Shadowing Tips

[dent hopefule]

Hi guys!

 

I've shadowed my optometrist on a few occasions, but when I asked my dentist, he said that he didn't want "pre-dental" students to shadow him, since it might make his patients "uncomfortable". So what do I do now? Do I go to random dental clinic and ask if I can shadow them? Any thoughts, ideas or opinion? I plan to apply in January 2009, so I better start shadowing now, if I want 100+ hours rite? Thanks

[AllSmiles]

This what I did...I took my phone book and started calling down the list. Most of the time they said no. Out of all of them I called, two said yes. One was a oral surgeon and the other a general dentist. I shadowed continuously with both, going once a week all day (since some semesters I was lucky enough to have a Friday off). Then after shadowing for a semester at the gen. dent. she offered me a job as a dental assistant since I had learned so quickly and had observed so many hours of procedures. Persistence really pays off. When you first call they'll probably think you're trying to book an appointment or something...but say something like "Hello, my name is ______ and I'm a _______ student at _________. I was wondering if it would be possible to shadow Dr. _______ for a the day or part of a day? Would that be possible?" Most of the time they say no, but some will ask more about you (if you get to talk to the main receptionist/office personnel) and then they will set up a time for you to come in on a less busy day. Make sure you ask what the dress code is, I've had to bring my own scrubs before, or I've had them supplied (I've also had to dress up once in a fancier office...heels, black pants, and a white blouse). Then when you get there be mindful of the other workers, get to know them and try not to pester them too much. (but don't just be a shadow and do nothing...ask some questions when appropriate) See if you can make it a regular thing (if they liked you they will say yes). Oh and wear comfortable shoes, you'll be on your tippy toes a lot of the time trying to peer around the assistant and the Dr. to get a look at what is happening.

 

Hope that helped

[dr.drill]

Hi guys!

 

I've shadowed my optometrist on a few occasions, but when I asked my dentist, he said that he didn't want "pre-dental" students to shadow him, since it might make his patients "uncomfortable". So what do I do now? Do I go to random dental clinic and ask if I can shadow them? Any thoughts, ideas or opinion? I plan to apply in January 2009, so I better start shadowing now, if I want 100+ hours rite? Thanks

 

100+ hours? Why so much shadowing? Is it going to take 100 hours for you to understand what a dentist does all day?

[coolwater]

go to your university/college pre dental or pre med society and ask them if any alumni are interested in having externs in their clinic. we have two externing programs at uoft, around the year.

[Adversary]

Those are some pretty good suggestions. I would suggest that you look into offices that are a bit further away from the business districts, ie. downtown. The reason is that these offices in the suburb are less under pressure to make money and the Dentist at these offices are more willing to mentor. The ones in downtown are usually working at high pace and are very dollar-conscious, thus less inclined to mentor. I speak from personal experience as well since as a DENTAL student, I got rejected by a lot of downtown offices whereas all the suburb ones were happy to let me tag along.