May blog

I said goodbye to my mentorship and started on my presentation.

Blog 23: Senior Project Reflection

(1) Positive Statement

What are you most proud of in your block presentation and/or your senior project? Why?
During my block presentation I was surprised on how the student reacted to the actual footage and images in my presentation. They were horrified and shocked about how common oral infections can damage the teeth in a dramatic way and the procedures that have to be made in order to fix the patient's teeth back up again. It made me feel proud that at least from what they learned out of that presentation, they can use that knowledge in everyday life situations.

(2) Questions to Consider

a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your block presentation (self-assessment)?

I would give myself a P in my block presentation. 

b.     What assessment would you give yourself on your overall senior project (self-assessment)?

I would give myself a P in my overall senior project.     

(3) What worked for you in your senior project?
Having my mentors help me throughout the entire year with my senior project by giving me ideas for activities, answers for my essential question and provided me resources for my answers.

(4) (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your senior project if you could go back in time?
I would have added more facts in my presentation and point out certain key points that I have forgot to mention while I was presenting in my block presentation.

(5) Finding Value
It made me realize how much I want to be in the medical field, seeing how I can withstand the emotion stages when working on patients and knowing their tragic background. It gives me a goal in life to help others who are in need of assistance, seeing how in my mentorship how they treat their patients as part of the family and are willing to help people who are not even patients at their clinic. At my mentorship's clinic, Trance and Dental Spa, they said, "treat others like how you wanted to be treated", this is what they go by whenever a person walks into their door. It made me see how being in this type of field, it may put you through so many obstacles but at the end of the day, you made a difference in someone else's life.

Blog 22: Mentorship

Content:

LIA Response to blog:

 Literal

•     Diana Guzman, Trance and Dental Spa: Phone Number: (909) 865-8595 

 Interpretive

•      What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
• On how much it matters to show kindness and patience when working in a dental clinic. This matters most to the dentist when they are working with their staff since the patient is main priority in the dental clinic. The dental staff must set aside any personal feelings toward the patient if they behave rudely because in the end, you want them to come back to you since they might have had an emotional day is all. For the dental staff, all it takes is one mistake to make the patients notice the how well their performance is and make a quick judgement based on their visit to the clinic.

 Applied

•      How has what you’ve done helped you to answer your EQ?  Please explain.
• It has shown me how much it takes to run a dental clinic as well as keep bringing in new patients on a daily basis. To know that it is not about the expenses of the procedures that make the clinic run smoothly but the actual experience for the patients making them want to come back because of how they were satisfied with the results of their procedures. The patients want to know that they were treated fairly and the dental staff is always at their side to teach them ways to prevent infections and diseases from spreading.

Exit Interview

Content:
(1) My essential question is " What is the best way to maximize retention of patients when running a dental clinic?" My first answer is the dental staff must guide the patients in the importance of maintaining a healthy mouth. My second answer is the dentist can help the patient by comparing different medical organizations that help people with financial limitations. My third answer is the dentist must make sure to have a staff that has a solid background on how to run an efficient dental clinic business. My best answer would have to be my first answer because of this is a major problem in the dental community and this would help dentists in low demographics be aware of their dental health.

(2)When I was working in my mentorship in Pomona and in Claremont, I noticed how a lot of patients are not asking so much about their dental health yet I over hear how they talk with each other asking how to treat their problem with their teeth instead of asking the dentist.

(3)I could not get a response from Claremont and could not go to work with them in their clinic, but what I did to resolve for finishing all my hours was mostly work with the Pomona dental clinic.

(4)The two most significant sources would be my mentorship in Pomona, and an article called "Demographic and Practice Characteristics of Medicaid-participating Dentists". With both of these resources, they focus on patients in low demographic areas and see why these cases of common infections are turning into severe ones.

April Blog

This past month has been mostly doing my daily work routine with my mentors in the Pomona dental clinic, Trance and Dental Spa. They gave me ideas for different activities for my senior project as well as what could be a fun activity as a hook activity. One example for my hook activity was to ask people if they knew the correct way to brush their teeth. When it seems that everyone thinks they know, I want to test it out by having everyone take their little cups of mouthwash and see the what they have doing to wrong because the specific one I am giving stains the teeth to reveal missed spots when brushing their teeth. This is to show everyone that people in the community think they know the basics of dental care but in reality they don't. Of course in the end of the hook activity they will have another cup filled with water to take off the mouthwash.

Independent Component 2

Content:  

LITERAL
(a) I, Paulina Dominguez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) Twigg, Tim. "Common Practices Fraught with Risk." Dental Economics. PennWell Corporation, n.d. Web. 16 Apr.2015.
(d) I was able to observe and work in the Pomona dental clinic due to Claremont telling me that they were not able to take me in to work with them. But I was still able to see what the Pomona dental clinic did for their patients; this included calming the patient as well as connecting with them. 

INTERPRETIVE 

I focused more on how the the dental staff treated the patients. I wanted to see how they work with their patients as well as observe what the results were from how dental staff's actions affected the patients afterwards. I have a link to my 30+ hours of working on my independent component onto the right of my blog. The picture provided in this post now demonstrates a small portion of how the patients in the Pomona dental clinic respond to the performance of the staff. The rest of the pictures are on my previous independent component blog about the work atmosphere in Claremont and Pomona, as well as the technology used in these clinics.
   
APPLIED
 With my research and observations of the Pomona dental clinic, it made me realize how important it is to connect with the patient themselves in order to have them maintain a healthy mouth. What Diana was talking to me during our time together in the Pomona dental clinic, she explained to me that while she's giving the patients advice or a quick summary of what needed to be fixed from the patient's case; the patient is focused on what she says because of how they treated them before and after the treatment was done. The patients even told them numerous times that they felt so involved and understood what the dilemma was for their case, this made them more connected to the dental staff. I even witnessed from one patient who had given his life story about him growing up rough with no parents, no house, job, and car. Since he was eligible for coverage of his financial state, the dental staff worked on him but after he was done, the staff let him stay with them for the entire rest of the day. The staff talk to him one on one and offered food and gave him shelter locations on where he can stay for the night. That patient said that dental clinics like Pomona would be hard to find since clinics like Claremont only treat you as a number when you come in and walk you out the door. With Diana telling me that dental clinics show a different personality on how they approach the patients with showing them this brand new technology but what really counts is what the dental staff does for the patient and how they respond back to the patient making them feel important. But that all ends when I witnessed patients were escorted out the clinic when they were done with them, not even letting the patients stay to talk to them since they are on a busy schedule. This is why to me it made more sense on why Pomona dental clinic told me to observe and see the difference on how the dental clinics treat their patients.

March Blog

Claremont Dental Clinic

I have been trying to contact my second mentorship in Claremont and they have been giving me the same answer every time. When the secretary picks up, I ask her if I could come in to work and she tells me that they are either busy, which does not make sense since that is a good thing for me to see what it is like being in a busy schedule at a dental clinic. Another thing that upsets me is that since the beginning of march, I have left messages at the front desk about sending in my interview questions by email or try to make a quick appointment with the doctor but I have not received one call or email about any scheduled appointment to make the interview still. I am planning on going to the dental clinic at speak with them in person because this has gone way to far to set up ONE appointment.