shadowing?

[applicant]

Do dentists are ususally open about shadowing them if I ask him or her to shadow him or her?

cuz i mean...they have nothing to gain from me shadowing them...
just an unnecesary person in the office.
would they be annoyed?
or would they like it if someone wants to shadow them?

and...
is it better to do some volunteer in a large hospital than shadowing a dentist?
which experience do dental schools prefer out of the following three?
- volunteer
- research
- shadow

what happens if u apply to dental school without any of those three experiences?
are u at a serious disadvantage?

any input will be appreciated.

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[s.mutans]

Ask your own dentist first, if not there are so many dentists out there to shadow, I don't think there will be a problem. Just send a little resume and your plans/intentions. Look Professional, if you don't know the dentist. ask around where ussually there are a lot dental offices bunched up together?? It's better though if the staff know you!

I think community should be the best out of the three. However, it seems that research is really what schools look at. If your name is on a published JADA article, then you are probably going to get in somewhere. It depends on the school also.

The more expereince you have the better. It could happen though!! People may get in dental school with none of these experiences. I would not know how schools could measure their dedication, and commitment to dentistry.(physically and emotiionally)

 

[GTchick]

It was hard for me to find a place to shadow but don't give up. There are dentists out there who are excited about what they do and want to share it with others.

At interviews my volunteer work and research were talked about a lot more than my shadowing but all three did come up in EVERY interview I went on.

I have heard of people getting into dental school with no shadowing but some schools have a requirement. I know that to apply to UK you HAVE to document at least 20 hours of shadowing. I want to say that they are not the only school that is like this. I don't have very many hours of shadowing in, bare requirements and I don't feel that it has hurt me yet. They want to see that you know what you are getting into.

 

[mzalendo]

Regardless of what dental schools require in order to catapault you into their respective schools, go ahead and shadow a dentist. My experience was easily the top ten experiences of my life ( mind you,I live a relatively thrilling life ).Make sure you dress up, I remember my dentist gasping in amazement when I dressed up "just to shadow him" as he put it. Most dentists are very receptive to serious students, present yourself very professionally. My day was so good that coincidentally one of the interim deans from a local dental school showed up and confused me for a practicing dentist (only to be corrected by my dentist).Several AEGDs kept on introducing themselves to me under the impression that I was a new dentist they better suck up to. Let me just say that this was a great experience. Really there were so many positives on this day I consider my self so lucky.

 

[myameena]

I'm glad you mentioned the idea of Shadowing. My schedule is so busy becuase I work 8a-5p monday through friday. I want to shadow but I don't have any time on the weekdays. Weekends I try to do my volunteer work at the AIDS foundation here. I'm not sure what I should do because if shadowing comes up on an interview then I haven't got an answer for that.