The dentist I shadowed lost his license. Are my hours valid?

[C6H12O6]

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One of the dentists I shadowed was caught using drugs while operating on patients. I wanted to have three types of dental practices on my application to show that I really looked into the different types of dentristy I could go into. The dentist that I shadowed, who lost his license, was a sedation and anesthesia specialists. I have more than enough hours but I really want to include these in my application. Will dental schools view these as valid since he is no longer practicing? I can't even get a hold of the guy to verify my hours.

 

[MickeyMouse45]

just put the hours in application. u don't have to verify hours with dentist. AADSAS committee won't have enough time to check (chances are low) and verify ur hours by calling the dentist and checking if he has lost his licence or not.

 

[doc toothache]

One of the dentists I shadowed was caught using drugs while operating on patients. I wanted to have three types of dental practices on my application to show that I really looked into the different types of dentristy I could go into. The dentist that I shadowed, who lost his license, was a sedation and anesthesia specialists. I have more than enough hours but I really want to include these in my application. Will dental schools view these as valid since he is no longer practicing? I can't even get a hold of the guy to verify my hours.

FYI, dental sedation/anesthesia is not a recognized specialty.

 

[Michael_Scott]

FYI, dental sedation/anesthesia is not a recognized specialty.

a self-sedation specialist...

One of the dentists I shadowed was caught using drugs while operating on patients. I wanted to have three types of dental practices on my application to show that I really looked into the different types of dentristy I could go into. The dentist that I shadowed, who lost his license, was a sedation and anesthesia specialists. I have more than enough hours but I really want to include these in my application. Will dental schools view these as valid since he is no longer practicing? I can't even get a hold of the guy to verify my hours.

shadowing specialists is not really seen as a plus. Remember, general dentist first THEN if you are good enough, you specialize. So schools could care less if you shadowed a specialist...Moreover, when questions about shadowing come up, its about your experience and rarely about the dentist you shadowed.
But if you do want to put it you could, given that the dentist had a valid license when you shadowed. I would heed doctoothache's advice

 

[C6H12O6]

My bad. I thought the 2 years of schooling he had after dental school in order to intubate and administer drugs via IV was some sort of specialty.

 

[TheBigN89]

Wow, this is actually an interesting question.

So I'll say this: would you look favorably upon an applicant who shadowed a dentist who it became known they lost their license for crimes or ethical violations? I certainly wouldn't. Cut your losses, shadow some other ones, and remove any ties you have to that dentist. Life brings you that curveball. You can't control the outcome of a dentist's character outside of shadowing hours, but you can certainly control your application and how you want to dictate the image of it - I'm of the belief that everyone you list on your application is fair game to communicate with, and false/bad references, organizations listed, hours listed that are misleading is bad for you in the lung run (many pre-med/pre-dents don't have integrity with some parts of their applicaiton - eg. "Got 1000 volunteering hours").

Just become schools say they don't verify shadowing hours means it's 100% factual. Perhaps someone on a particular admissions board knows the dentist of interest, their story, etc. Is it worth the (small) risk to you?

 

[blablabla1]

a self-sedation specialist...


shadowing specialists is not really seen as a plus. Remember, general dentist first THEN if you are good enough, you specialize. So schools could care less if you shadowed a specialist...Moreover, when questions about shadowing come up, its about your experience and rarely about the dentist you shadowed.
But if you do want to put it you could, given that the dentist had a valid license when you shadowed. I would heed doctoothache's advice

I don't agree with this. Schools obviously first and foremost want you to be shadowing a general dentist for some time, but they also encourage you to shadow specialists to get to know the field better.

 

[blablabla1]

My bad. I thought the 2 years of schooling he had after dental school in order to intubate and administer drugs via IV was some sort of specialty.

It is a specialization, but it isn't recognized by the ADA and so it isn't an official one. Some schools like Pitt offer a program for it.

 

[Str82th]

I don't agree with this. Schools obviously first and foremost want you to be shadowing a general dentist for some time, but they also encourage you to shadow specialists to get to know the field better.

I've got to disagree with you a bit. Schools do often want to see that you know what general dentistry is all about. They want to make sure that if they invest the time to train you to be a general dentist you won't just quit when you cannot make it into a specialty.

Either way, definitely don't tell the adcoms you want to specialize during your interview. While it may logically make sense that if you want to specialize you will work harder and perform better, they often don't see it that way. You have to be a GP first.

 

[Medin2017]

I've got to disagree with you a bit. Schools do often want to see that you know what general dentistry is all about. They want to make sure that if they invest the time to train you to be a general dentist you won't just quit when you cannot make it into a specialty.

Either way, definitely don't tell the adcoms you want to specialize during your interview. While it may logically make sense that if you want to specialize you will work harder and perform better, they often don't see it that way. You have to be a GP first.

I think the loans/debt are a good prevention tool for that

 

[blablabla1]

I've got to disagree with you a bit. Schools do often want to see that you know what general dentistry is all about. They want to make sure that if they invest the time to train you to be a general dentist you won't just quit when you cannot make it into a specialty.

Either way, definitely don't tell the adcoms you want to specialize during your interview. While it may logically make sense that if you want to specialize you will work harder and perform better, they often don't see it that way. You have to be a GP first.

Then why do some schools, on their FAQs, often have a statement saying "we require x amount of hours in general practice IN ADDITION to any specialty hours" (emphasis added)? I'd imagine that if they didn't want people shadowing specialists, they wouldn't mention it at all.

I'm not disagreeing with you that general dentist shadowing is the most important, but to suggest that specialty shadowing hurts you is absolutely crazy. Just make sure you aren't saying you want to specialize in an interview unless you're interviewing at an Ivy.

 

[Str82th]

Then why do some schools, on their FAQs, often have a statement saying "we require x amount of hours in general practice IN ADDITION to any specialty hours" (emphasis added)? I'd imagine that if they didn't want people shadowing specialists, they wouldn't mention it at all.

I'm not disagreeing with you that general dentist shadowing is the most important, but to suggest that specialty shadowing hurts you is absolutely crazy. Just make sure you aren't saying you want to specialize in an interview unless you're interviewing at an Ivy.

I'm not saying don't shadow specialists, I'm saying don't spend the majority of your time doing it.