Shadowing

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dr.buck

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Hi, I'm a freshman undergraduate so I've still got a way to applying to dental school. I'm very interested in shadowing, but I've got two problems. I'm not sure how to approach a dentist. I have two personal dentists--general and ortho. I go to the orthodontist regularly, but not so much the general dentist. The second problem is I'm shy! When I go to the dentists, I say "hello" and stuff, but I really don't talk to them as if I were trying to actually get to know them so asking for the favor of shadowing seems a bit daunting.

Anyone have any tips or maybe how you found a dentist to shadow? 🙂
 
Just call them up sometime, ask to speak to Dr. whatever. Just say "I am a freshman in college right now and am interested in the profession; would it be possible for me to come in and shadow/observe, etc"

Its that simple. Its hard to get over the initial part about asking, but most dentists are willing to let you come in a couple hours a week. Another thought, you can try talking to dentists near your college, especially if there are a lot of pre dent/pre med people in the school. They probably are more receptive.
 
I went to the volunteer office at the local hospital....they had a dental clinic and I volunteered there until I was offered employment.
 
pmoney said:
Just call them up sometime, ask to speak to Dr. whatever. Just say "I am a freshman in college right now and am interested in the profession; would it be possible for me to come in and shadow/observe, etc"

Its that simple. Its hard to get over the initial part about asking, but most dentists are willing to let you come in a couple hours a week. Another thought, you can try talking to dentists near your college, especially if there are a lot of pre dent/pre med people in the school. They probably are more receptive.
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Thank you! I will hit the phonebook's listings asap. 😀 I'm glad I found this forum. It's invaluable.
 
the best thing to do is to visit the dental office and ask. its a lot easier for a dentist to say "NO" to you over the phone then when you ask in person. why don't you ask your personal dentist? at least they are already familiar with you and they may be willing to help. i'm pretty shy too, but i've been trying really hard to break out of my shell. don't be shy though. you're going to have to work on that if you want to be a dentist. 🙂
 
duh? said:
😱 😱 😱 The things people do for money!
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Hey, c'mon, that was my dad....we..we were desperate for money...I mean Euro's. Be cool everyone.
 
the dentists i have shadowed have been more than welcoming in letting me observe their practice. just be honest with them and make it known that you're doing this truly to learn more.
 
I just emailed one dentist. Just waiting for a reply. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. And it ain't pretty. lol 🙂
 
dr.buck said:
I just emailed one dentist. Just waiting for a reply. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach. And it ain't pretty. lol 🙂
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Once you get into one dental office and shadow, ask the dentist if he knows of any of his associates that would let you shadow them. Networking - tried and true!
 
geometric-pain said:
Once you get into one dental office and shadow, ask the dentist if he knows of any of his associates that would let you shadow them. Networking - tried and true!
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What I did was, here at Duke there's a employment/mentor/career center and the lady there helped me look up a dentist-who was a duke alumni and put himself down as a mentor, maybe your school has something like that?

Becausse prior to that I had called acouple of dentists who said they were too busy to take up a 'shadower', i ended up shadowing at that mentor guy and somebody else who was my friends' dentist.
 
i remember 3 years ago, i sat down one afternoon with a thick yellowbook, it was raining, and i just started randomly calling dental offices around the area if i can go shadow.

i called about 30 office before one finally said i can come and "tour" the office for an hour or two.

with some charm and luck, the manager said i can come regularly and shadow the new dentist that was working there. he ended up teaching me few things about assisting.

few weeks later i enrolled myself into American Career College and enrolled myself into Registered Dental Assistant program, learned alot, and then i began working as legitimate dental assistant.

it's been a wild ride, and i enjoyed every minute of it.

just gotta have the wills to do it.
 
dr.buck said:
The second problem is I'm shy! When I go to the dentists, I say "hello" and stuff, but I really don't talk to them as if I were trying to actually get to know them so asking for the favor of shadowing seems a bit daunting.

Anyone have any tips or maybe how you found a dentist to shadow? 🙂
Click to expand...
You must work on not being shy. Dentistry is a profession that requires you to be social daily. You will probably deal with every kind of character, so you don't want to be walked all over due to shyness. I feel for you, because my sister is incredibly shy and a teacher.
This is especially important for your interview. You must sell yourself. You can work on shyness by meeting dentists, telling them your future plans and asking to shadow. Good Luck!!!
 
a shot of tequila also helps.

just dont forget to bring the mint
 
Kniles5 said:
You must work on not being shy. Dentistry is a profession that requires you to be social daily. You will probably deal with every kind of character, so you don't want to be walked all over due to shyness. I feel for you, because my sister is incredibly shy and a teacher.
This is especially important for your interview. You must sell yourself. You can work on shyness by meeting dentists, telling them your future plans and asking to shadow. Good Luck!!!
Click to expand...

Sorry but I'm gonna bump this awesome thread. Anyways, Kniles5 is totally right on working on not being shy. I use to be very shy, but a year ago I got a job at Best Buy electronics store and had to constantly confront custumers and ask them if they needed any assistance. Doing sale rep like this at Best Buy totally broke my shy character. So i would recommend working somewhere busy, even if it isn't dental related. Trust me this will help you throught out the rest of your life, esspecially in dentistry where you have to not only confront patients verbally but also physically.
 
😎 Try shadowing a general dentist to experience the many facets dentistry has to offer. And make sure ur not related to the doctor ur shadowing, cause then it just seems that ur not trying to leave ur comfort zone.
 
honestly, I would shadow my personal GP and orthodontist, i am assuming you pay these guys so it would be pretty rude for them to say "NO" to you following them around for a couple of hours, now assisting is a different animal b/c then you may slow them down...

My advice to you as a freshman is chuck the shadowing till your jr. or sr. year and work on becoming a well rounded person and having fun in college. Everything you do doesn't have to be dental related. I got into all the dental schools I applied to and I had a couple months of shadowing, and all my internships and research were non dental related. The purpose of shadowing is to make sure that you understand and enjoy the day to day activities of being a dentist, and it doesn't take four years to figure that out.
 
^^ thanks. i figured i was trying to conquer too much too fast so i've taken a step back to focus on other things besides shadowing right now until summer or next year. (i.e. my hobbies, volunteer @ my church's soup kitchen like i've been doing for the past 4 years, excellent gpa).
 
Since you already have dentists you see regularly, I would obviously ask them first, maybe on your next visit. I didn't have a regular dentist, so I did the cold call thing. I got my chance with like the 6th dentist.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice and encouraging words! Today I visited my dentist for a regular cleaning. The hygentist began talking to me about my career plans. She was so sweet! As soon as the doctor came in she couldn't help but tell him I was interested in dentistry. She was so estatic! So now, all I have to do is call dr. dentist back and let him know when a good time would be for me to come in and observe. 😀 I hope I can do it for more than one day. It seems that's all I am going to get out of him. One day is better than no day. hehe
 
dr.buck said:
Hi, I'm a freshman undergraduate so I've still got a way to applying to dental school. I'm very interested in shadowing, but I've got two problems. I'm not sure how to approach a dentist. I have two personal dentists--general and ortho. I go to the orthodontist regularly, but not so much the general dentist. The second problem is I'm shy! When I go to the dentists, I say "hello" and stuff, but I really don't talk to them as if I were trying to actually get to know them so asking for the favor of shadowing seems a bit daunting.

Anyone have any tips or maybe how you found a dentist to shadow? 🙂
Click to expand...


best way is to call the free dental clinic in your area.

dentists dont care to allow students to watch low income patients that are not paying for their services.
 
dr.buck said:
Hi, I'm a freshman undergraduate so I've still got a way to applying to dental school. I'm very interested in shadowing, but I've got two problems. I'm not sure how to approach a dentist. I have two personal dentists--general and ortho. I go to the orthodontist regularly, but not so much the general dentist. The second problem is I'm shy! When I go to the dentists, I say "hello" and stuff, but I really don't talk to them as if I were trying to actually get to know them so asking for the favor of shadowing seems a bit daunting.

Anyone have any tips or maybe how you found a dentist to shadow? 🙂
Click to expand...


best way is to call the free dental clinic in your area.

dentists dont care to allow students to watch low income patients that are not paying for their services. get ready to see lots of extractions !
 
starvinstudent said:
best way is to call the free dental clinic in your area.

dentists dont care to allow students to watch low income patients that are not paying for their services. get ready to see lots of extractions !
Click to expand...

I've found a dentist to shadow. I asked my personal dentist. But where I live there are no dental clinics. If there are any near me, it is at the very least 120 miles away.
 
dr.buck said:
I've found a dentist to shadow. I asked my personal dentist. But where I live there are no dental clinics. If there are any near me, it is at the very least 120 miles away.
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I drove 2 hours to shadow a dentist at a clinic 8 times.


Is this too much of an inconvenience for you?

Seriously, you just made yourself sound like someone who doesn't want to be a dentist.

God 120 miles. Big $hit man. there are plenty of people out here that have done way more than that.

I can't believe that comment.
 
starvinstudent said:
I drove 2 hours to shadow a dentist at a clinic 8 times.


Is this too much of an inconvenience for you?

Seriously, you just made yourself sound like someone who doesn't want to be a dentist.

God 120 miles. Big $hit man. there are plenty of people out here that have done way more than that.

I can't believe that comment.
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Actually, right now at this time the cons outweigh the pros. So, yes, it is an inconvenience. However, when I am able to move closer to any (and IF) dental clinic's area in a few months, I would give it greater consideration. I haven't found any at the moment. There is one in San Antonio for sure. Again, SA is a 6 hour drive from me. In my opinion, it's not worth a weekly drive if I have an opportunity to observe a practice 5 mins from my house.
 
dr.buck said:
Actually, right now at this time the cons outweigh the pros. So, yes, it is an inconvenience. However, when I am able to move closer to any (and IF) dental clinic's area in a few months, I would give it greater consideration. I haven't found any at the moment. There is one in San Antonio for sure. Again, SA is a 6 hour drive from me. In my opinion, it's not worth a weekly drive if I have an opportunity to observe a practice 5 mins from my house.
Click to expand...


yep. then this thread needs closed. you answered your own question.
 
I just got back from 20 hours of shadowing. I suggest you wait until your sophmore year, its REALLY early to shadow now, thats what I think.
 
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