This semester, I will be spending a day with junior and senior dental hygiene students in the clinic!

UNE Dental Hygiene Program Students, University of New England P

I chose this because in the future, I would like to start as a part-time clinical instructor. I enjoy my private practice office very much, and want to continue working there for awhile longer. However, I am anxious to enter the world of dental hygiene education. I figured that as a part-time clinical faculty member, I can experience the best of both worlds.

I am excited to put some of the techniques we learned in Amy’s class to work. I am currently half way through my first day, and I’ve already seen a few. The biggest one I noticed was the way the instructor gave feedback. She first asked the student how she felt the day went and the positives and negatives, and then they discussed. I am excited to see how I can learn to interact with the students on their level. I think it will be enjoyable to see many different patients and the way students go through their thought process to classify the patients and determine their course of action.

The biggest thing I want to focus on is my instructor to student communication. My goal is to have effective conversations with students by challenging them, but also keeping things on their level. I want to work on my ability to explain things multiple ways, so I can connect with students that think differently. I need to expand my thoughts to include these differences, so that if they have heard things in one way that didn’t click, maybe I can explain it in a way that does.

I do have a few concerns. Although I have not been out of school long, I quickly developed my own way of doing things. I think my biggest challenge is going to be ‘doing things by the books’. Even though I want to share my private practice experiences, I also want them to practice doing things the correct way before they modify them. I know it will be hard for me to talk the students through effective instrumentation, rather than just doing it for them. I know that things come easily to me now that they may struggle with, so I have to help them build confidence and skill.

I appreciate the chance to work with students at different skill levels, and I am excited to see their progress and know that I might have had an impact on their education.

The junior students today were one experience, so I’m off to have another with the seniors!