How to get shadowing experience ?

[Faefly]

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I am trying to hunt for shadowing opportunities this week; my plan is to visit every nearby dentist and try asking the front desk.

• Do you think bringing a cover letter or letter of intent with me and giving it to the front desk if they say no will be a good idea?

I mean my cousin tried with many dentists at my area; they all refused and said we don't do that, and I am freaking out already. How can I get even an hour of shadowing when all of the dentists are refusing to have shadows.

• What should I do to get a shadowing experience?

Our dental school refuses to give more than 8 hours shadowing and that's it.

 

[Likkriue]

Keep on calling. The younger dentists are usually more likely to allow you to shadow because they know it's a requirement.

If an office says no just leave them alone. Better to shoot another 100 calls.

 

[Toothout]

The times I went to the office and asked in the front desk, they always said no without even asking the dentist.
What worked for me was finding dentist emails online and emailing them.

 

[Faefly]

Keep on calling. The younger dentists are usually more likely to allow you to shadow because they know it's a requirement.

If an office says no just leave them alone. Better to shoot another 100 calls.

Thank you for your advice, I 'll definitely keep on calling and hopefully I'll find young dentists who accept.

 

[Faefly]

The times I went to the office and asked in the front desk, they always said no without even asking the dentist.
What worked for me was finding dentist emails online and emailing them.

Thank you, I'll start googling dentists now and then put their names in linked in or something hopefully their emails will show up.

 

[Charles_Darwin]

The times I went to the office and asked in the front desk, they always said no without even asking the dentist.
What worked for me was finding dentist emails online and emailing them.

Really? That seems rough. It's always worked out for me, but coincidentally the dentist was always at the front desk haha


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[Toothout]

Really? That seems rough. It's always worked out for me, but coincidentally the dentist was always at the front desk haha


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Lol maybe that's why

 

[Faefly]

Really? That seems rough. It's always worked out for me, but coincidentally the dentist was always at the front desk haha


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Yeah, that was what happened with my cousin, she got a lot of NO's from calling and going to the front desk and one day, the dentist was there and he accepted.
the problem is, he does not accept full shadowing, he just wants her to come if he's doing something major.

 

[blablabla1]

Wow reading this thread has made me realize how lucky I am to have many dentists say yes when I asked them if I could shadow them. I got to pick and choose where I wanted to shadow

 

[Faefly]

Update:
The first day of hunting for Shadowing did not go well as I hoped for. I visited about 10 dental clinics

I got:

• no we have a shadow already, and he'll work with us for months!!!!!
• no we have a shadow and it will be bad for the business to get another one even if that shadow time ends.
• leave your contact information and we will call you, and best of luck.

Then I saw a dentist at the front desk. I asked him, he said I don't mind, but our place is not busy, we don't do special things, just boring stuff like filling.
I told him I don't mind, I am still an undergrad student, I want to learn from you. He then said, I can't right now, we are very busy this time! I told him sure; I have the whole month free so anytime you can, he said at the beginning of the year, once a week.
I thanked him and took his email & number.
The only problem: I can't shadow once school starts. So I might only shadow at his office once.
I'll keep on searching tomorrow, but the rejections made me disappointed.



T

 

[Faefly]

So I got a lot of leave your information and we will call you kind of answers today. Some of them were obviously not gonna call and some of them seemed hopeful that the dentist would agree. But I got only a positive yes. The secretary actually let me wait for the dentist. I talked to the dentist, he is an orthodontist, he was nice and accepted to let me shadow for a day, I just feel I really blew it when I talked with him, I mumbled a lot of unintelligent stuff.
So after visiting 25 + clinics, I got one date only.
I felt sad today one of the people who I met today and told me to send an email and she'll talk to the dentist. She replied today saying no, and the patients will be uncomfortable about someone following the assistant and the dentist around and I felt bad, I know what she means, but still, it made me feel bad.

Why dental schools do this to us?
Let us beg people who have easily forgotten that they one day were the annoying brats who made the patients feel uncomfortable.

 

[Toothout]

So I got a lot of leave your information and we will call you kind of answers today. Some of them were obviously not gonna call and some of them seemed hopeful that the dentist would agree. But I got only a positive yes. The secretary actually let me wait for the dentist. I talked to the dentist, he is an orthodontist, he was nice and accepted to let me shadow for a day, I just feel I really blew it when I talked with him, I mumbled a lot of unintelligent stuff.
So after visiting 25 + clinics, I got one date only.
I felt sad today one of the people who I met today and told me to send an email and she'll talk to the dentist. She replied today saying no, and the patients will be uncomfortable about someone following the assistant and the dentist around and I felt bad, I know what she means, but still, it made me feel bad.

Why dental schools do this to us?
Let us beg people who have easily forgotten that they one day were the annoying brats who made the patients feel uncomfortable.

Just keep swimming...
And 10 years from now, when predents go to your practice to ask you to let them shadow you, remember how you felt when they said no.

 

[bsfree]

Drop the phone and emails, these rarely work. Get yourself into some decent business casual and ask in person with your resume.

 

[Kurk]

As a HS senior this thread raises quite a bit of concern...

 

[Toothout]

As a HS senior this thread raises quite a bit of concern...

Just start now.

 

[kittycat090198]

I wouldn't ask the people at the front desk just because more often than not they are in charge of administrative/scheduling/insurance-based work rather than clinically-based which is where your shadowing would happen. I would try to ask for the office manager or clinic coordinator. I know in my office that is who people have to go through in order to shadow with us. (Of course this is entirely dependent on the office you go to.) If the office manager isn't in, I would ask for a business card and/or an extension specific to the office manager or even just an email where they specifically could be reached. I'd then leave your resume and ask the people at the front desk if they would take a message saying that you will be in touch.

I think a lot of the immediate refusal tends to be because they don't know what it is you're asking to do. So I would make sure it is clear that you are not looking to get hands on experience (even though this would be a plus - it's usually a turn off because liability is a huge issue as well as anything patient related because of the risk of HIPAA violations) but rather you just want to look around.

 

[Faefly]

Just keep swimming...
And 10 years from now, when predents go to your practice to ask you to let them shadow you, remember how you felt when they said no.

If I become a dentist, I will try my best to remember that.

 

[Faefly]

As a HS senior this thread raises quite a bit of concern...

Well, I am a senior too, so my advice is to try to look for dentists now, if you are in a winter break.

 

[Faefly]

Drop the phone and emails, these rarely work. Get yourself into some decent business casual and ask in person with your resume.

Thank you for the advice, I guess, I have to wear my formal attire from now on.

 

[Faefly]

I wouldn't ask the people at the front desk just because more often than not they are in charge of administrative/scheduling/insurance-based work rather than clinically-based which is where your shadowing would happen. I would try to ask for the office manager or clinic coordinator. I know in my office that is who people have to go through in order to shadow with us. (Of course this is entirely dependent on the office you go to.) If the office manager isn't in, I would ask for a business card and/or an extension specific to the office manager or even just an email where they specifically could be reached. I'd then leave your resume and ask the people at the front desk if they would take a message saying that you will be in touch.

I think a lot of the immediate refusal tends to be because they don't know what it is you're asking to do. So I would make sure it is clear that you are not looking to get hands on experience (even though this would be a plus - it's usually a turn off because liability is a huge issue as well as anything patient related because of the risk of HIPAA violations) but rather you just want to look around.

A really good advice, thank you.
I noticed today the coordinator or the manager seemed to know everything about the practice and shadowing while the people at front desk sometimes did not understand what shadowing meant! But not all of them have coordinators.

And yeah at one of staff at some dental office said the dentist refuses to have shadows because of HIPPA Violation and I was surprised to hear that.😵