How to find Dentists to Shadow?

[bishbish777]

Hi all,

I am a rising junior who is trying to find a dentist to shadow. I am home in Portland, OR until September 1st, and I have nothing to do for the next 7 weeks. I have tried calling 4 dentists, all of which "referred me to the office manager", which ended up being the equivalent of being completely disregarded.

I also emailed over 10 dentists via the email provided on their websites, but that has been of no use, either.

I have no dental shadowing experience and I was banking on getting at least 30-40 hours this summer. I'm worried now that I am too late and this summer is going to be a huge waste.

I was thinking I should just go visit dental practices in person. Has anybody tried this and had any success?

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[Glimmer1991]

Absolutely--visiting in person is really the only way to go. It's a nice touch to drop of your resumé, too.

 

[doc toothache]

Or you could make an appointment for exam, prophy, x-rays.

 

[bishbish777]

Glimmer -- do you think its okay that I'm only in town for the next 2 months? I'm worried that my requests to shadow might be perceived as being too last-minute.

 

[bishbish777]

Or you could make an appointment for exam, prophy, x-rays.

So I basically give them some money to let me shadow them?

 

[Glimmer1991]

No, I think it's perfectly fine! I shadowed some specialists once a week for about two months--it wasn't weird at all.

 

[Koalafied]

Hi all,

I am a rising junior who is trying to find a dentist to shadow. I am home in Portland, OR until September 1st, and I have nothing to do for the next 7 weeks. I have tried calling 4 dentists, all of which "referred me to the office manager", which ended up being the equivalent of being completely disregarded.

I also emailed over 10 dentists via the email provided on their websites, but that has been of no use, either.

I have no dental shadowing experience and I was banking on getting at least 30-40 hours this summer. I'm worried now that I am too late and this summer is going to be a huge waste.

I was thinking I should just go visit dental practices in person. Has anybody tried this and had any success?

Have you tried asking your personal dentist yet? You can always go quid pro quo with them.
Have you checked with your predental club yet?

If the above doesn't work out, then I would suggest you should ask in person especially during their(the dentist) lunch breaks or right before they leave work. If you're referred to the office manager here is the time to gather this info. Also, make sure your appearance is respectable when you ask.

Emailing rarely works.

 

[doc toothache]

So I basically give them some money to let me shadow them?

Actually, shadowing and lors have separate fees.

 

[sbdento]

shadowing=prophy
lor=crown

 

[John Durian]

Visit dental offices in person near big colleges or universities... they're often used to people coming in to shadow/learn. Your best bet is the shot-gun approach and just google a ton of offices in close proximity to one another and then walking/driving to each one.

 

[Ionz]

shadowing=prophy
lor=crown

Lol.

 

[mkhan27]

Just like what everyone else is saying:

1.) Schedule an appointment for cleaning/check-up and afterwards ask if you can shadow them. Dentists tend to be more understanding than their receptionists, assistants, and other staff members. They know what situation you are in because they went through it as well.

OR

2.) Go into as many dental offices as you can in-person and ask if you can speak to the dentist personally about shadowing them. Most of the time if you ask the person in the front desk they will say I can check or they may ask you for your contact information. Other times they might ask you to wait, so the dentist is free and then he can come out to talk to you about it. From my experience the dentist is always okay with it. Its just the staff that might say no.

3.) If you go in-person make yourself appealing and give them a reason as to why they want you there. This will definitely make you look better as a definite to take you in as a shadow.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hev0406]

Just don't ask after you have your wisdom teeth extracted. I did! Lol and the answer I got was "talk to me when your sober". He was a cool guy lol

 

[hunterx2]

I think the easiest way is to just keep cold calling. Google "dentists" and your zip code on google maps and just go down the list. I found somebody after around 15 calls.

 

[bishbish777]

Thanks so much for all the responses everybody -- I will be visiting several dental offices in-person throughout the rest of this week. Wish me luck!