Shadowing Other Specialties

[Glimmer1991]

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Hey, all! Just wanted your take on a quick question.

Every week, I am spending 3 hours shadowing/volunteering at a general dentist's office and 3 hours shadowing a specialist (currently, an orthodontist). I want to become acquainted with all of the specialties before I (hopefully!) enter dental school.

I'll continue being at the general dentist's office throughout the year. However, there are multiple specialties, and I'd like to experience them all while still having a substantial amount of hours at each office.

What do you think is an significant amount of time to spend shadowing each of the specialties? 20-25 hours? That would take almost two months to do for each. I'd like to spend more at each office, but time is limited. Also, though the specialties are all very intriguing, I feel like my time at a general dentist's office will be slightly more beneficial as a precursor to dental school.

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!

 

[aznboi89x]

Hey, all! Just wanted your take on a quick question.

Every week, I am spending 3 hours shadowing/volunteering at a general dentist's office and 3 hours shadowing a specialist (currently, an orthodontist). I want to become acquainted with all of the specialties before I (hopefully!) enter dental school.

I'll continue being at the general dentist's office throughout the year. However, there are multiple specialties, and I'd like to experience them all while still having a substantial amount of hours at each office.

What do you think is an significant amount of time to spend shadowing each of the specialties? 20-25 hours? That would take almost two months to do for each. I'd like to spend more at each office, but time is limited. Also, though the specialties are all very intriguing, I feel like my time at a general dentist's office will be slightly more beneficial as a precursor to dental school.

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!

which area intrigues you the most? Do you like orthodontics? I heard endodontics is boring (my opinion). 20-25 hours for each specialty is quite alot since there are about 4 (that I can think of). Maybe try to dental assist rather than shadow? If you can try volunteering at your state's mission of mercy or dental outreach programs. I think those activities are weighted more.

 

[UltimateHombre]

Shadowing a variety of the specialties is a great idea! But anything over 100 hours of shadowing will be fluff. There is no "good amount" of time to shadow any specialty, shadow where you like the most.

 

[aznboi89x]

Shadowing a variety of the specialties is a great idea! But anything over 100 hours of shadowing will be fluff. There is no "good amount" of time to shadow any specialty, shadow where you like the most.

👍

 

[Glimmer1991]

Thanks, guys! However, do you believe that over 100 hours is fluff at JUST a general dentist's office, or with everything combined? I thought some schools didn't really like it so much if the bulk of your shadowing wasn't with a GD... And I thought some schools recommended more hours than this?

 

[iDentastic]

Thanks, guys! However, do you believe that over 100 hours is fluff at JUST a general dentist's office, or with everything combined? I thought some schools didn't really like it so much if the bulk of your shadowing wasn't with a GD... And I thought some schools recommended more hours than this?

It's fluff if it's over 100 hours just at a general dentist's office, in my opinion. I've done about 60+ hours at a general dentists office and you honestly can't get much more from just shadowing. You could spend that extra time doing something else productive. If you're actually an assistant or you have job at the dental office, then that is a different story since you are obligated to help out.

In terms of shadowing other specialties, I shadowed a periodontist for 15 hours, a endodontist for 15 hours, a orthodontist for 15 hours, volunteered at a hospital where I got to see some OMFS (not sure how many hours), and did some outreach work in another country (no hands-on work whatsoever, just observing and teaching proper oral hygiene). Trust me, 10-15 hours is plenty for shadowing a specialist. You can definitely learn a lot if you shadowed more hours since some of their procedures are very detailed, however, the main point is just to get a glimpse into what specialists do. We aren't going to dental school with the intent to specialize (or at least dental schools don't want us to be). It's just to get a bigger picture of what the field of dentistry can provide. Also, don't shadow an endodontist for too long, lol. I literally saw root canal after root canal after root canal for 15 hours (with 2-3 complicated cases). It got pretty repetitive.

 

[UltimateHombre]

It's fluff if it's over 100 hours just at a general dentist's office, in my opinion. I've done about 60+ hours at a general dentists office and you honestly can't get much more from just shadowing. You could spend that extra time doing something else productive.

That is the key right there.

!00 hours is more than enough to get your feet wet and give you an idea of what dentists do. After that, you could spend your time doing more productive things: volunteering, pre-dental club, community outreach, etc.

 

[deleted487471]

That is the key right there.

!00 hours is more than enough to get your feet wet and give you an idea of what dentists do. After that, you could spend your time doing more productive things: volunteering, pre-dental club, community outreach, etc.

I agree. Seems like some people go way overboard with shadowing.

To OP, shadow as much as many specialties as you can. Unfortunately, I got rejected by 3 quarters of the specialists in my city 😀.

 

[Toofly01]

Glimmer, how much time are you willing to allocate total towards shadowing? Is there a limit you had in mind? Dentals schools in general want to see more hours at a general dentist's office. I would start looking for a specialist, preferably one whose work you are interested in... and get ready to ask around, some dentists just don't like students shadowing them.

Additionally, I wouldn't work for a dentist unless you have a lot of flexibility in your schedule (you probably don't because you're a serious student). A lot of dentists I know have the "I don't care that you're a student" mentality (and honestly I don't blame them because they are running a business), so unless you know them personally, get ready to put school on the back burner. I would "intern" which means you receive in-house training and get hands-on experience (maybe not with everything but it's definitely a start, and something you can write about in apps and talk about in interviews). Best part is, you can leave whenever you want because they won't set schedules based on your schedule so you're never obligated to be there... just an idea. Best of luck!

(To answer your question- I would say 20 is a good number per specialty, but that's just my opinion. I would try to get a majority of the "100" hours from a general dentist. Anything above that number is simply your call. But getting most hrs from a general dentist shows you've theoretically (and likely) seen a wider variety of cases thus giving you a more accurate snapshot of the dental profession).

 

[colombianDDS]

The more you shadow the better. So there is really no max/min that dental schools will want you to have under your belt. I have met with the dean of my dental school and he suggested that I shadow an oral surgeon. Once you begin shadowing specialties it will be basically the same procedure done everyday. So It wouldn't be too beneficial seeing someone bond brackets everyday (i'm not saying this is bad in any way but you just want to get the most diverse shadowing experience as possible). Try to apply to some offices as a dental assistant. You can use your shadowing experience as means of prior experience. I recently got a dental assistant job with an endodontist and it is so so so much better than shadowing. Honestly, in shadowing you don't really learn much (even if the dentist explains to you step by step what he's doing). When you actually assist you learn each instrument, sealer, filling material and the procedure itself. Don't be too picky about salary and hours. Good luck!