Lessons in the Clinic

When you look around yourself, what do you notice? Do you have people near you? Do they know you? Are your dreams and goals plastered to the wall? A vision board of your future success. Is it green and sunny or drab and dreary?

Today, as I look around myself, I see all the changes that are happening in my life. The leaves are green and my room is packed. My summer class just started and the Discover Dental School program is right around the corner. A new dentist is starting in the Downtown clinic and we recently switched from Caribbean blue scrubs to edgy, black Fig scrubs.

Especially as I look around the clinic, I can’t help but feel extremely blessed and thankful for everything I have been given. As a young college student who went from shadowing at this clinic freshman year to working there the summer after and now preparing to take an x-ray technician course through that very same clinic. This week, the primary dentist is transitioning to a more prominent role in the business side rather than clinical and it was full of heartfelt conversation, teaching moments, and reminiscing on other days. We talked about his favorite procedures, where they could utilize an unlicensed assistant (aka: me), my plans to pursue the Navy during and after dental school, and the upcoming application cycle that follows. We laughed with patients and nearly cried with others, and I truly feel this week has been monumental in my growth and development as a future dentist.

I’ve learned not only the qualities of running a high-profit clinic, or how to boost new patient numbers, but I have seen firsthand Dr. H and all the others who practice here make a difference in people’s trust and confidence at our clinic. I will forever be an advocate for being a good person first- no matter who your patient is, how much work they need done, or whatever their status may be. After all, while we absolutely need to be good dentists, we must be good humans first.

Those are my thoughts for the day.

xx

Beka