People who get into dental school without shadowing

[PEN15]

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Just wondering if there are people out there who got into dental school without any shadowing at all or very little shadowing i.e. less than 10 hours. I'm guess this isn't very common, but sometimes you just can't find a dentist in your area that will let you shadow them or you're too busy holding a part-time job, volunteering, and balancing school. Is it essential to have shadowing apart of one's application in order to be competitive?

 

[GoGatorsDMD]

Those people probably have a daddy who is a dentist. I believe it is essential, how the heck are you going to know what you're getting into unless you see what it's like to practice dentistry?

 

[coilz]

Well.. hope I can be one of them. Cause I did no shadowing whatsoever.... 😛

 

[PEN15]

Those people probably have a daddy who is a dentist. I believe it is essential, how the heck are you going to know what you're getting into unless you see what it's like to practice dentistry?

"see what it's like to practice dentistry" that's exactly what it is. How are you going to get a real feel for what dentistry really is unless you are able to perform those procedures on patients yourself. Seeing is not the same as doing. I don't think people with millions of hours of shadowing experience are at an advantage over those who have little experience. I think shadowing 10 hours is enough, otherwise it gets really boring "watching" all the time. From watching my dentist and a few others, the experience has made me want to be a dentist even more along with other reasons based on my family and childhood experiences. I see my dentist work and to be honest it seems like the dental hygienests do all the work. Am I really learning anything? no not really. Until I go to dental school, that is when I'll be learning things. Now is it a good experience? definitely, but I don't think it's that essential. I think that shadowing goes under the category "community service."

 

[quickfix]

i know that the university of minnesota wants to see 30 hours minimum of shadowing experience. however, the other schools that i applied to never explicitly said anything about it being required. that being said, sadowing is fun and it is very easy. i don't see why you would not want to get in there and see some patients with a skilled dr.

best wishes 👍

 

[PEN15]

i know that the university of minnesota wants to see 30 hours minimum of shadowing experience. however, the other schools that i applied to never explicitly said anything about it being required. that being said, sadowing is fun and it is very easy. i don't see why you would not want to get in there and see some patients with a skilled dr.

best wishes 👍

I know Tufts requires 30 hours as well.

Do you know if Columbia requires you to have a certain amount of hours? I'm planning on applying there for the 2006 cycle and it is my number one choice because I've heard a lot of great things about that Dental School. How much is community service weighed?

 

[USAF_Dentman]

I shadowed my dentist for 15 minutes every 6 months for 18 years!


But yes, i think it is important up to a certain point. I know people who have 100+ hours of shadowing, but that is a little overdoing a bit IMO.

30-50 hrs is plenty, otherwise it gets repetitive and you get no further insight.

 

[GoGatorsDMD]

I think shadowing 10 hours is enough, otherwise it gets really boring "watching" all the time.

If you think 10 hours is enough, you are seriously mistaken. I must have shadowed almost 200 hours before entering dental school. Only a minority of the time of that was I not learning something new. Just talking to the patient sitting there while the clinician is away will give you experience that will be useful later. I always asked the dentist/dental student (I was in college volunteering at the dental school I now attend) "why did you do this, why did you do that", and always in a respectful manner, i.e., not in front of the patient. I did whatever I could to help out, like hold the suction (a dental student considers it an extreme luxury to have an assistant) or develop radiographs. I learned a tremendous amount about dentistry (as far as a layman is concerned) without ever picking up a handpiece.

 

[Dr. Steve Brule]

i don't know i think shadowing is a bit overrated, i did about 30 hours but almost everything i've learned has been from my job as an oral surgery assistant, i see and take part in all types of really neat stuff from good ol' wisdom teeth extractions to putting in implants..so i'd have to say assisting is the way to go cuz you're actually doing something, i hated just watching..i mean half the time i couldn't really see what was going on anyway 🙄

 

[beastly115]

"see what it's like to practice dentistry" that's exactly what it is. How are you going to get a real feel for what dentistry really is unless you are able to perform those procedures on patients yourself. Seeing is not the same as doing. I don't think people with millions of hours of shadowing experience are at an advantage over those who have little experience. I think shadowing 10 hours is enough, otherwise it gets really boring "watching" all the time. From watching my dentist and a few others, the experience has made me want to be a dentist even more along with other reasons based on my family and childhood experiences. I see my dentist work and to be honest it seems like the dental hygienests do all the work. Am I really learning anything? no not really. Until I go to dental school, that is when I'll be learning things. Now is it a good experience? definitely, but I don't think it's that essential. I think that shadowing goes under the category "community service."

Say that at your interview and tell us how it goes over with the adcoms.

 

[PEN15]

Say that at your interview and tell us how it goes over with the adcoms.

Hey Beastly, I see that you are a freshman in biology, do me a favor and stop pretending you know everything about the application process. You have a long way to go. Thanks.

Back to what this thread was intended, I just wanted to know if there was anybody out there who got into dental school without any shadowing. NOT suggesting that I was going try to jump into the profession blind-folded.

 

[crazy_sherm]

"see what it's like to practice dentistry" that's exactly what it is. How are you going to get a real feel for what dentistry really is unless you are able to perform those procedures on patients yourself. Seeing is not the same as doing. I don't think people with millions of hours of shadowing experience are at an advantage over those who have little experience. I think shadowing 10 hours is enough, otherwise it gets really boring "watching" all the time. From watching my dentist and a few others, the experience has made me want to be a dentist even more along with other reasons based on my family and childhood experiences. I see my dentist work and to be honest it seems like the dental hygienests do all the work. Am I really learning anything? no not really. Until I go to dental school, that is when I'll be learning things. Now is it a good experience? definitely, but I don't think it's that essential. I think that shadowing goes under the category "community service."

I think there is much more to shadowing a dentist than just watching procedures. It's true that you can't learn too much about the actual procedures without getting hands-on experience, but for me, shadowing was more about learning about daily life in the dental occupation. There are many aspects to running a practice outside of just the procedures such as sterilization, patient interaction, billing, scheduling, insurance, etc.

If you get bored watching the dentist and think that hygenists are doing all the work, you can definitely ask the dentist why he prefers to run his practice in that way. There are a lot of small practices out there who won't even have a assistant or office manager and I'm sure would have a different take on how to run their practice. At the practices I shadowed at, I made sure to talk to everyone at the office to understand their roles and even talked to some of the patients who had been seeing the dentist for a long time, to try and understand what about him draws patients back.

I understand it may be difficult to find time or an available dentist, but I would say its a very necessary part to understanding the industry before applying. I'm sure adcoms know that you can't learn all that much shadowing, but having a certain number of hours proves to them that you are serious and know what you are getting into.

Good luck!

 

[dentaldaddy]

"see what it's like to practice dentistry" that's exactly what it is. How are you going to get a real feel for what dentistry really is unless you are able to perform those procedures on patients yourself. Seeing is not the same as doing. I don't think people with millions of hours of shadowing experience are at an advantage over those who have little experience. I think shadowing 10 hours is enough, otherwise it gets really boring "watching" all the time. From watching my dentist and a few others, the experience has made me want to be a dentist even more along with other reasons based on my family and childhood experiences. I see my dentist work and to be honest it seems like the dental hygienests do all the work. Am I really learning anything? no not really. Until I go to dental school, that is when I'll be learning things. Now is it a good experience? definitely, but I don't think it's that essential. I think that shadowing goes under the category "community service."

IF YOU HAVE EVER HAD A CAVITY AND/OR A CROWN, YOU HAVE SHADOWED !!!

 

[bouncy_ball]

Pen15, You *might* get into a school w/o much shadowing if your stats are truly exceptional, but why risk it? I'm sure if you call around and ask nicely, a dentist somewhere will welcome you to shadow. And, you don't need a billion hours, just get some hours under your belt. Observe a few procedures, see how the office flows and operates, autoclave some stuff... Go for a few hours a few times, and you'll have your experience and your hours in no time.
Nice id btw. 🙄 😉

 

[aphistis]

Pen15, You *might* get into a school w/o much shadowing if your stats are truly exceptional, but why risk it? I'm sure if you call around and ask nicely, a dentist somewhere will welcome you to shadow. And, you don't need a billion hours, just get some hours under your belt. Observe a few procedures, see how the office flows and operates, autoclave some stuff... Go for a few hours a few times, and you'll have your experience and your hours in no time.
Nice id btw. 🙄 😉

Shadowing is overrated. It's not a continuum-based evaluation in applications--i.e., if you have two similar candidates, an admission decision between them isn't going to be based on one having 16,000,000 hours of shadowing compared to the other's meager 15,00,000. You're just doing it to get a superficial familiarization with dentistry in practice, not because the dental schools expect it to be a genuinely useful adjunct to your d-school coursework. I had a 3.65/21/17 and applied to a single school in mid-December without a spot of shadowing on my application. I don't know how "truly exceptional" those numbers are, but apparently they were good enough.

Moral of the story: Don't kill yourselves logging shadowing hours. Once you know dentistry is something you want to do, if you don't actually enjoy the shadowing process you're just wasting your time.

 

[PEN15]

Nice id btw. 🙄 😉

 

[BrightSmile]

Back to what this thread was intended, I just wanted to know if there was anybody out there who got into dental school without any shadowing. NOT suggesting that I was going try to jump into the profession blind-folded.

Yes, I got into dental school without any shadowing experience. I researched the dental profession. I am a non traditional student so I spent about 6 years getting my Bachelors degree. I had plenty of time to research dentistry, but not very much time left to shadow a dentist. I applied to one school in September of the cycle. My gpa is 3.85, but my DAT was nothing to brag about.

 

[USAF_Dentman]

Yes, I got into dental school without any shadowing experience. I researched the dental profession. I am a non traditional student so I spent about 6 years getting my Bachelors degree. I had plenty of time to research dentistry, but not very much time left to shadow a dentist. I applied to one school in September of the cycle. My gpa is 3.85, but my DAT was nothing to brag about.

I would imagine that you are an Iowa resident though, correct?

 

[bouncy_ball]

Shadowing is overrated. It's not a continuum-based evaluation in applications--i.e., if you have two similar candidates, an admission decision between them isn't going to be based on one having 16,000,000 hours of shadowing compared to the other's meager 15,00,000. You're just doing it to get a superficial familiarization with dentistry in practice, not because the dental schools expect it to be a genuinely useful adjunct to your d-school coursework. I had a 3.65/21/17 and applied to a single school in mid-December without a spot of shadowing on my application. I don't know how "truly exceptional" those numbers are, but apparently they were good enough.

Moral of the story: Don't kill yourselves logging shadowing hours. Once you know dentistry is something you want to do, if you don't actually enjoy the shadowing process you're just wasting your time.

I agree, you certainly don't need a whole lot of shadowing, but I think it's good to have some... as a safety net. Some schools do have a shadowing requirement like UOP and UNLV. I think UOP's is >40hrs. UNLV requires a lor from a dentist. But every school is different. Personally I think it's a gamble to not have any shadowing experience.

 

[USAF_Dentman]

Shadowing is overrated. It's not a continuum-based evaluation in applications--i.e., if you have two similar candidates, an admission decision between them isn't going to be based on one having 16,000,000 hours of shadowing compared to the other's meager 15,00,000. You're just doing it to get a superficial familiarization with dentistry in practice, not because the dental schools expect it to be a genuinely useful adjunct to your d-school coursework. I had a 3.65/21/17 and applied to a single school in mid-December without a spot of shadowing on my application. I don't know how "truly exceptional" those numbers are, but apparently they were good enough.

Moral of the story: Don't kill yourselves logging shadowing hours. Once you know dentistry is something you want to do, if you don't actually enjoy the shadowing process you're just wasting your time.

I agree, i also think LORs are overrated as well.

 

[fruity_trident]

omg i can't tell u how many ppl fake their shadowing, for ANY profession for their resume.

it's only your loss.
i THOUGHT i wanted to be an MD...but i shadowed one and said..."nope, not for me".

 

[RaiderNation]

Does anyone seriously count their trips to the dental office as shadowing? If so, I guess I have alot more shadowing hours than I orignally thought. 😉

 

[PEN15]

Does anyone seriously count their trips to the dental office as shadowing? If so, I guess I have alot more shadowing hours than I orignally thought. 😉

I suppose quite a few people fudge their hours. I think adcoms should just look at your GPA and DATs because it's a better measure of how well you'll do in dental school.