Shadowing Dr. Johnson

I shadow with Dr Johnson, a pediatric dentist in Austin, about once every two weeks and it is a great experience to learn more about the field and the ins and outs of starting up a new practice. Central Park Pediatric Dentistry, Dr Johnson’s practice, was newly founded less than a year ago. There are not too many patients that come in every day, but it is steadily increasing with many people referring friends and family.

He works with each patient and takes the time to explain everything that he will be doing to the parent, guiding them through age specific information for their child, and answering any questions the parent may have. Dr. Johnson also makes sure the child is comfortable and familiar with all the tools he is using before he starts work on them, and also turns on the tv up on the ceiling to keep the kid distracted and entertained. All the kids I have seen come through Central Pediatric all find their visit to be fun and in no way scary!

I would like to take this same mindset in friendly patient care if I am able to start up my own practice. So many people are recommending Dr Johnson to their friends for how well he treats his patient and how much the kids like it there!

Shadowing is a great way to learn more about different specialties or to get a feel for dentistry itself. It is definitely a must before making a decision on whether dentistry is right for you or not. TPS has a great system to set you up with a shadowing experience, or you can do what I did and just email the dentist and see how they feel about you shadowing. I mean the worst they can say is no right?

-Phu Vuong

Baylor Dental Tour on 4/11/14

Visiting Baylor Dental was a great experience and I would encourage everyone to come out to the Dental School Trips if you can. It was my first dental school trip so I am definitely going to try to make it down to the other two schools next time we go.

What I have to say I liked most about Baylor was the friendly and noncompetitive environment. Talking with the people there, everyone had a lot of fun and though it was a lot of work, all the students supported each other. It was also nice to see some old faces from the TPS alumni as well!

The building itself seemed smaller than I expected it to be and older as well. That would probably be the biggest con I saw from going there, but it is cheaper than the other two Texas Dental schools so that about evens each other out.

I think everyone should go out and check the schools out for themselves. It is a great way to make connections and to have questions answered by students who have gone through what we are going through and succeeded and also talk to the faculty who could possibly be interviewing you!

- Phu Vuong

TPS Study Sessions!

Nihal asked me to advertise his study sessions on Mondays from 6:30 – 8:30 in PCL 5.120A (he gives a half point for stopping by and studying for a little, you don’t have to stay the whole time). I joined TPS really late, so I haven’t really got a chance to participate in many of the events. One of the main things about TPS that stood out to me is the study socials. The study socials are very convenient because you get to put in work for your classes while meeting new people. I’ve met a lot of people just by attending these socials one day a week. Since we are all pre-dental students, there’s a really high chance that there’s a person at the study social that is taking the same classes you are (Nihal is taking the same organic chemistry class with me) and you all can work on homework together! Also, you can ask your fellow TPS members for advice on your schedule and what professors to take and you may even find out about opportunities you never knew about! Overall, study socials are really fun and beneficial and everybody should try to come out to the last one next week (it’s in 5.120B)!

-Christine Le

Shadowing 101 Part 1: How to Find Dentists to Shadow

Hi everyone!

If you do not personally know a dentist, I’ve found that the best way to set up a shadowing session is by looking up a bunch of practices near you, and calling and asking them directly. It may be an awkward feeling for many students to seek out professional adults to ask for their help, but most are very willing to help us out. If you can get over the initial hump of nervousness and by being assertive, finding a dentist to shadow should be a fairly easy thing to do.

1. Cold call dental offices – It’s much more efficient than emailing, or by going up to the office in person.  Emails can get overlooked and forgotten about, but having a conversation can put you directly in the spotlight to be addressed. Most of the time, you will be talking to the receptionist rather than the dentist themself. Asking in person may seem more formal, but it will save you much time and energy to call when you’re going to be contacting several offices.

2. Do be personable – Dental offices are busy, and I’ve found that the best way to have the receptionist/dentist interested in helping you is when you really give them a sense of who you are. It ‘s standard to be friendly and polite, but if you give them a personable introduction, they will remember you and will be more inclined to accommodate to you. When calling, I usually introduce myself, tell them my year and what college I attend (woop, brownie points for attending UT!), and that I’m a pre-dental student hoping to gain some experience in dentistry (or “I’m applying to dental school soon”, something along those lines…). After introducing myself this way, the receptionist is generally happy to take down my number to follow-up after she’s spoken to the dentist.

3. Do be communicative – It’s best to be clear right off the bat with what you’re expecting from shadowing. Do you want to do a day-long session, or do you want to shadow for a month, a semester? Be sure to let the receptionist know this, so that you and the dentist will both be able to match your schedules together efficiently.

4. Don’t be afraid of rejection – Lastly, to reaffirm the fear that many have – you will be rejected – many, many times! It could be that that particular office already has one or two students for the semester, or that the dentist is simply not open to having a student shadowing. Perhaps they do not have many patients who come in on the days that you are available. Whatever the case, it will take persistence to call many offices until you find one that is willing to take you in, and one that will work with your schedule. Please don’t get discouraged! Most dentists are happy to let students shadow, so just be patient!

These ideas can also apply to other health-care professionals you’re interested in shadowing, not just dentists. Hope this post helps! J Look out for my next post, How to Make the Most of Your Time Shadowing!

- Judy Trinh

The Importance of Shadowing

Hi everyone! My name is Judy Trinh and I’m a third-year Biology/Pre-Dent major here at UT.  As a pre-dental student, along with all other pre-health students, shadowing a practitioner from your chosen field is an imperative component of your undergraduate career. Sometimes you may think you have a good idea of what your future profession will entail, until you get there and see first-hand how things really are on a day-to-day basis– and what you see may or may not match your expectations! Shadowing can give you the chance to better confirm to yourself that this is the path that you really want to take, and the earlier you start, the better. As a testimony, I used to be Pre-Med/Pre-PA for my first two years at UT- I was dead set on becoming a doctor/PA and nothing would change my mind. The previous summer I had the chance to shadow a PA for the first time…only to grudgingly admit to myself at the end of the summer that medicine was far from what I wanted to do. In contrast, I shadowed a general dentist, and only took a few visits to realize that I loved it! I felt energized by the interactive nature of dentistry. I loved how much more patient interaction it allowed, and how my dentist was able to form lasting relationships with her patients.  I also appreciated the artistic aspects of it all, and how you can work directly/physically with your patients. This may be all common knowledge about dentistry of course, but actually being there made the difference for me.  Medicine may be great for other people, but it was way too monotonous for me. It’s been a semester now of me consistently shadowing dentists, and I couldn’t be any happier that I’ve made the switch. With that being said, shadowing may be an intimidating thing to initiate for many students, so I’ll be writing a series of blog posts how to get started, and some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way, so please look out for my posts!

Thanks for reading, guys!

My Ideal Practice

Hello! I am a second year Nutrition major, Pre-Dental student at The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to being in TPS I am also a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority (BOOM BOOM) and am a part of the Air Force ROTC. I am plan on entering the Air Force as a dentist after I graduate dental school then one day setting up my own practice as a civilian.

I have been shadowing dentists for the past 8 months and I currently have 60 hours of general dentistry shadowing under 4 different dentists. Through the many hours I have spent in a wide range of types of dentist offices I have started to find the path I want to take as to what practice I intend on running one day. Also, I have discovered just how much I love the dental field!

In my journey to becoming a dentist I decided that it would be best to shadow dentists of all different types, from the wealthy prestigious dentist to the dentist with a calmer practice. I contacted friends who had parents in the profession, previous dentists I used to see, my current dentist, and a dentist in the Austin area. By witnessing a dentist who runs a very lucrative practice cycling an average of 6 patients an hour (3-4 in a hygiene chair and 2-3 in the “procedures” chair) to a dentist whose target patient has Medicaid, I have come to the conclusion on the type of practice which I will run. I want to be the well-known, local, home-town dentist.

My dentist back home runs a slower pace practice because as he says “I enjoyed being a dentist and I don’t want to let someone else do my job. I want to make sure that my patients get the best possible treatment and that means that I need to do it myself, plus it is fun.” This ideal coincides with the values of the dentist who I am currently shadowing. The current dentist has had his practice in the same location for the past 34 years. He is very familiar with a lot of his patients and has a wonderful relationship with his staff. He runs his practice with a welcoming feel and doesn’t cut any corners; he really strives to do his best.

I want to emulate this type of a practice. I desire to build a long term relationship with my patients and take away the scary dentist stereotype.  I of course want to make a good living, but that is not what will be driving my practice. My patients and my staff’s happiness is what will be what driving my practice and I’m sure a comfortable life style will follow by doing so.  

-Marybeth Misner