<p>hey guys I was wondering if shadowing a dentist would be a "+" in my application for med school. Its not going to be the only extra curricular thing that im going to do but i have a great opportunity for shadowing a dentist.</p>
<p>Im basically asking if people that are going to look at my application will be like "why would you do that" or is it going to be considered as a shadowing / volunteering. Thanks.</p>
<p>dont do it. unless you want to go through interviews with people asking why did you shadow a dentist, why not do dentistry, etc</p>
<p>Okay thank you. Thats what i was wondering :)</p>
<p>They might ask “why” about anything you do and they might ask it during interview. If you do it strictly for Med. School, you would not be prepared to answer this question. If you do it out of your own desire, something that you are looking forward to experience and learn, then do it. Do not do anything strictly because it may look good on application, it will not work. I disagree with “Do not do it”. Ask yourself if you personally want to do it. My own D. was involved with very unusual for pre-med volunteering that lasted for at least 3 years. This was one of the most commong topics at her Med. School interviews along with her Music Minor. This dicussions were very positive for her because she could talk about it (and her Music Minor) with great passion. She truly enjoyed both and she actually feels that she saved someone’s life, at least she was told that by police. She personally gained a lot from her volunteering. She was the only pre-med there, the others were psych major.</p>
<p>well i thought it might help me to understand how a doctor works even though dentists are not exactly like med doctors. that was my main point and i know a dentist so it would be easier for me to ask for it.</p>
<p>also i will be able to “shadow” him even better because i know him personally too. therefore i will be able to examine his homelife, his needs and everything too.</p>
<p>Dentists are not Doctors.</p>
<p>Dentist ARE doctors-they aren’t physicians, however. While shadowing a dentist may allow for personal insight into what a dentist does, and about patient care in general, it willl not be particularly helpful for medical school admission. It would also raise the question: why are you applying to medical school if you shadowed a dentist? Why didn’t you apply to dental school? The medical schools that acually require shadowing-most DO schools for example-also make it clear-you need to shadow a physician(usually a DO for DO school).
The point of shadowing a physician is to give the medical school applicant some idea what a physician does. Shadowing a dentist isn’t going to do that.</p>
<p>I mean, you don’t have to report every single thing you do on your application. If you want to shadow a dentist, do it. If it’s a cool way to get to know your family friend’s job, go for it. Decide later whether to include it on your application!</p>
<p>Dentists are very much Doctors, they are also doing surgeries, they have to consider overall health of the patients, there infections that might kill you too, if not attended on timely basis. But I still say, it is personal decision and the winner is usually the one who followed his/her own heart. Very simple, they will know why they are doing this activity or another, they will be able to answer “Why”. If you are doing it only for the sake of application, then the answer is very obvious, do not do it. Frnakly, some people end up having so much, that they do not include some stuff on application (as Kristin indicated) but they see everything as a learning experience. My own D. did not include her 3 foreign languages, she said, she did not have enough space, so go figure. Still benefited from at least one of them. It really does not matter.</p>