Dental How should I manage online shadowing?

[Question]

I want to be as honest and transparent as possible with my work, and I am looking for some general advice.

I know that a lot of people are quite deceptive when it comes to their shadowing. Like I know people who shadow or volunteer at their family owned dental practice even though that's a big no-no, or maybe fluff up their numbers. Hell, the dentist I shadowed was somewhat 'wink wink nudge nudge' with it as well.

How do I properly manage my online shadowing to not come off as a liar? Especially as some online interviews/shadows can go on for hours and basically not too much information of importance can be shared. Youtuber dentists like Dr. Arkhe de Leon has a massive catalog of short videos as well, how do I manage them? Would you also recommend sharing videos of dental students and their journey, like the "how I got into XYZ dental school with a low GPA"?

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[GoSpursGo]

I don't really understand your question... you should document the number of hours that you actually shadowed and not inflate them.

As a general rule, I don't think virtual shadowing hours are taken very seriously because as you said very little of importance can be learned in that setting. You need to find in-person shadowing and clinical experience for the majority of your ECs.

Watching YouTube videos on dentistry and the dental school application process may be educational to you, but that doesn't count for anything at all when it comes to applying and should not be listed as an EC.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I don't understand why pre-dents feel they need to embellish their shadowing hours. One's true understanding of the career ultimately shows up, especially when it comes to practicing on preps for hours.

Be honest. Tell us what you observed. Understand your weaknesses in preparing for this career.

 

[AlteredScale]

It's very easy to compare yourself because we all have very competitive personalities. I can't stress enough that quantity does not equal quality. As someone who has helped review medical school applications I can tell you that I actually become weary of someone with hundreds of hours of shadowing because it can mean that it takes a long time for you to develop appropriate insight. So think about it that way. You should document how many true hours you shadowed and move on to focus on how to provide an appropriate thought process from your experiences thereafter.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Not sure why this is a question...put the number of hours that you honestly did.

 

[PerioDont]

Shadow in person not virtual