Question about working in a Dental office before applying

[MSPV]

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There are things that Dental School does not teach you. I am considering working part time in a dental office for a while to get experience before applying to Dental School in 2-3 years. Would working in a Dental Clinic make me a more competitive applicant when I apply in 2-3 years? Is experience working in a dental clinic a good way to know about managing a clinic in the future?

I'm going to do research about this matter, but want to hear you guys' thoughts on this.

Thank you. 🙂

 

[Hev0406]

There are things that Dental School does not teach you. I am considering working part time in a dental office for a while to get experience before applying to Dental School in 2-3 years. Would working in a Dental Clinic make me a more competitive applicant when I apply in 2-3 years? Is experience working in a dental clinic a good way to know about managing a clinic in the future?

I'm going to do research about this matter, but want to hear you guys' thoughts on this.

Thank you. 🙂

I think so! Of course I'm a dental assistant. Lol. Look at it this way- 100+ hours of shadowing a dentist or 5000 hours being hands on and really learning about dentistry. Shows you are invested and serious about the career.

 

[Toothfairy30]

Hey. I'm a registered dental hygienist and I'm also getting certified as a dental assistant in a couple of weeks. Hev0406 is right; I see a lot of volunteers come and go into the office I work in just to earn the "required" hours. Three of my coworkers (Two assistants, one front desk) all got into dental school and they strongly believed it is because working at an office gave them the hands on experience they needed to be competitive.

Hopefully I am number four🙂

 

[doc toothache]

There are things that Dental School does not teach you. I am considering working part time in a dental office for a while to get experience before applying to Dental School in 2-3 years. Would working in a Dental Clinic make me a more competitive applicant when I apply in 2-3 years? Is experience working in a dental clinic a good way to know about managing a clinic in the future?

Hopefully dental schools will at least teach you that ds/dc are not capitalized. Excellent stats will go much further in making you "a more competitive applicant" when you apply in 2-3 years.

 

[Hev0406]

Hey. I'm a registered dental hygienist and I'm also getting certified as a dental assistant in a couple of weeks. Hev0406 is right; I see a lot of volunteers come and go into the office I work in just to earn the "required" hours. Three of my coworkers (Two assistants, one front desk) all got into dental school and they strongly believed it is because working at an office gave them the hands on experience they needed to be competitive.

Hopefully I am number four🙂

Best of luck to you! 🙂

 

[Toothfairy30]

Thanks. I'll be applying for the next cycle.

 

[MSPV]

Thank you guys for the input! 🙂

 

[kstoothfairy]

Hey. I'm a registered dental hygienist and I'm also getting certified as a dental assistant in a couple of weeks. Hev0406 is right; I see a lot of volunteers come and go into the office I work in just to earn the "required" hours. Three of my coworkers (Two assistants, one front desk) all got into dental school and they strongly believed it is because working at an office gave them the hands on experience they needed to be competitive.

Hopefully I am number four🙂

Just curious, what are you getting certified for as an assistant that you're not currently able to do as an RDH?

 

[sbdento]

There are things that Dental School does not teach you. I am considering working part time in a dental office for a while to get experience before applying to Dental School in 2-3 years. Would working in a Dental Clinic make me a more competitive applicant when I apply in 2-3 years? Is experience working in a dental clinic a good way to know about managing a clinic in the future?

I'm going to do research about this matter, but want to hear you guys' thoughts on this.

Thank you. 🙂

I worked as a dental assistant(for 4 years) while getting my undergrad degree and it negatively impacted my grades. The extensive dental experience has not made up for my grades and I had to take 2 additional years of post-bacc courses. From my experience a strong gpa and dat is more valuable than thousands of hours in a clinic/practice.

 

[MSPV]

You can get into Dental School WITHOUT working in a dental office as a dental receptionist or assistant, right? You probably can, but I just want to make sure.

 

[MSPV]

You can get into Dental School WITHOUT working in a dental office as a dental receptionist or assistant, right? You probably can, but I just want to make sure.

Bumpity Bump.

 

[mid]

You can get into Dental School WITHOUT working in a dental office as a dental receptionist or assistant, right? You probably can, but I just want to make sure.

Hopefully dental schools will at least teach you that ds/dc are not capitalized. Excellent stats will go much further in making you "a more competitive applicant" when you apply in 2-3 years.

^

 

[Dgeorg6]

Yes.. You can get into dental school without ever working in a dental office.

 

[summit30]

Definitely--

I work at an orthodontist's office, and I am learning a lot there.

 

[journeybegins]

I agree with what doc toothache said. He said it in a very straightforward way, but it is true. It's far more important to have the stats (GPA/DAT) than it is about how many hours you've been working at the dental office. High GPA/DAT will likely help you get into dental school, whereas being a dental assistant does not necessarily ensure that you will. However, the GPA/DAT mainly gets you the interview, but you also have to seal the deal with your personality, individuality, maturity, and personal experiences so working in a dental office may help with that aspect.


So I will say, if you have low stats, I would work on the academics side of things. If your stats are competitive already, working as a dental assistant definitely does help.

I work as a dental assistant now, and the knowledge will definitely help in dental school.


As for becoming a dental assistant, landing one may take some time if the dentists are 1) looking for experienced DAs 2) usually you have to be X-ray certified since that is one of the important responsibilities of a dental assistant 3) they want someone who is long-term

Good luck though! I do think working as a dental assistant is a great idea, but you have to really look at where your weakness is in your application and fix that. People with high DAT/GPA get into great schools without having ever to assist.

 

[Hev0406]

I agree with what doc toothache said. He said it in a very straightforward way, but it is true. It's far more important to have the stats (GPA/DAT) than it is about how many hours you've been working at the dental office. High GPA/DAT will likely help you get into dental school, whereas being a dental assistant does not necessarily ensure that you will. However, the GPA/DAT mainly gets you the interview, but you also have to seal the deal with your personality, individuality, maturity, and personal experiences so working in a dental office may help with that aspect.


So I will say, if you have low stats, I would work on the academics side of things. If your stats are competitive already, working as a dental assistant definitely does help.

I work as a dental assistant now, and the knowledge will definitely help in dental school.


As for becoming a dental assistant, landing one may take some time if the dentists are 1) looking for experienced DAs 2) usually you have to be X-ray certified since that is one of the important responsibilities of a dental assistant 3) they want someone who is long-term

Good luck though! I do think working as a dental assistant is a great idea, but you have to really look at where your weakness is in your application and fix that. People with high DAT/GPA get into great schools without having ever to assist.

To piggy back on this. In my situation I found it really hard to get a job as a dental assistant whenever they asked about my goals and I mentioned becoming a dentist. I lost a lot of jobs because dentist don't want to hire someone who is basically using them as a "stepping stone". Now that certainly isn't ways the case but in my situation it has been.

 

[Teeths]

Hev-

I've had sort of a similar situation. I'm currently in a SMP (masters program) and have ~150+ shadowing hours already from undergrad. I've been looking to keep up with shadowing and would really love to work in a dental office once my masters program is over before dental school starts. Unfortunately, when the dentist/office manager hears I already have 150+ hrs and max time I'd be around would be a year or so, they don't want to bother so they can 'give someone else a chance' or are looking for someone long-term. 🙁 I definitely understand where they're coming from, but I'm talking free labor here -- even just volunteering and still no bites!!

 

[Hev0406]

Hev-

I've had sort of a similar situation. I'm currently in a SMP (masters program) and have ~150+ shadowing hours already from undergrad. I've been looking to keep up with shadowing and would really love to work in a dental office once my masters program is over before dental school starts. Unfortunately, when the dentist/office manager hears I already have 150+ hrs and max time I'd be around would be a year or so, they don't want to bother so they can 'give someone else a chance' or are looking for someone long-term. 🙁 I definitely understand where they're coming from, but I'm talking free labor here -- even just volunteering and still no bites!!

Yeah you would think free labor would be a shoe in! Lol! I know my boss loves free labor but I know of a couple of others around my area who do not allow shadowing of any kind.