As a clinical instructor I would want to make sure that I am giving the students the time they deserve. I always hated to be rushed through something or to be given a quick answer. I want to answer the students fully and make sure that they are walking away knowing rather then guessing about what I said. Because their are so many different types of learners, knowing how to help a specific student might be challenging. Coming up with different methods to help each student will be worth it knowing that I am helping them. I have always been one to help. I love explaining or giving advise or tips. I really look forward to being a clinical instructor.

As an educator I think making the students educational experience a good one should be part of the job. I love sharing stories from past patients and how I was able to problem solve a specific problem. I think being  an experienced clinical instructor will help remind me of how I was as a student and how far I have some. And it’ll give me a better understanding of how to deal with a student that’s having trouble. I will be able to use my experiences from school and my work to help with different situations. I think it will help calm the student own a little knowing that I was in the same boat, and that I was perfect and made mistakes. I am all for making the student feel that they can do this and they will. I want to give them the confidence they need to be successful.

I really don’t know where to begin. I have tried starting this blog several times. All I can say is that I highly disagree and I feel as though I am being judged before I have even started. I think that if faculty training, following testing protocols, and realistic expectations are the issues, then someone needs to evaluate the schools protocol on faculty calibration. The fact that they categorize the faculty members that was is very upsetting. Every hygienist has their own way of doing things, but if the school took more time and made it mandatory for faculty calibration meetings and training, then certain issues shouldn’t arise. On the other hand, how is it appropriate for someone to tell a hygienist how fast or slow they should use an explorer to detect calculus, and that they are wrong? How do they know if a hygienists ‘new and speedy’ ways are hard to perform deliberate exploring strokes?  I understand that faculty are there to teach the students proper technique, and instrumentation. It’s their job

Just because one instructor is faster or slower than another doesn’t mean that they are any more or less qualified than the other. It shouldn’t matter what their technique is, as long as the students education is their main priority. When calculus gets detected, that’s where the protocol should kick in. That’s where the instructor needs to take the time and explain, and show the student what they have missed and how to correct it. This is the time when calibration needs to be the strongest… How to instruct and how to grade. The instructors know what they are doing and how to do it. The textbook version of steps is meant for students so they learn, not the instructors. Instructors are there to help the students master those steps, but eventually these students will find their own technique that suits them but it will still achieve the same results.

2-14 The number of hours of clinical practice scheduled must ensure that students attain
clinical competence and develop appropriate judgment. Clinical practice must be
distributed throughout the curriculum.

The number of hours devoted to clinical practice time should increase as the students progress toward
the attainment of clinical competence.

I thought this was interesting because of a few reasons. One, I would assume that a student that was starting off in pre-clinic or clinicals, would receive more time than a student who is in their last semester. Second, why would a student that is nearing graduation need MORE time to complete a patient then a first year student? Finally, I found it interesting that they would increase the time of a graduating student considering the amount of time they will actually get to complete a prophy in the real world. I would think that decreasing the student time and making it more realistic would be better and more educational for them. It would teach the student how to manage their lessened time with the patient to ensure that they are able to complete the appointment.

3-7 The full time faculty of a dental hygiene program must possess a baccalaureate or

higher degree.

Part-time faculty providing didactic instruction must have earned at least a
baccalaureate degree or be currently enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program.

I was aware of this to a point. I knew that full time faculty needed a baccalaureate degree or higher, depending on the school’s requirements, to be employed. What I did not know was that you could potentially be hired as a part time faculty member while enrolled in a  baccalaureate degree program. I would have loved to have been working while going through this program. I think that it would have helped out a great deal to use and see first hand how all of the information I have been learning about worked in a clinical setting.

Scenario #1 

Dental hygiene clinics  are a learning environment. Students are expected to make mistakes and they will. When an issue arises that a student needs help, then that’s when the instructor should step in, especially if it effects the well-being of a patient. Mary was thorough with her medical history check in. She asked if there were any medical changes and found out that he had a knee replacement 6 months ago and even mentioned it to the instructor. At this point, I would start asking questions leading up to the fact that the patient needs a pre-med. I don’t like giving the answer to someone, and by asking the right kind of questions it may make the student realize the situation.

My feed back and grading would all depend on if the student realized that the patient needed a pre-med on her own or if I had to finally tell her. If she remembered on her own, I would make sure that she understands how important it is that she take the time to really review the medical history. I would also remind her of the guidelines regarding pre-meds and have her review it. Since she realized her mistake, I would definitely take points off for the medical history portion, but I would still pass her. If I had to finally tell her that she missed that fact that the patient needed a pre-med, her feedback would be the same except that I would have her review the guidelines and then the next day have her explain it to me and why it is important. If this was her first offense, I would still only take points off but if this was something that the student kept doing, I would fail her for the medical history portion. It’s a liability and it’s a serious situation. The student needs to realize how important something like this is. Failing a medical history review on one patient is not the end of the world.

Scenario #2  

We all have those cray days when nothing seems to be going right! I just had one… So I know. But no matter how crazy the day is, I still treat every patient the same. Same goes for clinic. It doesn’t matter if there are five instructors or just you. Every student needs to be graded the same and have the same consequences as all the other students. If I found 7 areas of detectable calculus, I would have the student write down the teeth numbers and surfaces that I detected calculus and have him sit in the chair and see if he could detect then as well. Then I would have the student re-scale those areas. After doing the check a second time, if the calculus had been removed then would take half a point off per surface that he missed. When I redo the check and I still detected calculus, I would have the student sit in the chair again and show me how and what he uses to check his work. At this point, students should know how to use an explorer to help detect calculus. I would have the student scale the areas that still had calculus. As far as grading, I would take off half a point for each of the original surfaces missed, and then an addition half a point for the areas that needed to be re-scaled. Students need to learn that a big part of being a dental hygienist is cleaning teeth. If they do not know how to detect or remove calculus, they can not be passed and set free into the world! The dental hygiene clinics are the places to make mistakes but they also need to learn from them.

1. Should students know they are being evaluated? Why or why not?

When I was a student, I felt that I was always being evaluated whether I was doing a competency or not. As dental hygiene students, we need to learn not only the techniques but how to speak, act and be a dental hygienist. I think every student should know exactly when they are being evaluated but should also act as if they are being evaluated at all times. In my clinic, the students got to choose when they wanted to perform a competency for an instructor. If I were able to do it my way, I would want to be able to choose students at random to perform a competency. This way, if for any reason they were struggling or having difficulties, they could address it sooner rather then l later. Giving the student the option to take a competency when they feel ready may only be hindering them from learning how to perform a skill correctly sooner. It’s like having pop quizzes in a class. You never know when it might take place, so you need to know the information, rather then cramming for it the night before.

2. Should students have to pass competencies more than once? Why or why not?

Competencies are used to evaluate that a student knows and understands a certain task or skill that they are performing. In certain situations, some skills may not be use as frequently as others. For example, local anesthesia. I took the local anesthesia course during the summer  between my first and second year as a dental hygiene student. I think that this is the perfect example have needing to pass a competency more than once. Even though we had our certificates, we needed to perform all of the different shots again during our 3rd and 4th semesters. If we are talking about having to do a second competency on knowing how to use an anterior scaler, I would have to say no. If by the end of the 1st semester a student doesn’t know the proper use, then dental hygiene may not be for them!
3. What strategies could instructors use to help students who are incredibly nervous during a competency exam?

No matter what, everyone is a bit nervous when it comes to taking tests. I think the best thing an instructor can do, is first go over the competency sheet with the student so that the student fully understands what they will be evaluated on. At that point it is the students responsibility to ask any questions regarding any issues they may have. Our instructors used to start off by asking a few questions regarding the instrument we were about to demonstrate., and have us talk about it what we would use it for. Getting the student engaged in conversation may take their mind off the fact that they are being evaluated. I like to ask questions in layers. So I would ask certain questions to get the student comfortable talking about what they are about to do. I think this would help the students confidence knowing that they do know what they are doing. Maybe it would take some of the pressure off the fact that they are being tested.

I know as I start to talk and give advise to some students, that the information that I give needs to be dependent on how advanced the student is. You aren’t going to give a first year student the same information, tips or advise that you would a second year. The information you offer could be hard to understand, confusing, and sometimes scary. I certainly think that instructors do need to teach more than what the curriculum but only when the moment is right. This is one reason why I think clinical instructors need to have outside experience to bring to the students. The more working knowledge that an instructor has the more helpful and valuable they will be to each student. Foe example, if an instructor sees a student struggling to remove calculus with a specific sight, they could incorporate their experience and offer some advise or tips. I know that none of my dental hygiene books ever offered a different techniques with one instrument when trying to remove calculus. So this is one case when modifications would come in handy.

As clinical instructors, the students do seek our help and knowledge. As it was stated, as dental hygienist work in the field for a while we develop our own modifications to how we were taught. We are there to help the students succeed. I am not saying that we should teach them they way we do prophys, but when a student is struggling that’s when I feel instructors need to modify their teaching. I don’t feel that when an instructor tells a student to try a different method it is going against what the student has already learned, but rather modifying the information they already know.

Question:

While checking in the intra/extra oral exam you notice a lesion on the buccal mucosa. The student has not mentioned it to you and you have not looked at the intra/extra oral exam page yet. What question do you ask and why do you ask that question? What follow up questions might you ask? Remember to follow the principles introduced in the readings and discuss how your questions follow those principles.

Before doing the intra/extra oral exam I would ask:

1. Was there anything that you found that concerned you that I should take a look at?

I think this question is using the Blooms Taxonomy- knowledge. It provokes the student to look at their notes and                 remember what they may have seen.

During the exam & Follow-up question:

1.  When reviewing the patient’s chart, did you come across any notes regarding any lesions that the patient may have?

This question could fit into Sanders – memory, translation and/or interpretation levels. It allows the student to                      recall if they remember reading about the lesion and to also translate and interpret what they read.

2. After examining the lesion what are your thoughts about what type it might be?

3. What do you feel is the cause of the lesion?

I feel that both of these question would fit into Bloom’s Taxonomy – analysis, synthesis, and/or evaluation. I                           gives the student the opportunity to make a educated guess about what they feel the lesion might be and/or what                   may have caused it. Depending on what the lesion actually was, the instructor could follow up with a question                        about what the next step would be regarding treatment if needed.

I graduated in May 2010, and starting working in September 2010 in a general office. I was absolutely scared out of my mind. I thought that I would forget all that I was taught and not know how to clean teeth again! It was just like riding a bike… As soon as I picked up my scaler it all came rushing back. I am a trained and well EDUCATED dental hygienist.. I knew what I was doing. In the beginning of my working career, I did everything I was taught. Use the graceys, use the explorer to check for calculus, etc.. After being in the field for 4 years, I have learned a great deal from seasoned hygienist and have adapted to other methods through my own trial and errors. I use air and floss to check for calculus, I use 3 main instruments to do my scaling. Of course things like cancer screenings, and soft tissue checks, I still do by the book as taught in school. I have learned to use methods that best fit my time allowed and my patients needs.

I definitely think that the quote is true. You may not remember all that you have learned but you are educated and it will come back at times of need. I think because we are taught critical thinking and problem solving it helps. Knowing the facts is great, but I don’t think it helps when you are faced with different situations with each patient. You need to know how to adapt the facts and what you know to fit the patient at that moment.  I feel that critical thinking and problem solving skills are a must have. Obviously knowing facts about your job are also very important. It’s information that you pass on to help educate your patients. I think both are very important but critical thinking and problem solving skills, to me, might be a bit more important. Anyone can learn and know facts about any subject, but critical thinking and problem solving are harder for some to grasp, and it may not even be something you can fully teach. Our brains all work differently. That’s why some people choose certain careers over others. Dental hygiene, at times, can be a mystery and without knowing where to start to find the answer may be difficult for some.

After taking the Learning Styles Inventory, I was told that I am a kinesthetic learner. I read the description of a kinesthetic learner and I agree 100%! I learn from real life experiences. I have always said that I am a hands on learner. Taking trips, tours, and listening to stories have always been the best way for me to learn. My friends always laugh at me because I really do touch and smell everything! I like to talk situations out, look at pictures or diagrams of how something may work or fit together. I am definitely and hands on and visual learner.

Clinicals in hygiene school was my stronger area because I could actually do what was asked of me. Reading how to use an instrument is totally different than actually doing it, and being corrected if needed. By the clinical instructors physically showing me or moving my hand into position was the best learning for me.

I have always been a big believer that we all learn in different ways. Very few teachers/instructors in my lifetime have ever used various ways to teach. School has always been a struggle for me, especially when it comes to strict book work. I was extremely nervous taking on-line classes and still am every semester. No matter what the subject is, I will research it and look for various ways of explanation. I have never and will never be the type of person to just sit and read and learn. I need talking, explanation, and visual things to help me. I think because of this, I will make a good clinical instructor because that’s how I teach. I explain and show what needs to be done, because that’s how I learn.

I am sure we all had that one instructor that we wanted to check our patients because you knew you’d pass them. I was never that lucky to get her! I always got the one that would search and search for anything to take points off! Needless to say I never passed a patient with a 100% when she checked, BUT came very close several times. The fact that I had to work harder to impress her and try for a 100% was draining and upsetting.  At the time I thought the ‘grade’ was what was important. Not true. Because I had to work harder at it, in turn made me a better clinician. I will not except anything but ‘clean’. I check my work so thoroughly that patients have commented and thanked me. Her toughness and thoroughness was the silent lesson.

I hope I am the kind of instructor that students will remember, but most importantly learn from.