TA

So I figure I need to write about being a TA in first year clinic. I absolutely love it! The students are so much fun, and Ive reviewed so much! I enjoy going around helping to teach and improve thier skill level. It brought back so many memories. I think I am more paranoid about my posture now because we stress that so much! Kristen Hafen especially. Its good. I find myself tweeking a few things when I see pts. Its a good reminder of the basics.

Emergency drill

So I volunteered to be part of a college of health science mock emergency. We had a pt start in DH with a heart attack, transfer to the Emergence Response people then to a fake hospital bed to be worked over by the respiratory therapy, nursing and CLS people. The health administrative students helped plan as well. It was overall a cool thing. I got to be an assistant and administer oxygen as well as act like a distressed family member at the fake hospital. It was fun actually and I learned a lot. Savanna pretended to be the pts wife. She was good. It was pretty funny for the situation. At one point in time she yelled after him "I love you Waldo". It was cool to see how it all worked out. I dont think I would want to watch everything that happens in the hospital on a real family member in the ER.

Tonsils that look like lava

So we had a lab with three different stations. One was the Velscope and oral cancer detection device. It helps you see abnormal cells. I was the pt for part of the time. I was just about recovered from a cold so my tonsils had some pretty fun stuff in them. Apparently they were flaming red and looked like lava! That was kinda cool, as long as I know I dont have oral cancer! The next station was emergency situations. It was a really good review. We role played and I had to pretend like I was convulsing. Not such a great actress with this one I just verbalized it for the most part. The third and final station was wheelchair transfers. We pushed each other around the building. It was pretty sweet. Then we practice transfering each other. I must admit it was fun to be lifted up and put in the other chair. I felt pretty confident about it all. At the end I was practicing on someone and they had Mr. Solomon come in. He is a pretty good sized person. I felt like a fish in a fishbowl as everyone watched me move him from the wheelchair to the dental chair. It wasn't too bad a bit awkward but a good experience overall.

Stain

This entry is about one of my pts who drinks tea all of the time. She had some pretty bad staining. It was neat to see the difference when I was done with her. Its discouraging though when I think about it because I know she is just going to keep drinking tea and get have her stain back in no time! Later when I was helping the first years to learn the air powder polisher I thought about her adn how she would have been a perfect candidate for it.

Small world, looking back

One clinic session I had a returning pt. from first year. She was super nice! I just remember how long it took me to do her OD then and how long it took me a few weeks ago. It was pretty cool! First year it took forever! This time it was done in like 45 minutes. That time could still be improved, but it was encouraging to see my progress. While talking to her during the appt. I found out she knows my roommate. Its just crazy sometimes what a small world it is.

4 for 4

So one week in clinic for both WSU and the VA I had 4 pts. scheduled. Every single pt I had originally scheduled either no showed or cancelled last minute! I know someone was watching out for me because I still saw 4 pts that week. They actually ended up being more of what I needed than the ones I had scheduled. At least one of them was a class III who I gave injections to, and the other ended up being an eaglesoft pt. It was a pretty crazy week, but in the end it all worked out.

Cancellations!

So the afternoon I was supposed to have 2 1A pts come in turned out different than expected. They ended up not being able to come. The same thing happened to Denver! So here we were on our last day of Fall clinic still needing 1A's and had none. We frantically called names off the resource list. One pt. was able to come in for me thank heavens, but she didn't have any luck. She arranged to come in this Thursday in hopes of having patients then. I couldn't do that because I have VA on Thursday. So my one pt. came, and I called a pt Julie knew. They said they would come in but later called reporting a flat tire! What a crazy day! At least I got one in and more PE's. My advice to anyone is dont save requirements you need for the last day of clinic. Plan as far ahead as possible.

Progress

I think that I'm not the most creative person when it comes to titles for my blogs but it makes sense for this one. I had a eighteen year old patient who had never had a cleaning in his life. I would just touch his gums and he would bleed profusely. He ended up being a class III so the first appt. I anestatized him and cleaned one quad. He would have been a perfect board patient! The calculus came off so well, and there was plenty of it! Id just feel horrible if I made him wait that long. He was very anxious to improve and after some instruction on proper home care he was off. When I saw him for the next appt. His tissues had changed dramatically for the better. It was pretty awesome to see! He barely bled at all in that quadrant! This was such a good pt. experience! Its cool to see such a big difference!

Blogging

Well I just realized I seriously need to blog so here goes! I'll try to catch up on whats happened in the past. I had a patient a few weeks ago that would have been a perfect board patient! He was very dependable and had plenty of calculus that just popped off perfectly! It was pretty fun I got to anestatize (if thats how you spell it)as well! I love injections for some reason! I think I'm a weird person but I just love this stuff!

PE's!

So this morning both Denver and I didn't have patients. It is the last day of clinic for the semester so we decided to pass off PE's on each other. This is exactly what I needed! We had fun as well and I was able to have my last sealant done! I love sealants! It was a pretty productive morning and I got to see my blood glucose level and my blood pressure. I was pretty happy. I hope the two kids in the afternoon work out well too!

Lab

So this morning we had a lab where we learned about wheelchair transfers, emergency situations, desensitization, and velscope. It was pretty interesting. My tonsil showed up super red under the velscope! Makes sense cause I was sick a few days ago. Thank heavens thats over! The emergency situations thing really helped I needed a review for sure! Wheelchair transfers was funny. I got to be pushed and push people around in a wheelchair for a bit. Then we transfered each other from the wheelchair to the dental chair. I was a patient for a bit it wasn't too bad at all. Eventually we had Mr. Solomon come in so we could get an idea of how it would really be to transfer someone. I was the only one who transferred him. It was pretty funny everyone was watching me. It wasn't too bad. I think I got the hang of it.
This afternoons patient was half class 5 half class 3. I applied oraqix for the first time that was cool. Not too difficult, it seemed to help. She had a hard time with the ultrasonic though. The water was a bit much for her. Luckily I was able to pass off a few PE's and get her done. Some days I feel fast other days I just dont know. Today was one of those slow days I think. Sometimes I just want to forget about all the stuff we have to pass off and get checked and just go to work on my patients. I know that stuff is necessary, but I'm anxious to just get out there and treat people! One day Ill be ready. Its so amazing how much I've learned! This has been one amazing journey!