I’m so bad at this...... writing that is. Both in the essence of writing well and in a timely fashion. This post has been a very long time coming. Since my last post I have started and not completed three different other posts describing how I’ve been progressing through my duel degree program. But unfortunately I’ve either found the posts to be dull or I just haven’t gotten around to finishing them. I’d like to say that it’s because I’ve been so busy with school, but really is that a good excuse to procrastinate in writing? For me, no, it’s not a good excuse, and yet that’s what I have to go off of.
I now find myself with a little bit of time to finally compile this post while I am on a small winter break and on family vacation in Arizona (and just kidding... I couldn’t even finish this while on break). I am now half way completed with school and only have two semesters left of my second bachelors degree in dental hygiene. How did that happen already?! So what can I tell you about my schooling thus far? I feel like there is so much to tell and yet not enough that anyone might find interesting. I suppose the best thing I can do is to just start writing and see where my memory takes me.
When I start up with school again next week (Just kidding, already started) I will have been in hygiene clinic seeing patients for a year now. I have seen so many patients, both good and bad, and have been thankful for all of them! I love interacting with patients and believe I am already establishing how I would like to continue interacting with patients in the future. I love chatting with everyone and trying to make them at ease with me as a provider and feel at ease with being at the dental office. I sometimes get in trouble with the timing of my appointments because I find myself talking with everyone too much and not actually focusing on the dental work that they are coming in for, which is both a good and a bad thing I guess. I feel like I’m getting better everyday with taking radiographs, charting my observations, exploring for calculus deposits, and doing a good cleaning. I still feel like I have a long way to go in clinic, especially with February approaching quickly and my dental therapy classmates and I starting up in clinic doing operative work (aka fillings, etc.). I’m very excited to begin this new chapter of clinic. I have honestly learned to enjoy hygiene work despite my lack of enthusiasm for the degree when I first started school. While I never thought that learning dental hygiene would be my cup of tea, I have already been able to see the advantage of recieveing a hygiene degree along with the masters in dentistry degree. It will truely make me a more well rounded dental provider. I’ve now completed a ton of classes, having thoroughly enjoyed oral anatomy, operative dentistry, radiology, pathology, anesthesiology, and even histology! I have enjoyed various aspects of all my other classes as well, finally feeling like the education I’m getting in dental school is all information that I not only want to know but need to know. As difficult as school has been thus far, it has been comforting knowing that this is where I belong.
I should also mention that I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about my future profession as a dental therapist. I’m really starting to get excited about the prospect of becoming a dental therapist. I believe that there is a niche that a mid level and duel degree trained dental provider can help fill for people, and I’m excited to begin looking for ways to personally fill those niches. There are so many people who are in need of dental care, and I believe I’m being prepared to step up and find ways to expand access to care. I had been so excited for so many years to begin a career as a dentist, and now half of the way through school now I feel very great for the perpetration and encouragement I’ve gotten to prepare me to become a dental therapist.
My classmates and I have all been working well together and getting along! My dental hygiene cohorts will be walking with their bachelors in dental hygiene in May and will be fully completed in August. While my fellow DT classmates and I will have also graduated from the hygiene program, we will continue on doing restorative dentistry and comprehensive exams. At school I am currently acting as the dental therapy representative for CHIP (an inter collaborative group for all health sciences), am a DT Ambassador, and serve as the president for the dental therapy student association (DTSA). I’m also a member so several other school and national organizations and try to participate in everything that I can while in school and on campus.
All in all, school is good, school is hard, and school is flying by! I continue to be curious and try to work hard. I’ll continue to attempt at keeping you readers posted, and hopefully find additional dental related things to write about.
As always, thanks for reading! Enjoy some photos!
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