Dental shadowing: Making it worth your while
By: Crackdat Dental Admission Test
Tags: Dentistry, Dental Admission Test, Pre Dental, Dental School, Shadowing

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If you plan to apply to dental school, you’ll be spending anywhere from 40 to 100 hours (and possibly many more!) in the dental clinic getting firsthand experience through shadowing. If you’re going to be spending that many hours shadowing, you owe it to yourself to make it worth your while and get as much as possible out of the experience! Here is some advice, written by a first-year dental student who has gone through the shadowing and application process, about how to avoid passively accumulating your shadowing hours, and instead actively immerse yourself in the experience!

Be organized

As soon as you start shadowing, make a spreadsheet to keep track of where and when you’re shadowing. In my spreadsheet, I kept track of each dentist’s name, the practice/office name, and the date/time of each shadowing experience. I also kept a running count of how many shadowing hours I had accumulated to date. When you apply to dental school, you will be asked to report the dates and hours of each of your shadowing experiences, so keeping track from the beginning will make this step of your application so much easier than trying to remember or guess this information!

Consider the types of dentists you shadow

Make sure the majority of your shadowing hours are with a general dentist. Dental schools want to see that you have a strong understanding of what general dentistry entails — even if you’re really interested in a dental specialty — because everyone who graduates from dental school will be a general dentist first. Still, add variety to your shadowing! I only shadowed general dentists, but I shadowed three different dentists who all had incredibly different offices, business practices, perspectives, backgrounds, and approaches to taking care of patients. For example, one dentist I shadowed was the owner of a small, traditional practice with only three chairs; another belonged to a large, ultramodern group practice with many dentists working under the same roof. Use your shadowing experience to get a glimpse of some of that diversity — doing so might help you figure out what type of dentist you hope to be in the future or what type of work environment might best suit you. If you’re interested in any specialties, you can also devote some of your shadowing hours to shadowing specialists in those fields.

Get to know the office environment

Shadowing isn’t just about observing procedures and learning about the role of the dentist. It’s also a great opportunity to learn from the rest of the team members — the dental assistants, dental hygienists, office managers, front desk staff, and other people who help offices run smoothly, day in and day out. Ask the front desk staff if they can teach you a bit about dental insurance or scheduling. Ask the hygienists if they can walk you through some of the components of doing a cleaning, taking x-rays, or educating patients about dental health. Approach your shadowing with the mindset that you can learn a little bit from everybody you meet and you’ll get so much more out of the experience than you would otherwise.

Ask questions — lots of them!

Don’t be shy about asking questions — you’re shadowing to learn! Bring your curiosity and energy to the office every single time you shadow. Ask the dentists you shadow if they would be able to explain the logic behind why they’re doing what they’re doing. Remember to ask questions between procedures, too. Even when you’re not directly observing the dentist perform a procedure, you can ask questions about other aspects of dentistry. For example: What is your favorite part of your job? Your least favorite? Do you like being a business owner and managing your own practice? What is something you wish you had known before entering the dental profession?

Keep a log of notable shadowing experiences

You can do this either on the same spreadsheet you use to track your shadowing dates and hours, or elsewhere, like in a notebook. Jot down experiences and interactions that you find particularly meaningful or interesting. Maybe you watched the dentist calm a patient with intense dental anxiety. Maybe you witnessed a really complicated procedure that transformed a patient’s smile or took a patient out of pain. Try to find even one experience worth jotting down during every shadowing experience. This will come in handy — during many of my dental school interviews, I was asked to talk about specific shadowing experiences. You can also make reference to some of these experiences in your personal statement when discussing how shadowing shaped your decision to pursue dentistry.

Form a good relationship with the dentist you shadow

There is so much value in having a mentor-mentee relationship with someone in the dental field. Not only would this person also be highly likely to write you an insightful and genuine recommendation letter, but they can also support you throughout your entire journey in dentistry, from the application process to years down the line, when you’re about to start practicing. When you start shadowing, see if there are any dentists in particular who you “click” with. If you can consistently shadow that dentist over the course of a year, you just might find yourself a role model in the field and a great support system that lasts over time.

Envision yourself in the profession

Remember that one major purpose of shadowing is to determine if dentistry is the right field for you. It’s easy to lose sight of this when you’re only shadowing for a couple of hours at a time and then heading home. While shadowing, you should be trying to determine (as best you can!) if this is the job you’d be happy doing not just a couple of hours a day, but all day, every day, for decades. Envision yourself in the profession. Ask the dentists you shadow about their work-life balance. All of this will help you figure out whether dentistry is right for you, which is so important to know before investing a great deal of money and time into the application process.

Engage with patients — don’t just sit on the sidelines

Even if you aren’t involved in a patient’s care in a hands-on way, you can still contribute to their experience in the clinic. If it’s okay with the dentist you’re shadowing, chat with patients a bit before the actual dental work begins. Make them feel comfortable and at ease. You can also learn a lot by listening to patients and their stories! All patients bring their unique backgrounds, priorities, and past experiences with dentistry into the office. Listen to what each patient has to say, and learn from it.

Seek out alternate experiences

Shadowing isn’t the only way to get meaningful dental experience. Look into service events (like Mission of Mercy events), clinics focused on community health or serving underserved individuals, dental assisting internships or jobs, and other experiences. There are so many opportunities within dentistry to be pursued — by seeking out and taking part in these opportunities, you’ll learn a great deal.

I hope these tips help you make the most of your dental shadowing and approach it as a valuable learning opportunity rather than a burdensome part of the application process. If you have any questions about shadowing, let us know in the comments — we’re happy to help!

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