know many stuffs...Thanks in advance!!!

 

[mlle]

Speaking of shadowing, I've done a lot of work as an assistant for a family member who is a dentist. I'm assuming this counts as shadowing. But is it frowned upon to shadow a family member? I started assisting before I had decided to do dentistry and this definitley helped me make my decision. I am going to try to get a few hours shadowing an orthodontist before I apply, but does anyone have an experience with any situation like this?

i don't think it's frowned upon to work with them, although I wouldn't get a recommendation from them cause that would be bad. good luck.

 

[PDizzle]

That is how it for me sort of w/ my orthodontist. I hope to have a practice like his, which is very similar to what you are describing.

Does anyone else feel like your a burden though? It seems like at the dent and ortho they always schedule me on slow days so I wont get in the way. And then even when I am there on slow days, I feel like I'm in the way.

I want to find a dentist that really enjoys having me come to shadow and will sort of 'take me under their wing', but maybe I am setting my hopes to high.

I was very concerned with this so I made it very clear from the start that I very much wanted to be an asset to the clinic. I emptied trash, swept the front entrance way and even cleaned a stain on the carpet on my hands and knees. It felt a little weird to me cuz I started to feel like an a$$ kisser but I just didn't want to be a burdon. I didn't want the staff to think, "Oh crap, we have to deal with that pre-dent today". After a while I was doing everything a dental assistant (well, mostly) would do. One day I came in and they all said they wished I had been there the previois day when they were swamped and said it would have been so much easier and smoother if I had been there. That erased all feelings of being a burdon and we really started to get along after that.

I hope you find an office like that.

Good luck

 

[beannaithe]

I did 8 hours a day, 3 days a week for 3 weeks. Worked out really well because I go tall my shadowing in over summer vacation.

The GP really enjoyed having me there because I helped the assistant out a ton and I got to talk to the patient beforehand and help calm down the really nervous ones. It was an awesome experience. 👍

 

[waikiki]

So do dental schools only look at HOURS not durations (like how long you've been shadowing)???????

 

[1992Corolla]

So do dental schools only look at HOURS not durations (like how long you've been shadowing)???????

Isn't that the same thing?! 🙄 😀

I worked for my dad for three months. AADSAS wants amount of hours so I went back and roughly calculated the amount of work I had done. It was a lot. Some of you who have worked for a dentist for three years will have quite the amount of shadowing racked up. Some of us LDS guys went on a mission. two years straight at about 60 hours a week gave me a rough estimate of 6,000 service hours. I was in the Boy Scouts for four years. This was about 2,000 service hours. Working for a dentist for three months full time is roughly 600-800 hours of shadow time. Put it down if thats how much you have done.

 

[Gasedo]

When you get LOR should the dentist put down the specific date you volunteered? (From…to…. ) Also should he put down how many hours you worked for him? I also volunteered at 3 different offices and I am about to get the LOR from the dentists.
I know that you supposed to fill in application how many hours you volunteered, but what about in the LOR? 😕

 

[pmoney]

We have to do 80-100 hrs shadowing as a requirement for a 3/4 program with buffalo. I guess thats how much they want for a well qualified admittee to the school. I really don't think that it needs to be >60 but it can't hurt.


600 hours is a bit much

 

[aggie-master]

I did 10 a week for two weeks and plan to do another 2.5 per week for 8 weeks.

I already feel like I've seen enough to know 100% that dentistry is right for me, but I asked my health professions advisor if I should do more and she suggested that it might make my app look a little stronger if I had more hours.

I like shadowing, but I work full time and I have to use my limited vacation hours at work to go shadow since my work hours are the same as the dentist that I shadow.

 

[lgreen_aci]

I love job shadowing w/ the dentist. Started shadowing w/ a new dentist today (the one I had talked about earlier in this thread). He was an ad com member so I think he understands better how to make this experience valuable for me. He encourages me to skoot up right next to him to see what he is doing, talks to me quite a bit, stops to explain interesting things, and encourages/fosters interaction between me and the patients and the assistants. I think I am finally getting my times worth at this office. He let me run the chair controls for one patient, restock the glove box when he ran out, and pop a mold from an impression off the platform for placement into an articulator. Kind of cheesy, but I was freaking excited just to get to do anything regardless of how simple or lame it was.

I should have practiced using the chair controls first on an empty chair, as I've never operated a chair before and ended up jerking the patient around a bit to get him in the right position. I didn't know you had to hold down the button, lol! I guess if you press it once, it jerks down a little bit. Lesson learned....you must hold down the button until the patient is at the position the doctor wants!

Overall went freaking awesome. I got invited to come back anytime, and to come back this week if I wanted. So another half day planned for tommorow. Pediatric extraction! that should be fun. Jeeze I love dentistry.