Shadowing In Dental Schools

completing general dentistry, most dental schools require a letter of recommendation from a general dentist. Shadowing hours should also first come from a general dentist, then a specialized dentist. Furthermore, I have already become a member for Future Dentist Club on campus. Fransiska Lee, the free clinics coordinator for FDC, creates the bridge for students to get to know these professionals. They hold free clinics in downtown Riverside once every two weeks for three hours each. By going to these events, I can slowly build up the hours needed. There are no specific hours that are required but most dental applicants have around 300 hours (Lee, Fransiska). One imperative advice for pre-dental students from a specialist company, Gap Medics,
It teaches students teamwork and individual work (“Volunteer Opportunities”). Just by observing and shadowing, students can learn skills such as enduring the long hours of detailed dental work, respecting the dentist and patient’s boundaries, and learning to love dental work. Shadowing can also be in a form of an internship by getting to know a dentist or an orthodontist. Professionals in this field can become a reference and a mentor when applying. Since shadowing and volunteer hours are two separate activities, the free clinic offers the ability to shadow and also to volunteer by preparing materials and cleaning up. Consequently, I am able to get hours for both of these opportunities during different days I go. Moreover, this summer I will be participating in the free clinic. During the school year, there are only a few students that can volunteer at the free clinic each day it is held. The active members in FDC will be alternated for each shift. Coincidentally, most students go back home during the summer so there will be more shifts that demand student volunteers to help
However, if you are really motivated to help people, the job will become bearable during the most stressful times. According to Herman Lee DDS, a general dentist with his own practice, dentistry is stressful because most patients are afraid of dentists. People do not like dentists because they have bad experiences, have to be poked with needles in their mouth, and associate pain when seeing a dentist (Lee, Herman). However, if you love what you do, you will be able to survive in this demanding profession. In his private practice, he receives around seven to nine patients daily. He also plays the piano and puts on classical music as the background music when working. Mekar Honda DDS works in a West Coast Dental corporation and sees around 30 patients daily. She states that the hardest patients she has are those with small mouths, children who are scared, and older people that tend to choke. She also has graduated dental students who work under her to gain experience. A lot of the graduates do not know a lot of things since each patient is different and not all of their conditions can be compared to the ones in the book. The book is limited and therefore during dental school students should join programs where they volunteer in third world countries to gain hands on experience (Honda). It is harder for her because she works for a corporation and has a schedule to follow. Mekar Honda DDS works from 9:00-6:00pm five days