April 3, 2008

Today was my clinic simulation day. I was nervous and just wanted to get it done. It just made me worry having to see 4 patients in one day. The morning was crazy! My first patient didn't show, but I ended up cleaning a quad of Kim's class 3 patient that she didn't need. I also got a local anesthetic experience which was good. My second patient only had 6 teeth, but she just had a knee replacement a few months ago and forgot her pre-medication. I was able to do a visual exam and x-rays, but she has to come back to finish. This afternoon I saw a class 5 patient who was very talkative. She was pretty easy, and actually really fun to work on because she was very interested in everything I was doing and how she could improve her oral health. My second patient was a 13 year old boy. He had full braces, but his orthodontist removed the wire to get his teeth cleaned so access wasn't too terrible. I am very very glad to have completed this project.

March 27, 2008

Today was an okay day. I originally didn't have a patient scheduled for the morning, but Gina called me with a patient that she wondered if I would screen, and I was more than willing to help out. He was a possible mockboard. I didn't clean any quads, but that is okay. In the afternoon I saw my cousins husband. I had to pass off a N2O PE, so I paid for him to do it. It went well. I was glad to have that PE done.

March 13, 2008- Anesthesia Boards

Today were our local anesthesia board exams. The written portion was in the morning. It was intense. I passed! Two girls from our class did not pass. That was hard to see them so devastated because you can't even take the clinical portion if you don't pass the written. It was a huge relief to pass. The examiners were extremely nice, especially for the clinical portion. I used Kim for my patient and everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I got a HUGE positive aspiration on my IA and then when I went in again I had osseous contact. I just tried to stay calm and redirect. It was scary, and then when I opened up my envelope I was terrified. I had a huge fear of not passing because knowing my luck I would not pass. However, I didn't fail. I passed! What a huge relief. I feel so much better now!

March 10, 2008

Today felt like a really productive day. My morning patient was a woman who I saw in November. She was an easy class 5. It went well, it just took longer than normal because she is different. But that finished up my class 5 requirements. And I got to do injections for Kim's patient and Valerie's patient. Yeah!

This afternoon I had a 10 year old boy. He was really nice and easy. The x-rays were kindof tricky but we ended up getting and okay film. He finished up my class 1A requirements. And I got do do one injection on Laura's patient. So even though my patients were easy I still got a lot done.

March 6, 2008

Today was a pretty good day. My morning patient was the class 3 patient that I saw last week. I cleaned one more quad today. I did an IA and a long buccal injection and they both went really well. It felt good to have a successful injection the week before boards. I cleaned her quad and missed a few spots. I felt a little frustrated because I felt like they were places that I went over again and again. I guess it was a good learning experience. This afternoon my patient no showed, so me and Laurie practiced angles for injections. It was a good review. I am glad that we had time to work on it.

February 28, 2008

Today was anesthesia mockboards. They were in the morning and I wasn't too nervous until I walked into the locker room this morning and then it hit me. I got really bad butterflies and my hands started shaking. I was at 8:20 so I just got in there and got it done. Luckily I passed both injections, but barely. On the IA I was off at the penetration site with my angles, but she had me go in and try it again and I did it just fine. On the PSA I did okay. My 45 angle from the midline was great, but my 45 angle from the occlusal plane was just barely acceptable. I was really shaky but I did it! I felt good about how I did, especially because I don't feel like I have enough experience to really take the board.

February 21, 2008

Today was not a good day. I don't feel good which reflected in my performance. I had Laura's patient who is a class 2 come back for me to scale for my exam. It didn't go well. I missed a lot of places. Her calculus was very tenacious. I was getting extremely frustrated because I feel like I missed more places today than the entire semester combined. At least I learned that I am not as good as I sometimes think I am. I learned a couple of new techniques in scaling and I got my class 2 done. Yeah!

My afternoon patient cancelled well into the appointment. That is also frustrating. It is just not a good day and I want to go home and go to bed.

Real Date: February 7, 2008

Today was mockboard day. I wasn't nearly as nervous for this one as I was for the one last semester. I think I just felt a little more comfortable with what I was doing and I was more familiar with the paperwork and the entire process. I went in the morning which was nice because I got it done with and I didn't have to worry about it all day. I felt frustrated because I missed 3 places, but I still passed. Overall it went well. I am glad it is over. In the afternoon I felt more confident as a student examiner. I think I am getting a lot better at being able to feel calculus. That made me feel good.

Real Date: January 31, 2008

Today was a productive day! In the morning I had my prospective board patient come in to do an OD and take x-rays. Everything looks great and I am going to be able to use him for my mockboard and for my real board. He is such a nice guy and very cooperative and he seems to be dependable which is very important! It is a relief to have my board patient found. That has always been a huge worry for me!

My afternoon patient was my Class 4 patient who was returning for me to finish her last 2 quads. She is quite the talker, so it took longer than it should have, but I finished. These lower quads were more difficult than the upper quads. I was glad to finish her and to have my class fours completely done. That is another thing that I have worried about. It feels good to check those off the list.

January 24

Today started off as the worst day ever. I had a flat tire and my patient cancelled. Stupid! In the morning I tried to find a patient, but no one could come in, so I just helped people. Towards the end of clinic Prof. Alexander called me over and had me screen a Midtown patient that looked like they would qualify for boards. I checked him out and he looks pretty good. If anything he could be good for my mockboards. Yeah!

This afternoon my sister came in to have her sealants done. Laura didn't have a patient, so we worked on her together and passed off all the long PE's like air powder polisher, diagnodent, and sealants. It was really good to get them done. Even though today wasn't a very productive day I feel like I got a good amount of stuff done.

Jamuary 17

Today was a busy clinic day! I didn't have a morning patient as of yesterday, so i helped out Valerie and Kim who both had patients with people who wanted to come in. Valerie's patient wanted his wife to come in, so I saw her at 8:00 and then Kim saw a little boy whose brother came in too and I saw him at 9:30. It was madness. They were both fairly easy and went well. After lunch I saw my cousin. He is super funny, and it took longer than I thought it would just because he talked a lot. It was more difficult than I thought it would be because he has a lot of decalcification and rough surfaces, but it went well.

One thing I really need to work on is my ergonomics. My back always hurts when I am working on a patient. I have been trying to be more aware of what I am doing to hurt it, but I just need to be better.