- Pediatric Dental Office- Summer 2018
I was a temporary dental assistant in a pediatric dental office for 6 weeks. Although my time in this office was brief, the lessons I learned stayed with me for a long time.
Of the many lessons I learned at this practice, paying attention was the most important. Working in a pediatric office trained me to have eyes behind my head.
Many problems can arise when one is not paying attention. For example, an unattended child can get hurt or even disappear by the blink of an eye. In addition, when extra attention is paid to patients, the clinician will get a better understanding of their patients. I was able to bring this skill set to my own patients in clinic. Instead of prompting my patients to alert me when they are uncomfortable, I began to pay attention to their body language. This way I am proactive as opposed to reactive.
- Oral surgery Office- August 2014- June 2015
I was an intern in the Oral Surgery department of Woodhull Hospital. During my time at Woodhull, I got accustomed to listening the doctor give post-operative instructions or explain treatment to a patient using broad medical terms that the patient may not have understood. There were times the patients would wait for the doctor to leave the room to ask me to clarify, or unfortunately, look too shy to admit they didn’t thoroughly understand.
After noticing this, I began to wonder how disadvantaged those who didn’t speak fluent English were when it came to situations like this.
I started thinking of my aunts and my grandmother who only spoke fluent Haitian- Creole. I realized I had the ability to make things a little less complicated for these patients.
I began to imitate the conversation with patients about there treatment. I made sure to ask if they had any questions or needed any clarifications on anything.
I noticed that majority of the patients I saw had a follow-up question or concern after treatment. Sometimes these questions can’t be answered by the doctor due to time.
From then on I’ve made it my duty to thoroughly explain treatment, and stick around to address any questions or concerns a patient may have.
