This semester, I will be spending a day with junior and senior dental hygiene students in the clinic!
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!
Lauren,
Being that you are in clinic working with students. It nice to hear that the concepts being taught is information we will actually use in our educational future. It will be interesting to see/ hear how you take your experiences and merge them with the content we learn.
Being able to explain what we think can be challenging at times. I learned when I was working with students in my practicum site I had to be flexible and creative. Also, I had to improvise to make sure the concept is understood by the student. We are learning ourselves, so when we begin to work with students, I think we should always remember how we felt as a student and use that to help our future students.
Karmeil
Lauren,
I’m excited to see you in clinic this semester! Your experience in private practice and doing things your way, I think will certainly help you to explain a technique or skill that the students may better understand and relate to. It’s good to share the tips and tricks you’ve found to be most efficient with them, they will appreciate it. Good luck!