Volunteer work needed to get into dental school?

[curiousbush]

I have read on some dental websites that volunteer work is preferred.

Has anyone every volunteered at a local dental office and what kind of work do you do?

also Does this volunteer experience affect anything or what if you have to work instead of volunteer?

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[IamJetLi]

if your not a volunteer work/community service then i dont know why you want to be a dentist. If you dont like to be a dentist that is public health oriented then you must be a research type dentist. with those type of dentist i dont know what school accepts those applicants. maybe the top ivy schools like harvard

 

[harjay]

its not just volunteering in a dental office... thats usually referred to as "shadowing"

Volunteer work does not have to be dental related, (it can be anything you donate your time to doing for non-profit) but dental examples are volunteering in a free dental clinic, dental mission trips (often to mexico etc), or helping with a free public health day at your local dental hygiene school.

 

[Prometheous19]

I only wrote 15 hours of volunteer work on my application. I did not have the time it took to do community service and I wasn't going to make time just to put it in my application. Now that ive finished applying and have alot more time, im volunteering alot more. If you are going to volunteer do it selflessly and not to put in an application. I have 7 interviews with my 15 hours of volunteering.

 

[go2dentist]

I only wrote 15 hours of volunteer work on my application. I did not have the time it took to do community service and I wasn't going to make time just to put it in my application. Now that ive finished applying and have alot more time, im volunteering alot more. If you are going to volunteer do it selflessly and not to put in an application. I have 7 interviews with my 15 hours of volunteering.

Hi Prometheous,
I am also planning to work as volunteer, can you plz tell me how did you find volunteer work. I am in FL, I am trying to get some volunteer work but I have not succeeded till now.

 

[firecracked]

I only wrote 15 hours of volunteer work on my application. I did not have the time it took to do community service and I wasn't going to make time just to put it in my application. Now that ive finished applying and have alot more time, im volunteering alot more. If you are going to volunteer do it selflessly and not to put in an application. I have 7 interviews with my 15 hours of volunteering.

Did you have a job that kept you busy? Or just standard school work and extracurriculars?

I agree that I don't want to volunteer just because I need it for dental school. That seems so fake to me. I've been trying to find something I'm really interested in and passionate about rather than half-heartedly picking a program my school offers and doing that without genuine interest or care.

 

[biienemaja]

I volunteered at the dental school that I will be attending starting this fall. While volunteering I helped filling bags for the outbreach program, I observed the residents in the GPR, and once in a while I helped filing paperwork. I also helped the residents with cleaning up and setting up.

I also worked and still work for a general dentist. Some dentists will hire you even if you don't have any experience. I had zero experience and just picked up on it. That only works if you work for a dentist who has the patience to show and explain everything. Right now, I am a chair side assistant. I started of working at the front desk filing charts, scheduling appointments, dealing with insurance stuff.

So, instead of shadowing you should see if you can work for a dentist. This way you get to assist and you get paid.

 

[rewJW]

Did you have a job that kept you busy? Or just standard school work and extracurriculars?

I'm one of those who had to work (still am) part to full time hours a week all through my undergrad, and between that and school itself I had zero time to volunteer. Through one of my EC's though I did a lot of community service work, so I made sure to put that. I went to an open house at UMDNJ and they mentioned that they do take into account that some students have to work and don't have the time to volunteer that some other students might have.

I DID volunteer/shadow but idk if that is enough. Still no interview invites. I screwed everything up this time around, I wish I found SDN before I applied last year.

I'm going to find good places to volunteer once I graduate and can focus only on working and reapplying to dental school. What kinds of places have you guys volunteered at other than free clinics? I am just looking for some ideas All my family can think of is "Volunteer at the animal shelter" and seeing as almost all of my background (including my job) is animal related, I am hesitant to do so, because I don't want to get any letters from dental schools admissions offices that say "You applied to the wrong school! Here is our Vet school address..." lol

 

[cnano]

How about if your a Registered Dental Assistant for a few months now. Does that credit towards your volunteer work to get into dental school?

 

[jigabodo]

How about if your a Registered Dental Assistant for a few months now. Does that credit towards your volunteer work to get into dental school?

It's not exactly volunteeringper say, but I'd say that's even better than shadowing.

 

[makushin]

You don't need volunteer work. I put down zero volunteer work and I have plenty of choices for next fall. If you want to apply to UCLA or Arizona you should have volunteer work because you have to write an essay about it on the secondary application.

I think it is important to be a genuine applicant. If you are going to volunteer or do research, make sure it is very significant, not just some crap to add a bullet to your resume. It's about quality, not quanity.

 

[qwerty86]

What kind of question is this, ofcourse you need to volunteer and especially shadow dentist so you know what you are getting yourself into.

 

[busterb]

In 5 of my 6 interviews they asked me something about volunteer work and or community service. If you don't have any community service hours, I have no idea what you would say.

 

[will9631]

No community service for me! I only get into dentistry for money. Want to have lots of fancy cars and big house and trophy wife! Me know care about community, only do dentistry with expensive insurance plans and cash-up-front!! I'm also green, covered in fur, and enjoy stealing Christmas from that damn Cindy-Lou from Hoovile!!

Seriously though, comm. service always comes up in interviews. I've never been as good about doing comm. service as I'd like but you have to get into health professions because you like helping people and enriching their lives, all these schools want to graduate dentists who will give back to the community. In fact, I can't think of any proffesional schools that don't stress comm. service experience. It always seems shallow to "use" such experiences to get into a school, but from their perspective it does make sense so be sure you have some good answers for them. So yes, it helps. Its not as big a deal as dat or gpa or shadowing, but it will definately come up.

 

[letsgfuad]

if you like working with kids do that. Coach a sport or something, mentor a troubled kid. Not only are you doing good for the community, but its a blast too.

 

[rewJW]

Beleive me, it's not that I don't WANT to help people or do community service. TIME has been my issue. I worked full time most of my undergrad and when it wasn't full time it was near full time hours. I had to use the rest of my time to study and do assignments for classes. I didn't do sports/sorority any of that kind of stuff, also no time. I have not been to a single party. Seriously, all I do is work and school. I have a few EC's but it's mostly service oriented stuff, but I'm not sure if it counts as volunteering. Going into dentistry is DEFINITELY not 'just about the money' for me.

Don't go assuming that just because people didn't DO community service, it's not that they didn't want to.

I am looking into volunteering at a nursing home once my semester's up and I don't have to worry about studying. I don't know what else to look into. That is why I asked for some suggestions

 

[firecracked]

I am looking into volunteering at a nursing home once my semester's up and I don't have to worry about studying. I don't know what else to look into. That is why I asked for some suggestions

I don't think it matters much what you do as long as you're doing something to help out the community.

You might check out http://www.volunteermatch.org/
I've never tried it, but my roommate swears by it. She's done a lot of volunteer work through that because she wasn't interested in the basic community service opportunites provided by the school.

I would think (hope) that schools would be more forgiving if you had to work to help pay for your education.

 

[rewJW]

Thanks for the site suggestion! I typed in my zip code and there's 217 opportunities within 20 miles of me!! I'm sure I'll be able to find something that I'll feel good about doing and will be able to fit into my schedule.

 

[Dental superman]

I'm one of those who had to work (still am) part to full time hours a week all through my undergrad, and between that and school itself I had zero time to volunteer. Through one of my EC's though I did a lot of community service work, so I made sure to put that. I went to an open house at UMDNJ and they mentioned that they do take into account that some students have to work and don't have the time to volunteer that some other students might have.

I DID volunteer/shadow but idk if that is enough. Still no interview invites. I screwed everything up this time around, I wish I found SDN before I applied last year.

I'm going to find good places to volunteer once I graduate and can focus only on working and reapplying to dental school. What kinds of places have you guys volunteered at other than free clinics? I am just looking for some ideas All my family can think of is "Volunteer at the animal shelter" and seeing as almost all of my background (including my job) is animal related, I am hesitant to do so, because I don't want to get any letters from dental schools admissions offices that say "You applied to the wrong school! Here is our Vet school address..." lol

cute~~~~

 

[litldime]

I worked alot during undergrad... i was either working 2 part-time jobs or one job that was at least 30 hrs a week. I was still able to volunteer. I accumulated over 300 hrs over 4 years. I went on 7 interviews and volunteer work came up at every single one and we went into details about it. Its almost automatic that pre-dents volunteer.
I mean how do you answer that question if it comes up? How would you answer some of these service-oriented essays they ask you to write at interviews?
Personally, i would try to get some in, no matter how small. I mean if you did only 30 hrs every year of college, by 4 years you would have 120 hrs. I don't see that being so hard.

 

[lillieflower]

this site allows you to register and it will search opportunities within X miles radius of you. it's great and easy to find someone who needs your help

 

[makushin]

I worked alot during undergrad... i was either working 2 part-time jobs or one job that was at least 30 hrs a week. I was still able to volunteer. I accumulated over 300 hrs over 4 years. I went on 7 interviews and volunteer work came up at every single one and we went into details about it. Its almost automatic that pre-dents volunteer.
I mean how do you answer that question if it comes up? How would you answer some of these service-oriented essays they ask you to write at interviews?
Personally, i would try to get some in, no matter how small. I mean if you did only 30 hrs every year of college, by 4 years you would have 120 hrs. I don't see that being so hard.

Volunteering is great, but you don't have to do it. It didnt' come up in any of my 5 interviews... and I have a deposit down at the same school as you right now. What's important is that you show your ability to succeed in dental school and represent the dental school well as an alum. There are many ways to show this on an application.