If I was offered a position as a clinical instructor, I would focus on patience. I like to consider myself a pretty patient person however when I feel myself being pressed for time, or expect something to be known I expect understanding of a subject. I would focus on patience because I know for myself I learn better when I have a patient and understand instructor that is willing to explain and walk me through an area that I am not competent on. Before I come back to work as a clinical instructor I want to gain some real world experience so that I can incorporate my knowledge into the student educational setting.

Some things that I would be able to do to make a great educational experience for students would be, to relate to them as a student, bring current practices into their clinical experiences and bring my passion for the field of dental hygiene. Just as attitudes rub off on those around you, I feel the same goes for passion of the field of dental hygiene. An instructor that is enthusiastic and passionate about what they do, radiates the same effect, it makes students want to achieve greater things and strive to learn and become the best hygienist possible. This is my goal for when I become a clinical instructor, I don’t just want to be good; I want to be the best in order to mold the best.

So I just got offered a position as a clinical instructor at a dental hygiene program, the two things that I am most concerned about are, knowing the educational institutions policies, what is required of the students and of me as a new instructor. Secondly; who is held responsible when legal actions are brought up?

As a new instructor I know that there is a lot to learn and know to insure that you are following all the rules and procedures. By knowing the policies I know what is expected of the students and also what they are looking to me for. I want to know the rules and boundaries of my position so that there is no misunderstanding of my role. Although as a new instructor it may be difficult to give the needed feedback due to wanting to be liked, it is imperative that you start off approachable yet state what you expect out of your students. As a new instructor I would want to discuss with other instructors how they started their clinical instructor career and if they had any tips for success.

My second concern is that of legal actions. I found this interesting to read about. I had just assumed that any legal issues would be a concern of the school, not a specific instructor. This concerns me because we live in a time where everyone wants to sue everyone. I would think that someone trying to sue a university would be thinking, money, money, money. So if this lawsuit also had my name on it, I would be thinking that I would lose everything. I would want to know who is held liable in the situation of a legal lawsuit. Do I need malpractice insurance? Am I covered by the educational institution? Do I need extra malpractice insurance taken out on myself, since I’m in an educational program working with students? This insurance issue would be taken care of immediately and before I would start working.

Although our duty is to ensure that safe, high quality care is provided to our patients we need to do our homework first and make sure we know what we expect out of our students to provide optimum care. And; as an instructor we take care of ourselves by protecting our assets and family’s with malpractice insurance to insure that we are safe from lawsuits.

The term “diversity” in my mind is used broadly to refer to many demographic variables, including, race, religion, color, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, age, education, geographic origin, and skill characteristics. I like how Michael defined diversity, “Diversity to me means to coexist. Coexistence means multiple groups purposely living together peacefully and non-violently, despite differences in ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation and politics.” I feel that diversity has given this country its unique strength, resilience and richness. So why is it that the field of dentistry, particularly dental hygiene lacks diversity? Like many professions it takes time to break free of the gender and race stereotype. Hygiene has been predominantly a Caucasian, and female driven career for as long as time will tell. How do we break this mold? Is it possible? I personally think that it has a lot to do with exposure. In areas that are vastly diverse, maybe not so well off, limited access to care, these are the people not getting the dental attention. With out this exposure, the young adult population is not even given the chance to think of the dental field as a career choice for their future. Many dental students right out of school have these expensive loans to pay off and want to go to areas where they know they are going to profit and make money. There needs to be more programs that offer to aid in tuition reimbursement for these lower income areas so that the profession of dentistry is seen in these diverse neighborhoods and to help in advertising the dental career paths for those who may otherwise not think twice about dentistry and dental hygiene. The saying “Out of sight, out of mind,” comes to mind when I think about diversity in the dental field. I say put dentistry in front of them and watch the diversity levels change.