Lesson 15-Final Reflection Paper

Final Reflection Paper

My road has been an interesting one. I have always known what I dreamed of doing in a career, however I never knew how to get there. I thought that doing what you love just meant deciding and then going forward with it. I didn’t realize it meant a lot of hard work in the process. I guess that’s what makes a desirable career so desirable, that once you are doing what you love you appreciate it so much because of all it took to get there. I have wanted to be a dental hygienist since I was a little girl.
When I left home to go to college I realized that I had no way of paying for it. Neither of my parents went to college and neither of them knew how to prepare me. I came to Utah because my older brothers had done so before me and attended BYU. I didn’t realize all the hard work they had put into their schooling until I took this road on my own. Once I learned how to apply for student loans and get grants, I began my college career. It took me a while to understand the whole process of college. My first semester I did awful, my second semester I began to grasp certain aspects of the college routine, but still did pretty poor. It was then that I realized my actions and inexperience with college had consequences. I then learned that if I was going to do this on my own I was going to have to do it right.
That is when I finally met with a counselor. My counselor suggested this class. They suggested that although I knew what I wanted to do, it would be helpful to have a class that could show me how to do what I wanted to do. I took this class once and didn’t finish because along with this class I took a semester of very tough classes. I let this class fall by the wayside because I “didn’t need it for my pre-requisites” for dental hygiene. Now that I have finished this class I laugh at myself. I did not realize how incredibly helpful this class was in getting me to understand what I want and need to do to actually fulfill my desired career.
I encountered another hiccup this semester. I was retaking this class to up my GPA since I hadn’t done well previously and because my counselor has highly recommended it. I didn’t think anything would keep me from finishing it this semester but as life would have it, it threw me a curve ball. I lost a very dear friend unexpectedly. It was more tragic than I ever would have thought. I dropped everything in my life to attend to the needs of family members and myself during this grieving process. When I returned, real life hit me hard and I realized that I had done it again. I had put the needs of others and situations I could not control above my education. I was overwhelmed. I knew that if I did not complete this course and others that I would be penalized financially and academically. Thankfully you and your kindness allowed that not to happen. And thank goodness for that. I finished this course, learned so much and finally feel prepared to move forward with the process of applying for dental hygiene programs.
I never knew that those bumps in the road would push me to the point of success. On Thursday May 5, 2011 I am taking the HESI test. Yesterday I made my appointment. This is huge! If I pass this test I will begin the interviewing process for the Fortis College of Dental Hygiene beginning in July of this year!
The last assignment of goal setting and revising my action plan is what set this in motion. I thought about the plans I have been making for years and the goals I had never accomplished and after revising it and learning how to set short and mid-term goals I followed through on one of them. I am really grateful for this class. I learned where I could go for resources on internships, learned how to utilize tools on campus regarding career advisement, learned how to properly make a resume and how a cover letter is important (I’ve never used a cover letter until this class), discuss with other students about my career choices and the importance of what my goals and values are. And most importantly I learned about myself and what I really want out of a career and how to get it!

Lesson 14-Goal Sheet

Short term goals

• Study 45 minutes ever night for the HESI test
• Attend the practice test classes for HESI two times before taking the test
• Work 25 hours a week as a hygiene assistant
• Every two weeks (per paycheck) put 10% in a savings account to be ready to pay off student loans
• Attend Family home evenings and all singles activities to get more comfortable in social situations and to make yourself available to date
• Find out deadlines and qualifications for volunteer programs to help underprivileged children with their teeth by January 2012.

Mid-term goals

• Network with dentists in your area and also the San Diego area so that I have a job set up by graduation date
I will do this by meeting with dentists in my home ward at church in San Diego and discuss my desire and qualifications for working as a dental hygienist. I will find out where there is a need for my position and ask for an interview. I will email and hand-deliver resumes and ask for volunteer internship hours to network and try and get a job. While in school I will network through the school and there connections with dentists in the area.
• Volunteer with Hirschie Smiles humanitarian organization to better my resume and experience
I will do this by filling out the necessary paperwork and getting the health care requirements to volunteer out of the country. I will speak with Gina who volunteers with Hirschie Smiles every year about the steps I need to take to be able to volunteer. I will save $100 every paycheck so that financially I will be ok while volunteering.
• Go on one date a week to establish good relationships for a future marriage
I will do this by attending family home evenings and all singles activities to get more comfortable in social situations and to make myself available to date.
• Have ¼ of student loan paid off by December 2014
I will do this by taking 10% of my paycheck every 2 weeks and put it towards my student loans. I will also take the money I had been saving short tem and pay it towards my student loans.

Lesson 14-Decision-Making Model

Lesson 13-Job shadow

Name: Keveny Daley

Title: Dental Hygienist

Company: Jones Dental

1. Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: I really enjoy helping others feel more confident about their smile. It is interesting to see a patient arrive who hasn’t been to the dentist in a while and had their teeth cleaned and see how they are a little self conscious, but after I am finished with their appointment and cleaning their teeth they leave with a bigger smile and a little more confidence about themselves. Plus I like the process of getting to know my patients in a simple of a task as cleaning their teeth. You would be amazed how much you can learn about someone just by cleaning plaque off of his or her teeth.

2. Q: What is your typical day like?

A: I arrive at around 6:45am, check my schedule for the amount of patients I am going to have and what instruments I will need and set up my first two rooms for my first two patients. Then I read their charts, learn of their health history and insurance.  I check their insurance just incase they need more work done that day, I like to know what their insurance coverage is, because that is usually the first question they ask me. Then I go about my day seeing about 6-10 patients depending on the schedule and difficulty of the appointment. And have about an hour for lunch and recuperation for my wrists, being a hygienist is tough on your wrists, and then around 5pm I clean my exam rooms and head home. Some days we have a staff meeting, some days if my schedule fell apart then I have to fill it with people wanting an appointment sooner, some days are just slow and I have to find things to do around the office like restock, verify insurance, assist the doctor, etc. But a typical day starts at 7am and ends around 5 or 5:30pm and I see about 9 patients.

3. Q: What kind of experience would you recommend to pursue this type of career?

A: I would recommend at least working in a dental office for 6 months before committing to this career. A job in a dental office is different than most people think.  And I generally see dental assistants start out in this field and say they want to be a hygienist but after a few months in a dental office they quit or change their mind.  You need to know that the work you are doing isn’t glamorous. And it’s hard. Some people going into hygiene thinking it’s an easier high paying career, but it’s not. It’s messy. You deal with spit, throw-up, patients having anxiety attacks, blood, and many other gross fluids. I say this only because when I was in school a fellow student who had worked in the dental field told me to try it out before I go through all of my schooling, and I am so glad I did.  It isn’t for some people; thankfully I can handle those things and also enjoy the work I do on a day-to-day basis.

4. Q: What do you like least about your job?

A: You would think from my previous answer that I wouldn’t like all of the gross fluids I come in contact with daily, but in reality the thing I like least about my job is actually the insurance and people canceling their appointments.  As a hygienist a big part of my job is to keep patients.  If patients don’t come back every 6 months then the doctor doesn’t’ have a good established practice.  It’s important that I see these patients on a regular basis, so that I know them and they trust me. I need to establish a good relationship with my patients and keep their teeth healthy.  It’s tough when a patient doesn’t come in because insurance doesn’t cover something. I really don’t like to see that happen.  For my patient and me. For me because my salary often depends on the schedule I keep full and for my patient because teeth health is a lot more serious than many think.  Unhealthy gums can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries and lead to heart disease. So it’s tough for me to see patients cancel appointments and not take it serious.

5. Q: How many hours in a week about, do you work?

A: I work about 35 hours a week on a normal workweek.  I work Monday thru Thursday with Friday thru Sunday off. A lot of established offices have that schedule, but some newer offices need to build clientele and have to work Fridays late and Saturdays early to accommodate people who work in a career where the only time they can come into the dentist is during after their work hours on Friday after 5pm and Saturday mornings.  I worked at a couple offices like that straight out of school. It was a good experience for me, but I prefer the workweek I have now especially since I am a mom. It’s nice to have 3-day weekends.

6. Q: How well did your college experience prepare you for this job?

A: Well, my experience in hygiene school was the most helpful. I learned the skills I needed for my job directly. My college “experience” prepared me by teaching me dedication and discipline.  I learned to work hard, study hard, and to be competitive to keep my job by being the best I could. Hygiene school was very competitive to get in to. So I had to be the best I could and work very hard, which has been the case in the field as well, because there are always younger and newer hygienists who want my job.  But continually keeping up my skills and abilities to be a great hygienist has been important. So the college experience of hard work has probably prepared me the most.

7. Q: What are some benefits to working in this field?

A: Great dental work! Usually for Free! It’s a great perk to working in a dental office. Dental work is expensive so its nice to have it be free. The dentist you work for generally wants his staff to have a nice looking smile, so he will usually provide free dental work for his staff. You may not get the most convenient appointment, but it’s free. There are times when a patient has cancelled or no showed and I have hopped in the chair and had a filling done and then seen my next patient an hour later, numb cheeks and all. 

8. Q: What is the salary range for a person in this field?

A: A hygienist can make anywhere from $30,000 a year to $80,000 a year depending on hours worked, location of job and years of experience. But a typical hygienist working 35-40 hours a week averages about $50,000 to $60,000.

This experience was extremely helpful to me. I enjoyed hearing the candidness of the job from Keveny and felt that she was honest about all aspects of the career. I learned that there is a lot more to being a hygienist than just cleaning teeth. By doing a job shadow I realized that I definitely want to still pursue this career. It’s seems like hard work and a challenge to stay committed but I like a good challenge. I think it was good for me to know that I will be dealing with things such as canceled patients, having to keep the doctors schedule full, insurance, etc. I am glad I did this interview and feel that it only helped open my eyes to areas of the field that I was unaware of before. I feel that after this course I am much closer to pursuing this career that I was at the beginning.

Lesson 12-Mock interview

1. Who did you interview with and what is their job title?

I interviewed with Angie Stevens D.D.S. She was the dentist of the office for the hygiene assistant position I was applying for.

b.What was most useful to you about this experience?

I have interviewed many times for this postion in the past, however this time I knew their was a check list. I reviewed that check list and the felt more aware of how I conducted myself.  I wanted to answer and share my previous experiences with the interviewer correctly so that I would be able to demonstrate that I was the right person for the job, not just able to do the job.

c.  What was the most difficult question you were asked? Why?

I think that the most difficult question to answer was about a mistake I made at work.  I'm used to sharing my strengths and to on the spot remember something that I did that was a mistake was difficult. I took longer than I would have liked to answer that question. In the future I will have a story prepared just in case I get asked that again....in a real interview :)

d.  What advice would you give to others preparing for an interview?

I would give the advice to appropriately share personal experiences if they pertain to the job inquiry and to be friendly and confident in your ability to do the job your interviewing for. I would suggest doing a mock interview like this one because it is extremely helpful to be prepared before you go in.  I think I will keep this evaluation sheet and use it as a personal checklist in my mind for my next interview.

e. Name at least three (3) things you learned.

I learned that I say "um" too much and that it's distracting. I learned that I fidgit while waiting for the interviewer to ask the next question and I learned that while sharing personal experiences from previous jobs that I needed to make it more precise and not take so long on each detail but to just get to the point.

f. Name at least three (3) things that can be improved on for your next interview.

I think the three things that I mentioned previously could be improved plus I think I would like to be more prepared for the "mistake" question and I think I would wear closed toe shoes because I realized that it's a little too informal to have an open toe shoe on even if it is a nice dress shoe, my mock interviewer pointed that out.

Lesson 12- STAR stories

1. *When I was assisting Dr. Jones at Christansen and Jones Dental, there would be days when the amount of appointments and patients outnumbered the assistants we had to work on them.
*I would often have to be in one appointment with Dr. Jones while he administered the numbing agent and help another assistant with the next appointment.
*While my first patient was getting numb, I would make sure that we would not go passed the time allotted to see each patient. It’s a tricky game when that happens, but it’s how you handle yourself in the situation and how well the whole staff works as a team to get the work done.
* In the end I was able to be in one room with a patient when a certain procedure needed doing and help out the rest of the staff by staggering each patient as they came in and assisting the dentist wherever he needed me.
2. *Many times patients insurances choose not to cover certain dental work. They deem it unnecessary work and refuse to pay. This causes the dentist and patient stress. The dentist has already done the work and needs to be paid and the patient needed the work and now has no way to pay for it.
*While working as a insurance coordinator my job is to make sure the dentist is paid for work he has performed. I need to submit proper notes and x-rays to document the procedure and why it was needed for the patient.
*In one particular situation, the insurance company was refusing payment because a case had not been documented properly. As the insurance coordinator I was over 2 other insurance assistants. In this case one of them had submitted the wrong x-ray. This particular x-ray showed that the patients tooth was not as decayed as another angle of a different x-ray showed. So, I as the insurance coordinator knew that my job was to step in and show this assistant why we needed to know how to read the x-ray so that we always submit the proper one, so that the dentist gets paid and we have done our job correctly.
* In the end, I took over the case. It became a battle between the insurance company and our office and I was able, with my experience to handle this deeper situation better. It resulted in full payment for the procedure done and the patient and dentist were able to continue and great relationship and this particular patient is still receiving work from this dentist.
3. *I have always dreamed of running a half marathon. It was something I only thought was a dream, but realized that after seeing my older sister do it, it really could be a reality. I set a goal to run this half marathon by age 25.
*I had one year to train and had not been much of a long distance runner in the past. So I knew it was going to be a big job to tackle. I didn’t know much about half marathons except they were 13.1 miles and outside.
*I researched half marathon training schedules and found one that would work for me. I set out to start a week later and each day I would follow that schedule religiously. I bought the proper clothing that would make my running experience more comfortable and I also included a few friends in my training so that I would be held more accountable to accomplish my goal.
* I trained for 9 months and me and my 2 friends who were there to support and keep me accountable, ran the Huntington Beach half marathon 3 months before my 25th birthday. I learned though this experience that when you have a plan and work hard, you can accomplish any goal you set for yourself.

Lesson 11-Resume and Cover Letter

Natalie R. Ek

1835 Auburn Ridge Lane Draper, Utah 84020 cell: (801) 550-3816 

email: natek20@gmail.com

April 16, 2011
Dr. Ammon Jones
Jones Dental
Pleasant Grove, Utah 84062


Dear Dr. Jones,
I am responding to your advertisement found on the allied health job board, regarding the dental hygiene position. Please regard this letter as my formal application. Enclosed are my acquired skills showing my experience and background.
With the experiences I have had in the dental field as a hygiene assistant, I have learned how important it is to communicate properly in an uncomfortable environment and make people feel at ease. While being an assistant I was able learn how to handle stressful situations and deal with many kinds of people. I was able to assess their needs and delegate responsibility to help coordinate the proper care to solve the problem.
I am available for an interview at a mutually convenient time. Please contact me via email. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Natalie Ek

Natalie R. Ek

1835 Auburn Ridge Lane Draper, Utah 84020 cell: (801) 550-3816 

email: natek20@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE
To obtain an internship in a dental practice that will benefit from my initiative, contributions and capabilities, as well as keeping a productive practice at its full potential, with professionalism always in mind.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
CPR Certified Radiology License #3483
Great patient relations Taking alginate impressions and pour-ups
Charting Mixing and placing cements
Fabricating Acrylic Temporaries Placement of matrix and rubber dams
Dentrix Experience Chairside Duties
Coronal Polishing Vacuum form and trim bleaching trays

EXPERIENCE

GENTAL DENTAL, INC                                                     June 2009-March 2011
Hygiene Assistant

MARK EDINGTON, D.D.S
MODERN DENTAL CARE                                                December 2007-June 2009
Dental Assistant

CHRISTIANSEN AND JONES DENTAL                         March 2004-January 2005
Front Desk/ Treatment
and Schedule Coordinator

MARK MONSON, D.D.S. ORAL                                      November 2002-March 2004
AND MAXIOFACIALL SURGERY
Front Desk Receptionist/Insurance
Coordinator

MICHAEL D. KLEIN, D.M.D APC                              January 2001-November 2002
Dental Assistant

EDUCATION

UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY, Orem, Utah
Dental Hygiene A.S. 2014

DENTAL PROS. CONTINUING EDUCATION, San Diego, California
Radiology Safety License- #3483

CAREERS UNLIMITED, Orem, Utah
Dental Assisting Certificate

RELAVENT SKILLS

COMPUTER: Dentrix software, Microsoft office, power point, excel, word, quick books, Internet, 50 wpm

OFFICE: Filing, bill collection, insurance, multiple phone line operation, fax, copier, appointment scheduling, and administrative assisting duties