Shadowing Dentists for Dental School - How to Approach a Dentist & Helpful Tips

In this video I cover everything you need to know about shadowing dentists for dental school!
First I go over why its the most important thing you can do early on in your dental career. Then I talk about what exactly is required for dental schools (hours and general vs specialty), how to approach a dentist to see if you can shadow them (in person or by phone), and I give a lot of tips and tricks to getting the most out of your time observing.
Hope you enjoy this video!
If you have any questions or comments, leave them down below and I'll get back to you ASAP.
xoxo
Jasmine
For business and promotional inquiries please contact [e-mail]

[@loplop-ce4dh]

Hi Jasmine! I am a freshman going into pre-dentistry. You explained everything so nicely and simply! Thank you so much! I love your videos! :)

[@cecyalvarado752]

Thank you so much! This is really helpful.

[@gavinjia4937]

Hey thank you so much for your videos Jasmine! Your videos have been very helpful to me! Can you talk about your interview experience with different schools?

[@jasmineahrar]

I’m so happy these videos have been helpful for you, and I would be happy to make a video about my interview experience. Thank you so much for asking! I’ll try to get that up in the next couple of weeks :)

[@Orthodadday]

Great advice for high school students interested in becoming a dentist! 👍🏼😀

[@jasmineahrar]

Thank you!!

[@mrugly9334]

hello jasmin quick question when you was doing pre dental school or when you was in dental was their any chances their was a male student.

[@aabhapanta9625]

Hello! So I started getting interested in dentistry recently. I’m currently a rising senior in high school thinking about this career. Your video has helped a lot to find out if this is right for me so thank you for that. Anyway I had a question. It seems that dental schools have intense courses back to back, and I know that dental school would lead to loans on top of loans so how did you managing finically and if you had job how did you balance that with such intense courses you had? On top of that paying for your apartment + bills and all the personal stuff as well.

[@jasmineahrar]

I lived off of loans in undergrad and I had a part time job just so I could have extra spending money, and now I live off of loans in dental school and definitely don’t have time for a job. This is how it is for most of my classmates too. Just make sure you fill out the FAFSA every year and you will get the financial aid you need :) Hope that answers your question!

[@gabstermac]

Hi Jasmine! I'm a freshman in college, going into pre-dentistry. You mentioned a resume... How should I set this up? Along with any tips you might have would be great, thank you!

[@jasmineahrar]

Hi :) here is a link to the ASDA page that I first referred to for that. It has some great information about how to get started: www.asdanet.org/utility-navigation/career-compass-home/post-grad-programs/writing-your-cv

[@piperone952]

I'm really happy for dental students to shadow, I wouldn't routinely offer the same for high school students. Sorry that's just me, I feel that if a student has been accepted into dental school by that time they are usually 100% committed to learning what it takes and what's involved. I think it's also fairer on the patient having the person who is shadowing already at the stage of dental training, even though the patient can still say no to them being present. Thanks for your videos and I hope you have a fantastic career in this great profession!! :-)

[@jasmineahrar]

Thanks for your comment! I know there are dental professionals out there who aren’t as open about shadowing, but thankfully there are many dentists who are :) Shadowing dentists is a required portion of the dental school application (before you even get in) so that applicants can show they already have knowledge of and experience in the dental field. High school is early so I understand not every dental office would be able to accommodate that.

[@auleyabudayya]

hey jasmine, i am a freshman in college reading about dentist as a future possibility and i stumbled on your account, but i wanted to ask how do you fill out shadowing hours, like is there an official document you need or can you just do it on any regular paper and have the dentists sign? also, because there’s a likely of shadowing different dentists at different offices did you use the same paper to document your hours or is it a different document for every different visit and dentist?

[@jasmineahrar]

Great question! Nope, no official document. You just keep track yourself and then when you fill out the application you will be able to put in the different places/dentists you shadowed and how long you shadowed for each one. I think there is also a description box where you can elaborate a bit about the different procedures that you saw for each.

[@chaffls8786]

Hey doll, how will you be paying for dental school along with living expenses? I’m finishing up my BS at my local college and wanted to take my little sister along (I’ll make sure she graduates high school beforehand). Is that even possible?

[@jasmineahrar]

Chaff LS Totally possible! And that is amazing of you to take care of your sis. I, like all the other dental students I know, will be living off of financial aid. When you fill out your FAFSA you specify that you are going into a graduate program which basically qualifies you to get financial aid (loans) to cover tuition and living expenses. For my school in Arizona I was estimated to qualify for about $3,000 a month just for living expenses. It’s up to me if I want to use it all (I will need to pay interest when I pay off the loans so it’s better not to use the maximum amount). You may actually qualify for more financial aid if your sis is a dependent on your taxes, and/or if you will be living in an area with higher living expenses. Hope that helps!

[@TracysLifeCanvas]

Hello, Jasmine! I am applying dental school right now and I was wondering if there is a template or certain format I should record my shadowing hours. How do you show your shadowing proof?

[@sandraazqueriz9539]

I’m actually worry about the same thing , did you figured it out ?

[@TracysLifeCanvas]

@@sandraazqueriz9539 Do not need to record, just put the hours, and dr's address and contact. Then the schools will contact them and ask

[@nashramohamed3768]

When did you become a dental assistant and would it be a good idea to be one in undergrad for experience?

[@jasmineahrar]

It’s great experience for dental school! And you need shadowing hours anyway to apply to any dental school so its a great way to get that under your belt. I started assisting the summer after my sophomore year, but its never too early.

[@bharris4517]

How many hours you need~ 2:00 How to approach a dentist~ 2:50

[@joeannespeer1692]

Hello! I am a freshman in high school and I am interested in going to dental school to become a general dentist but I am still not 100% on what I want too do. Do you have any recommendations On what I should do?

[@jasmineahrar]

Shadow a dentist! This is a perfect time to reach out and get some exposure to the field. I think a good idea would be to draft an email showing your interest in the field and inquiring about shadowing opportunities, you could send it to nearby dentists and see if any one of them would let you spend some time in the clinic :)

[@IN-te3kv]

Hi ! For the hours I’ve been working as a DA in a office for about 2 years .Can I ask the doctors that I work for on the hours that they can help me on ? Or do I have to go on different offices to shadow ? Thank you

[@jasmineahrar]

Yeah you can definitely count a lot of that time as shadowing hours! Might also be good to go shadow some specialists as well :) hope that helps!

[@nancysboringlife4184]

Hey jasmine did u do research in dental school? If u did what was the process of doing research?

[@jasmineahrar]

Hi! Yes I did! I actually reached out to a graduate research program to see if they had any projects for an undergraduate student and they helped me find a project I could get involved in.

[@dayannavillegas9920]

could I ask an orthodostist?

[@Fatimah.mohammed5]

I'm still studying to get the associate degree in biology Can I do shadowing? Or still too early

[@jasmineahrar]

its never to early to start logging shadowing hours!

[@brendaagui9230]

I don’t have anything to put on my resume and what’s a cv 😂😂

[@justjarod7440]

same 🤣

[@SHADOW.ESPORTS]

I am nervous to go to the dentist to ask if I can watch what they do

[@jasmineahrar]

I can totally relate that it feels intimidating at first but a lot of times dentists get excited when someone wants to shadow! There will be some dentists who dont have the time but thats ok :) I would challenge yourself to ask 3 dentists, after that it will feel easy. Best of luck!

[@neftalireyes4517]

Bonita mujer lovely vibes

[@Orthodadday]

You have many basketball shoes ! 👟🏀😯