Volunteering and Shadowing at the Same Clinic --> How to explain this in AADSAS?

[drbaozi]

I previously shadowed and volunteered at a private clinic over a summer period and was wondering how I should list these experiences on my application. Should they both be under the same experience or split into two? For example, on Wednesdays, I would shadow the dentist, and Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would volunteer. For volunteering, I would help the front desk with filing and picking up calls, wiping down the stations, cleaning dental instruments, etc., while for shadowing I pretty much just watched the dentist do his procedures the whole time.

I would appreciate any suggestions you may have!!

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[Cthuluhoop]

They should be separate entries, one for shadowing one for volunteering and be sure to explain the differences like you did here.

 

[drbaozi]

They should be separate entries, one for shadowing one for volunteering and be sure to explain the differences like you did here.

Thanks for the advice! Do you think the volunteering portion should be listed as a "dental experience" or "volunteer"?

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

Thanks for the advice! Do you think the volunteering portion should be listed as a "dental experience" or "volunteer"?

Here's the definition of volunteering and other experiences on the AADSAS apps

Academic Enrichment: Programs sponsored by colleges, universities or other not–for–profit organizations (e.g., Summer Medical and Dental Education Program/Summer Health Professions Education Program).
Dental Experiences: Time spent officially following and observing a health care professional at work, preferably a dentist. When listing a dental experience, please specify the type of dentist you shadowed in the description text box (e.g., general dentist, orthodontist, etc.).
Employment: Paid work done outside of the dental care field; for example, a non-dental healthcare experience, retail or restaurant job.
Extracurricular Activities: Any sports teams and other activities through a college or university.
Research: Research projects done in addition to classroom work; research should NOT appear as credit on a school transcript.
Volunteer: Volunteer work done outside of the health care field; for example, working for Habitat for Humanity, tutoring students, participating in or working for a fundraiser walk or blood drive, etc.


You will notice that volunteer = outside of healthcare volunteering.

So, your shadowing and volunteering should be part of the dental experiences. They can be separate experiences, but it won't be under volunteering.