Internship opportunity at Flushing Hospital
Each year, Dr Flamer Caldera along with the other DH faculty, chooses 5-6 from the DH class to represent our school by interning at a hospital of her choice for 15 weeks. The students are chosen based on their performance in didactic and clinical courses. This year, I along with 5 other classmates, was given this once in a lifetime opportunity to practice dental hygiene and see a wide variety of patients in a real world setting. At Flushing hospital, I learned to do full mouth prophylaxis in under 20 min, deep subgingival scaling in under 45 min, expose xrays using film, manage many different dental chairs and patients at once, and work with a wide demographic of people, including immigrants, the uninsured and non English speakers. Going from a set paced, safe school learning environment to a fast-paced, time-limited hospital setting was difficult, but the lessons it has taught me in terms of time and patient management will last me a lifetime.
Here’s the journal highlighting my journey for each week that I’ve worked at the hospital. I have described everything from challenges faced to techniques learned and patients encountered during my wonderful stay here.
