 Send your name to the OMFS Society address expressing your interest in shadowing --  Send a brief CV to the OMFS residency coordinator, Alida Fitzpatrick via DropBox

 On the first Thursday of every month, Alida (Room 1216) will bring interested students across the street to the hospital at 8:15 AM to get your ID badges and hospital scrubs  You must have your CV in at least 1 week beforehand and bring an official photo ID with you  Alida will also show you where the OMFS clinic is located in the hospital

 Before you shadow at the hopsital, head over to the OMFS clinic to sign up on the calendar  Knock on the clinic door and wait for someone to come let you in  No more than 3 students per day and please do not sign up for more than your fair share of days.  If you sign up for a particular day, you are expected to show up on that day

 Trauma days are great days to shadow and offer you an excellent opportunity to see and assist with great cases, these days are highlighted on the calendar in RED  Weekends are great days to shadow because there are fewer students and fewer residents, giving you greater chance to be able to help out (e.g. scrub into OR cases, help with dressing changes)

 Wednesdays are case conference days and may either be very slow or a great opportunity to help out in the OR because there are fewer residents available  Check the OR schedule posted in the resident room to look for interesting cases. Ask someone for help if you can’t find it!  Check the calendar to the right of the sign-up board to see which residents/attendings are on call that day

 When you go over to the hospital to shadow you must arrive early enough to pre-round (preferably with one of the interns)  This usually means getting there around 6 AM but your best bet is to check with the night call intern ahead of time  Who’s the night call intern!? Check the large calendar in the clinic!  How the heck do I interpret this thing!? Ask any resident in the clinic!

 Knock on the clinic door and wait for someone to let you in. It may take several knocks and good amount of waiting before you are heard.  In case you want to contact the on-call intern directly the pager number is (410) and the extension is You give your number and when they call back, introduce yourself and explain why you paged them and they will get to as soon as possible.  Once you find a resident, stick with them when they round on patients. Try to get a patient list/case list print out on the desk in the resident room before you head out.

 Ask a lot of questions, about the patient you’re seeing, how the hospital works, what exactly the interns are doing, etc. The interns were dental students less than a year ago and they’re happy to teach you things!  Ways to be a super helpful dental student:  Collecting vitals – Very easy to learn and the interns will be happy to teach you so that you can do it for them in the future  Helping with dressing changes  Basically anything they ask you to do, just don’t be afraid to ask how if you don’t know

 More often than not, an attending will then round on the patients at around 7 AM  Be respectful on rounds, particularly when the resident is presenting to the attending. Pick appropriate times to talk/ask questions.  This is a great opportunity to get face time with the attendings, they are the faculty members that will be writing your letters of recommendation  Ways to be helpful:  Have individually wrapped tongue blades available to hand to the attending when they examine the patient  Have a pen light available to help the attending examine the patient

 If you get the opportunity to scrub in to a surgery, take it!  Make sure that they know that you don’t know what you’re doing and they will help you  Listen carefully and follow instructions closely  Make friends with the scrub tech and circulating nurse. Always introduce yourself to them and don’t be afraid to ask them questions  Do everything you are asked to assist and if there’s nothing for you to do, no problem, you have the best view in the house If you want to be super prepared, feel free to watch this detailed video: 64a b3b27242cfc1d?catalog= ba1- 4ded-b247-a3d732f5ae64

 Ask questions!  Try to be helpful  Always be respectful  Make sure to give priority to the D3 students on hospital block or any externs visiting that week  Try to get as much out of the experience as possible  Get to know the residents and attendings  Have fun! Any questions, please we would be happy to