Submit now or shadow more?

[TheDanger]

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Hey guys. My application is all ready to be submitted, but I'm not sure if I should hold off until I gain more shadowing hours. So far I have:
650 hours with general dentist (I was a dental assistant)
15 hours with ortho
....that's it

My advisor suggested I shadow more specialists to make my application more well rounded. Would having ~15 hours with omfs and ~15 hours with perio be worth delaying my application 2-3 weeks? Also, I'm sure it wouldn't be a huge deal, but would it look bad if adcoms saw that I did these additional hours the same month that I submitted the app?

 

[Glimmer1991]

Good Lord, submit already! 😀

 

[paymaant]

650 hours?! you should be ashamed of yourself! hahaha jk nah you're fine. General dentist is preferred because that's what everyone will be starting off with in dental school. Plus, you should still send in your app because you can update your future shadowing later on!

 

[ModifiedBass]

This is an absurd question for someone with 650 hours of shadowing. You have about 550 more than you need already haha. Shadowing specialties is not needed, it's more for you're own curiosity.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Please make sure you indicate that you were assisting while you were shadowing... 'Cuz otherwise it looks crazy to have 650 hours where you just stood and watched!

 

[TheDanger]

Okay great, that's exactly what I was thinking! My advisor seemed to make a fuss about the fact that I hadn't shadowed many specialists.

Anyways, I worked with the same dentist for two summers - First summer I volunteered as a dental assistant, second summer I did the same but got paid for it. So I've actually split my hours: 300+ under the volunteer section (I didn't want to put it under the dental experience section because my ECs are a bit lacking) and 300+ under the dental experiences as a paid dental assistant.

I do realize that it sounds like an absurd question 😛 Can't blame me for wanting to cover all my bases! I'm sure you guys remember how nerve wracking this process is. There seems to be paranoia around every corner. At least for me.

 

[doc toothache]

If 65 is good enough for some school, 650 should be 10x better. Tobe sure, check with your adviser to see if the math/logic is correct.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2014-shadowing-requirements-recommendations.1069934/

 

[Illfavor]

I didn't know I needed any hours shadowing a specialist...guess I need to reapply.

 

[TheDanger]

No harm in trying to become a better candidate, right?

 

[Glimmer1991]

No harm in trying to become a better candidate, right?

Definitely not!

But plz, tell your advisor to hush. 😀

 

[jeffity]

Seems to be a lack of advisers who know anything about this process.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Seems to be a lack of advisers who know anything about this process.

'Tis an epidemic.

 

[Daneosaurus]

From a non trad point of view, required shadowing is ridiculous and damn near impossible. 150 recommended hours VCU (my state school) ? I have shadowed, and while cool at first, I have plenty of reasons for wanting to do this, and none of them involve standing around looking at someone else do work.

 

[thedentaldentist]

Everyone has already answered your question but if you or anyone here have anymore questions email me at [email protected]. Also, I recently started a twitter page... and by recent I mean a few minutes ago so please follow me: https://twitter.com/dentaldentist19