Finals!!

I cant believe we are in finals week already!! I am so happy. I am ready ready ready for the end!! Well, no I'm not ready ready....I've got some studying to do but hooray, only one semester to go!

Nov 24th

Check XX I have all of my requirements complete!! Hooray.

Review

The semester is ending quickly and boards are coming up in March. "Somewhere" I have heard that if you are prepared you will have no fear but.... because I have never before taken even one exam let alone THREE exams that are so detrimental to my education, career, life, etc., I am fearful.  I am anxious, nauseous, worried and scared.   The worst part about it is that I know I could work harder at my studies but I don't because I am either too confident in my abilities or too distracted by everyday wants and needs.  

Well I don't have a great solution but I guess I am just going to have to start now and take one day at a time.  I have 108 days to get myself prepared.  I have even fewer days to be taught everything I need to know.  And for the first time last Tuesday I felt like a professor finally showed me what I have to do to clean a 3 or 4, aka a challenging patient.  That was the first time....from here on, I am going to have to demand more attention because none of them realize how little instruction I have received.

Desensitization Lab

I am hoping we can get some pictures online pretty soon. Lab this morning was hilarious and very educational. I ripped my lab coat. I'll save the details for the day I get the pictures up.

H1N1

I got my swin flu shot! hooray.

Presentations

Today I presented patient education for Diabetes.  I dressed up...who knows why.  I was blonde with long braids and a southern accent.  Okay so I just say a commercial on tv for downy softness laundry detergent and a woman in a onesie walking down the grocery aisle came across the screen.  That is beautiful.  I want a onesie. But I want one with the footies included.

Halloween Festivities

The professors didn't include themselves in the costume contest but at the Queen of Hearts and Alice both deserve the greatest entertainers' award (at the very least).  With their permission videos will be posted shortly.

 

 

 

 

Class

Outside of the DH program, I am only taking one additional class this semester and it is Stats. Stat's is easier than I expected I should have taken it before I got accepted to dental hygiene but I just didn't know if it would be too hard at that point. This year has been so much more fun and a lot less nerve racking. Of course there have been challenges with mock boards and some of the new information we are learning but really I think all of us feel like 2nd year is so much more rewarding. I am finally feeling like I know what I am doing and on top of that... I am having fun.

VA

I get so excited about writing on my personal blog that I forget about this blog too much. I better get on top of that... right Kami:)? I love the VA hospital. I am sure all of the students agree with me. They built a new facility last year and our class is the first to be working in it...so it's new and clean and because there is only 4 other students there with me at a time, I get a lot of one on one time plus I really like being chairside while the dentists do the examinations. I was going to say that I see a lot of challenging patients at the VA but actually so far my most challenging have come in to the WSU clinic which is unexpected b/c last year I struggled to find a difficult pt at clinic. Well the sememster is coming to an end pretty soon and I am getting more anxious about boards b/c they are only 4 months away and December doesn't really count for practice time. My goal is to review all of my past exams, quizzes, modules for both years by the end of December. I am not sure if that is enough and I don't have a board review book yet so if you are reading this by chance :) let me know if any of you have any more suggestions. Another goal I have is to get the first draft of my resume completed by the end of December. Also I don't have loops yet....if I get them from Perio-optic they don't give student discounts. I think I am going to have to wait until I graduate because board money is due in January. Well there goes our Christmas....I guess I should tell Andy about that. ha ha a aaa ah uh.
Okay welllll until next time.

Oct 13

MockBoards were in October but I decided I wanted to blog about them.  I had one perfect patient lined up for mockboards and at the last minute I called two more potential mockboard patients because I was worried that he might not show up.  It turns out he didn't show up and the 1st backup patient decided she couldn't make it either.  Finally the 2nd backup patient came in.  He was one of my favorite people I have had in the clinic. He speaks a little english and he ended up being way to difficult for a board patient so of course I failed my mockboards but he's coming back and I think we'll both be surprised by how much better and easier the next cleaning will be.

Okay so the pictures don't give the greatest depiction of our first injections but some how I loved it.  It was fun and surprisingly easy.

So we had our first injections and I absolutely loved it.  It couldn't have gone better.

Clinic

So clinic is going pretty well so far.  I love the VA and I have had great patients at WSU so far.  They've all been very dependable.  Local anethesia labs start next week.  I am not sure what to think.  we are going to be practicing on each other?? really??  Well I watched the Malamed video but that's all...I hope that's enough.

This last week

This last week I saw green and blue calculus. I got in trouble for taking a parking pass. I finished every patient in one appointment. I re-wrote my powerpoint for ADHP, created a survey, and presented our project at UDHA. I recieved 9 or of 10 on my readiness assessment. I attended an actual party with my hygiene friends. I found out that the new hygiene school in orem is ran by dentists who want to creat a new profession of scaling assistants who would be allowed to scale 1mm deep. Who would regulate that? Let's just say goodbye to our careers b/c who would pay a hygienist when an assistant would do the same job for less. I woke up at 5am everyday on average this week and went to bed at 10 and 11:00. I did not ride my bike to school but I went on a speed walk with my mom and little Abby in the stroller. She slept the whole time. I decided I am buying loops from peri-optic but I will probably wait until January. I took a lot of pictures in Park City and had entertaining chats with all of the girls at our sleepover. Dancing is not our specialty. I haven't seen Andy for four days and I am hoping I will get some sleep tonight. Well anyway...I just thought I would write something... though it is really not much, and hardly descriptive.  Videos: My favorite was the old man dance. Just tilt your head.
P.

The VA

Today was my first day at the VA hospital in SLC.  It is huge and beautiful and I went to lunch with my professor. That was a first. She is already my favorite.  

I am not sure how I feel about the VA's lead hygienist...she already seems irritated with me and I don't know why. It was my first day. ?? 

First Day Back

I am looking forward to this new school year. It is so nice to feel even a tiny bit comfortable on the first day of class. I realize that will change as the deadlines come, but for now I am appreciating seeing all my dental hygiene friends again and the bright light at the end of this horrendously long tunnel. Only eight more months, eight more months, eight...more...months!!! Not just eight more months until I finish my program (which of course is a miracle) but eight more months and I am FINISHED with school forever! Not that I don't love learning just that I will finaling be in a promising career, earning a respectable living and finally spending the extra time I have on what's really important instead of just spending it on homework.

Little Abigail is here!!!

I only have one hand free and it is suddenly harder to find the time to blog, amoung other things. To make this short....just check out my other blog, leckernotes.blogspot.com

Only one more week.

3 Finals down and 2 to go.   I've been kicking myself all semester for taking Pathophysiology at the same time, but ... the end is almost here.  Hooray!!

It's the last day of clinic for a whole 3 1/2 months

Although I am excited that it is the last day of clinic, I can honestly say that I am going to miss it. Clinic is turning out to be my favorite part of this program. I can only say that because of the few good instructors that have taken the time to help me learn for myself. It's been the hardest and most emotional week of the semester. It's been full of problems that I shouldn't have had to face but I have always known a breakdown would be coming sometime and I have fulfilled my requirements!! so I can't complain.

Clinic, March 30th

I figure black and white is not as bad as the washed out army green color we have going on. This was a great day for clinics I guess my previous post talks about it but I just got around to uploading the pictures.

March is over, I can't believe it. I can't wait to complete this semester and take a break! If I could only have one week good solid week of rest from tests and studies and school in general, I think I could get a handle on my burned out brain and by the looks of these pictures....my sad appearance as well. Too bad I still have finals left. I guess I'll just have to suck it up for a little longer.

Mar 30, 2009

I'm not too great at blogging yet. At least I don't have the skill to entertain any possible readers. Here at the end of the work day I am overwhelmed and exhausted so please stop reading now. ...
I have been at the school for 9 1/2 hours already and still another 1/2 hour to go. I completed two pts today and one PE. I still do not have a class 3 pt but maybe I'll get one next week. I have an exam to study for tomorrow and huge assignment for Patho and another exam I have to take sometime this week. Oh, I wish this semester would pass faster even though it's passing faster than any other. I took a couple of pictures today so I'll have to post them on here soon. Well beside that fact that I'm super stressed out and haven't eaten and I'm pregnant :( today wasn't that bad, I hope I can say it is better tomorrow.

Yesterday I had another wonderful appointment completely finished in one clinic session.  I could really get use to this.   All I need now is a class 3 patient and all my worries will disappear.

Wed March 18

I keep thinking I should bring a camera to clinic with me and today I did but somehow there is not enough time to pull it out and take a picture.  It would have been great today, my dad came in for me.  I finished his Tx in one appointment.  That's a huge deal for me!  Clinic is coming along and I am really happy about it.

Monday 23

Learning to scale and clean teeth has been and continues to be a overwhelming task. Fortunately the challenges that have terrified me in the past are slowly becoming comfortable and promising. There is a light in my tunnel and it's getting brighter. Though I find myself aching for the time to quickly past me by, I realize that these precious moments of tutelage most likely may never to be experienced again.

More Slow days

Sadly my routine appointments are not so routine.  I've got to start scheduling only patients that can come for the entire apointment.  Also, it seems like lots of my patients should be class 2s but only 1 1/2 have been.  It would be nice to only have the easy 1B patients if they all have to be 1Bs.  Goals:.....organization, PEs, increasing pace.  On the positive side, at least I am happy to be there and like what I am doing, especially now that the instructors are more constructive in their criticism.

February 4

Today was another wednesday and time flies by on wednesdays. I didn't finish scaling my patient today but I was able to do good work on the quads that I scalled. Debridement was intense today. It was amazing how much I was pulling off. Also I practiced using my ultrasonic for the first time. And I really didn't feel like it worked very well. Hopefully I'll improve on that because everyone else says it is better. Also my patient is doing excellent on OH so there were a couple great points.

February 2

Today was difficult. After have patients with such tenacious calculus it was confusing to have one with tons of bleeding and plaque but almost no calculus. I spent too long on areas that had not calculus because I didn't know for sure, why else would they bleed so much. Well I learned that bleeding doesn't necessarly mean there's calculus. Also another great thing is that I practiced using my explorer much more that I had been using it. I was able to get interproximally and recognize almost every spot of calculus. It was a great learning experiences and a really good day in the clinic. Probably one of the two bests!

January 28

Today my clinic experiences went well, I'm improving my time on probing. I am really happy to have such great patients who show up and are reliable. I'll continue crossing my fingers. My patient couldn't come until 9 so I didn't finish him on time but it wasn't too much later. OHI session was great. My patient is very responsive.

Jan 26th

Today I had a patient with great calculus not that calculus is great, just that today for the first time, I was able to see it and remove it and then double check by illuminating his teeth with my mirror. It was neat, when lighting the teeth it appeared as dark gray spots. My patient was great. Processing the paper work is still a little frustrating, but all in all it went well.

Wednesday

Today went really well with my patient. I had a family member come which is always fun. We did have a couple of complications that slowed the process down. I'm not sure how much to explain a public blog but nothing serious just slight complication that couldn't have been forseen. I really dislike how fast everything gets towards the end of the apt. I don't like making them feel rushed or awkward so I'm going to try and keep track of my minutes in the future.

Monday

I am loving working on my friends and family. They're very patient and kind and helpful at telling what is good and not so good. Today my patient was partially a class two which will be a great experience once I get to scale their teeth next month. I felt like I went at a good pace today and was effective with my skills and techniques

2nd patient day

Andy came in for a second time and I finished treatment today.  Scaling went really well and I was really thankful for the practice and a very understanding patient.   The second half of the treatment plan flowed much better than the first part.  My goal for Monday is to have a patient :) and to remember each step of the process so that the process will speed up.

Semester 2

Jan 5th we spent our clinic day learning about the Gracey instruments and Ultrasonics.  I am really glad that we learned how to use the ultrasonic instruments now instead of half way through the semester. I imagine that I will use them frequently.