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TeethOrNoTeeth

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Hi everybody, my name is John and I am a 3rd year pre-dental student at UF majoring in Business Administration. I am interested in preparing a good dental resume and have a few questions I would like somebody to answer!

1. How can I find a dentist to shadow when I don't have one locally I go to and am familiar with (I do back at home whom I shadow but not in the Gainesville area)
2. What are good methods to prepare and is now a good time to start studying for the DAT?
3. Is volunteering for undergraduate research unrelated to dentistry worth my time?
4. What kind of recommendations do I need?
5. How many hours of volunteering/shadowing should I aim for?
6. What kinds of things non-related to dentistry can I put on my resume? (i.e. I really enjoy music and have put a lot of time into music-related activities but is this all for not?)
7. Have I waited too long to start shadowing and volunteering and if so should I take a break year to further prepare my resume?

Thank you for taking the time to read through this. I would love any sort feedback/constructive criticism!

- John

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1. You can call offices and ask if they have any shadowing opportunities/if it would be okay if you can shadow the dentist. Most places are pretty open and nice if you tell them what you are trying to do
2. Find a study program that works for you (I suggest DAT Bootcamp personally). I took about 2.5 months of good studying for my DAT. I'd suggest trying to take it early in the cycle so it can get verified early and you can get your application submitted in July. Just make sure you are prepared when you take it, you only want to take it once.
3. Yes, try and find something to show you are dedicated to the field! Make sure it is something you enjoy!
4. Each school has different requirements, however the typical standard is 2 from science faculty members and 1 from a Work/Volunteer supervisor. Some schools like to see a dentist, some prefer 3 from science professors, some would like one from a non-science professor.
5. Each school has a minimum cut off, but I would suggest at least 100 volunteer and 100 shadowing, but make sure to have it be a little diverse and well rounded.
6. They like to see a well rounded person, enjoy your extra-curriculars and hobbies. It will give you something to talk about in your essays and interviews.
7. Nope! Just make sure you know what you're getting into and do enough to show that you understand the field and have a passion for it

Hope this Helps!
 
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For the letter of recs, AADSAS only allows either 4 letters or 1 committee letter and 1 additional letter. What I did was used my committee letter as a regular letter so that I could submit 3 more, and those 3 were from two science professors and a dentist
 
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For finding dentists to shadow.
I googled dentists around me.
Then went to around 25 offices and repeated the same mantra
Hi, I am a pre-dental student. I would like to shadow the dentist for a day. I would leave my email and phone number ( by the way wear something professional while you visit the dental offices, be nice to the front desk and you might get lucky and they call you back)
When you find a dentist that accepts which is hard but not rare:
At the end of the day of your shadowing. Either do as I did, each day before I go home, I'd tell him can I came next day lol
or you can be straightforward;at the end of the day and say: Hey, I learned a lot from you, but I would like to learn more, can I come once or twice a week for this month and the next or something like that.

If you shadowed this dentist for more than 5 days, you can ask him for LOR ( this is crucial, as it hard, later on, to get a LOR from other dentists who you only shadowed for a day or two)

Of course, some people got lucky and have a family dentist who agreed to make them shadow him for a month or more. I wasn't that lucky and had to do it the hard way.
 
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Thank you Faefly, this helps. I was unsure if approaching a Dentist I've never met before and asking to take up space in his office is acceptable. I see now that it works, but only after many attempts. Wish me luck! It's looking like I'll be taking some time to go knocking on doors these next few weeks.

Also Its_Me_G I appreciate your advice on letters of rec as well. Presently I think I can get a LOR from my Dentist and from a committee I am in. However, it seems I need to go look for friends in the science department now haha
 
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