- Joined
- Jun 29, 2009
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Hey guys,
I had a couple of questions that I was hoping someone may be able to help me out with.
1.) As far as shadowing goes, how picky should one be as far as calculating the exact number of hours one shadows? For example, I've been shadowing a dentist periodically who lets me come in for an entire day every now and then. Technically his office is open from 7-4 (9 hours), however, lunch takes up an hour of that time. During that time I normally eat lunch in the office with some of the dental assistants and casually discuss various dental topics. Therefore, even though I'm not physically shadowing during that hour of time, I'm still in the dental office learning more about dentistry. As a result, do you think it's okay to keep logging my 9 hour shadowing sessions, or realistically, should I put 8? I know the discrepancy is so small it may be kind of annoying that I'm asking this question, but I'm REALLY close to my personal goal for my total number of shadowing hours, and honestly, I would like to be done as soon as possible.
2.) The schools I intend on applying to require a letter of recommendation from a dentist. Does this letter have to be from a dentist that I shadowed? I looked on all the websites requirement pages for the schools I'm applying to and I've never seen this requirement. However, I feel like most of the people I talk to suggest that the letter be from the dentist you shadowed. So I don't know if this is an unwritten rule or what... I just wanted to make sure. I feel uncomfortable asking any of the dentists that I shadowed for a letter of recommendation because I don't feel like they could write anything with much substance. I would say that all my visits were very pleasant and positive, but they really don't know me. If I asked a dentist who I've done some volunteering for or something, they could probably discuss my character, work ethic, integrity, etc... But I feel like all that these other dentists could say is... he's a nice kid who came in eager to learn. That's it. I really don't think there's a whole lot else they could say. I'm not hostile about that, that's just the reality of the situation. So would it be okay to get a letter of recommendation from a dentist that I haven't actually shadowed, but have done some sort of work/project/volunteering for?
I had a couple of questions that I was hoping someone may be able to help me out with.
1.) As far as shadowing goes, how picky should one be as far as calculating the exact number of hours one shadows? For example, I've been shadowing a dentist periodically who lets me come in for an entire day every now and then. Technically his office is open from 7-4 (9 hours), however, lunch takes up an hour of that time. During that time I normally eat lunch in the office with some of the dental assistants and casually discuss various dental topics. Therefore, even though I'm not physically shadowing during that hour of time, I'm still in the dental office learning more about dentistry. As a result, do you think it's okay to keep logging my 9 hour shadowing sessions, or realistically, should I put 8? I know the discrepancy is so small it may be kind of annoying that I'm asking this question, but I'm REALLY close to my personal goal for my total number of shadowing hours, and honestly, I would like to be done as soon as possible.
2.) The schools I intend on applying to require a letter of recommendation from a dentist. Does this letter have to be from a dentist that I shadowed? I looked on all the websites requirement pages for the schools I'm applying to and I've never seen this requirement. However, I feel like most of the people I talk to suggest that the letter be from the dentist you shadowed. So I don't know if this is an unwritten rule or what... I just wanted to make sure. I feel uncomfortable asking any of the dentists that I shadowed for a letter of recommendation because I don't feel like they could write anything with much substance. I would say that all my visits were very pleasant and positive, but they really don't know me. If I asked a dentist who I've done some volunteering for or something, they could probably discuss my character, work ethic, integrity, etc... But I feel like all that these other dentists could say is... he's a nice kid who came in eager to learn. That's it. I really don't think there's a whole lot else they could say. I'm not hostile about that, that's just the reality of the situation. So would it be okay to get a letter of recommendation from a dentist that I haven't actually shadowed, but have done some sort of work/project/volunteering for?
