I currently work as a patient coordinator at a dental office. I have the opportunity to do research in the upcoming semester, but it means I would have to work way less. Which should I choose? When all is said and done, will dental schools care if I was involved research, or is it better that I would be in a real dental setting?
What does admissions like to see?
- Thread starter puzzles29
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Research is only really beneficial at schools that receive a lot of funding - large state universities, and a few other privates. It can be an addition to an application, but you shouldn't do it if you're just trying to check off a box. If you have a passion for research I'd say do it, but it can be a lot of work and quite frustrating at times when things don't work and you have to keep restarting.
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Are you getting a stipend on your research experience? Would you get a very strong science letter?
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For medical school, research experience is expected. For dental school, not so much. Would it be a plus? Yes. Is it worth the lost income? Who knows.
Big Hoss
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Dental schools are looking for passion. If they cannot sense that you are passionate about your research, it will mean absolutely nothing to them. I had absolutely no research, but put all of my effort into something I was passionate about. Only had about 10 experiences listen on my app, but the passion was shown through the way I talked about each of them and the hours listed. I got into some top notch schools - UCSF, UNC, Columbia, etc (ALL as an OOS). Do things that truly mean something to you and be able to explain it throughout your application and interview.
Additionally, don't think you HAVE to have dental experience besides shadowing. It's nice if you enjoy it and if it reminds you of why you want to be a dentist, but I truly think you shouldn't do it to "look good."
If you like it, do it. If you don't like it, find something that means something to you and figure out how to make something out of it.
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Great advice. I had even less experiences. But I was extremely passionate about my research, well over 1000 hours. I could explain my project in depth well beyond my education level and had multiple abstracts accepted with papers pending. I had only dental shadowing as my dental related experience but I was passionate about the work I did and knew dentistry was the right fit for me. And in the end I was also successful. The best advice I was ever given was this:
Do what you want to do, NOT what you think dental schools want you to do. Because this will be apparent in an interview about how you talk through your experiences. Just do what you love, they appreciate you have a life outside of the field and just want you to be human.
