Minimum hours of shadowing?

[Dental Mom]

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In your experience, what should the minimum hrs be to shadow a dentist?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mikester2]

In your experience, what should the minimum hrs be to shadow a dentist?

I'm starting my hrs in the next few days & can't wait for the smell of a dental office! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! 😀

Thanks in advance.

Shadowing shouldn't be just about getting accepted into school. It should be used to gauge if you want to go to dental school or not. To answer your question, just have enough hours to talk about aspects of dentistry in your interview. For instance, why do you want to be a dentist. where do you see dentistry in 10 years ect.

 

[onetoothleft]

Back when I was applying, Tufts was the only one that specified.

From their website:

Additional Requirement:
A minimum of 30 hours observing/assisting in a general dentist's office

Everyone should try to shadow. Even if for no other reason than to add to your application and increase your chances.

 

[drhobie7]

You need 30 pieces of flair. (Office Space)

 

[sokkerpunk]

Use the shadowing experience to see if this is REALLY what you want to do. Furthermore, make sure you also pay attention to the business side of things as well while you are shadowing. I have talked to at least 20 different general dentists and each overwhelmingly indicated that they would have been better prepared had they known the in's and out's of running their own practice.

Things such as office management, personnel issues (office spats, vacation requests, calling in sick, etc), finding qualified folks, marketing, etc. Personally, I am as excited about that as much as the clinical aspect. But, with a screen name like "dental mom", I have a feeling you are already running a "business" at home so you should be set 🙂 In fact, I bet you have a leg up on most of us here.

Also, one word of advice I have received from 2 separate dental schools, is that even though shadowing is required, be careful how you present the number of hours you have shadowed. In my case, I shadowed for 50 hrs over the past 6 months. When talking to these 2 schools, I was pretty proud of that. But, they told me to focus on the "6 months". Why? Because there are dental asst's and others who have worked in the dental field 40 hrs a week for several years who are applying. Makes my 50 hours look like nothing!

Anyway, sorry for the dissertation. Hope this helps a little. Best of luck to you!

 

[Dental Mom]

Thanks for the reply guys 🙂