Should I shadow more or work as an assistant?

Started by cyclohexane101
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cyclohexane101

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So I might reapply probably around July, but in the meanwhile I am thinking that I should get more shadowing hours or work as an assistant. I'd rather shadow because I think I will have a problem finding job as an assistant. I will have to tell them I am not going to work there for a while and I am in the process of applying to dental schools (and probably let the dentist know I might need the recommendation letter).
 
I shadowed for about 6 months and have been an RDA for about 2 months and let me tell you, I LOVE being an assistant. Now its not all blissful because I had to take a pay cut but I am learning so much more than when I shadowed and I feel that the dentists I work for will give me much more meaningful LOR.

I get to assist with instruments, take impressions, coronal polishing, take xrays, create temporary crowns, and sterilize. In my case I get to ask the doctors whatever I want and get to ask them about the business side of things because they know I want to be a dentist.

Downsides are that majority of offices want you to be certified and the certification process is not cheap. There are a lot of nonsense RDA schools that are 6 months long and cost upwards of 10k. The one I went to was 12 weeks (3 months) and cost 3.5k but I was willing to bite the bullet.

Also right out of school do not expect to make very much, like I said I took a sizeable pay cut but then again I am 22 and have no significant bills.

Also If you get certified and start working you can guarantee that you will be working until next summer which is when you would start school so one year isnt a bad investment for them to make.

If nothing else, shadowing is still great and theres nothing wrong with getting more hours but its just less hands on.
 
cyclohexane101 said:
So I might reapply probably around July, but in the meanwhile I am thinking that I should get more shadowing hours or work as an assistant. I'd rather shadow because I think I will have a problem finding job as an assistant. I will have to tell them I am not going to work there for a while and I am in the process of applying to dental schools (and probably let the dentist know I might need the recommendation letter).
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Do you believe that not having more than the requisites shadowing hours had anything to do with your lack of success?
 
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predental21250 said:
I would take a job as an assistant. Stanelz how much are you making at your office if you don't mind me asking?
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Im not insecure about anything in my life so ill share lol. I make 11/hr which is actually pretty terrible even to start. I work at a chain but if you go private most make 13/hr to start and with experience it goes all the way to 20/hr (people that have been doing it for 10+ years). I am sure I will probably get bumped up to like 12-13 in a couple of months from what I hear from the other assistants. I am also 22 with no bills which I know is a luxury in itself so everything I make is just being saved for school.

The reason I was willing to do so is because the dentists I work for have been very good to me when I was just shadowing and I know I can get great LOR from them and they are super cool to work with. I do not intend to work there after getting accepted to school because at my last job I was making 12.50/hr and they begged me not to leave and after getting accepted I am just going to take any job to make as much money as possible to pay for school.

The only plus other than the things I mentioned are the hours. I literally work 6 hours a day (two saturdays out of the month) which free's up time for me to engage in my other hobbies which is vastly more important to me than making a ton of money right now but hey thats just me.
 
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Stanelz said:
Im not insecure about anything in my life so ill share lol. I make 11/hr which is actually pretty terrible even to start. I work at a chain but if you go private most make 13/hr to start and with experience it goes all the way to 20/hr (people that have been doing it for 10+ years). I am sure I will probably get bumped up to like 12-13 in a couple of months from what I hear from the other assistants. I am also 22 with no bills which I know is a luxury in itself so everything I make is just being saved for school.

The reason I was willing to do so is because the dentists I work for have been very good to me when I was just shadowing and I know I can get great LOR from them and they are super cool to work with. I do not intend to work there after getting accepted to school because at my last job I was making 12.50/hr and they begged me not to leave and after getting accepted I am just going to take any job to make as much money as possible to pay for school.

The only plus other than the things I mentioned are the hours. I literally work 6 hours a day (two saturdays out of the month) which free's up time for me to engage in my other hobbies which is vastly more important to me than making a ton of money right now but hey thats just me.
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I'm making 20k a year as an assistant working about 35hours a week so I'm with you. Really just doing it for the experience
 
Hmm, @doc toothache made a good point.

Since you are reapplying, why are you considering now to shadow more? Is it because you think you didn't have enough hours during the previous cycle?
A minimum of 100 hours shadowing hours is recommended... 200+ to me seems a bit excessive (do you not die from boredom?), but it definitely doesn't hurt to have more. Anyways, you mentioned that most of your hours were from a specialist. That could be a problem as most schools want the bulk of your hours to be from not one, but a couple or more general dentists. Certainly consider this if you plan to continue to shadow.

Anyways, back to your question. Shadow or assist? By all means, assisting will give you much more dental experience than shadowing ever will. Heck, when you assist, you are technically shadowing, so why not just assist and get paid while you're at it (you're killing two birds with one stone here)? But assisting isn't for everyone as it might not be easy to find a job if you're not certified, which takes time and money to get. Once you become certified, you'll certainly want to work for a while or even be expected to work for a while, so definitely consider the commitment for that.

Anywho, take your pick and...

Best of luck~
 
I would recommend you to work as an assistant. i m sure you can find plenty of DA jobs that don't require experience or completion of DA program. I shadowed general dentist for 100 hours and learned nothing about the practical work. I then started working as a dental assistant and gained experience how to handle patients, billing, how to communicate with patients etc and my experience helped me to answer some of the scenario based questions asked during interviews. even though my wage was low $10/hr and worked for 5 months, the experience and knowledge I gained helped me to answer interview questions. I highly recommend working as DA. However, i would suggest find a dentist who is willing to train you and doesn't want a certified DA. I think enrolling in a DA program and paying for it is a waste of money.
 
predental21250 said:
I would take a job as an assistant. Stanelz how much are you making at your office if you don't mind me asking?
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You didn't ask me but I thought I'd give you some other figures. I was an orthodontic assistant and made $18.50 an hour (other ortho assistants made around $24) but my buddy in OMFS was making $25. Typically assistants make more in specialty offices, and when it comes to ortho there is much more autonomy and the work is a little more enjoyable that way. I was working 40-50 hours a week, and could get pulled for OT in other offices (endo, prostho, or general usually--but got some perio and OS experience). Perk for working in a corporate offices is that the network of offices allows you more flexibility in getting more experiences under different doctors.
 
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