When to Shadow

[dental1988]

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I will be a sophomore in the fall. I am currently volunteering at a hospital. However, should I try to start shadowing till the end of the summer or should I just wait till next summer.

 

[2quik]

start now and get it over with. That way you can focus on your grades next year! I dont know about everyone else, but shadowing for me was the most boring thing...If you get the chance to assist, that's so much cooler! Plus it looks better.

 

[the prodogy]

The question about shadowing early is getting your LOR from the dentist later on. If you do it early, I always figured the dentist may not know you very well when you ask for your LOR later on. So I've always wanted to shadow/assist a few months before I start needing my LOR's. What do you guys think?

 

[dental1988]

Why can't you ask for the LOR right after you're done shadowing?

 

[NewMexDent]

Ok, we all know that we need to shadow so that we can put it on our application and dental schools like it - but shadowing should be more than that. It should help you determine if dentistry, in fact, actually interests you. Shadowing early and often helps express sincere interest in the proffession. If you havn't had much shadowing experience yet I would suggest getting some as soon as possible to help you find out if you even want to be a dentist. What if you go in to shadow next summer and realize you would hate practicing dentistry? You would have wasted a year.

I imagine if I were on an adcoms commitee reviewing an applicant claiming to have been interested in dentistry since his freshman year in dentistry I would question his motivations. Are you interested because of what you've observed or because you've heard they make good money and don't work on fridays? Those are just my thoughts.

 

[the prodogy]

Why can't you ask for the LOR right after you're done shadowing?

Ok... this maybe a really stupid, but I always thought that you're supposed to get your LOR during application time. I thought LOR go straight from the dentist to the application, without you ever looking at them.

 

[dmd2011]

I will be a sophomore in the fall. I am currently volunteering at a hospital. However, should I try to start shadowing till the end of the summer or should I just wait till next summer.

start shadowing now... the more hours you have the better.

 

[rose786]

Ok... this maybe a really stupid, but I always thought that you're supposed to get your LOR during application time. I thought LOR go straight from the dentist to the application, without you ever looking at them.

Not necessarily. If you have a letter service at your college, you can get your LORs as you go along. I use Interfolio and I highly recommend it. It takes a lot of the stress off because if a school loses a letter, you can just ask the letter center to mail it out again, instead of asking your letter writer for a new one.