Party!

Graduation is on Friday. I am not going to ask most of you to come sit through it.

But, we are having an Open House afterward where it would be great to see any and all of you.

Open House for Erin Sheffield and David Haderlie

Friday June 5

5:30- 7:00 pm

At the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Institute of Religion Building on Melrose Ave in Iowa City.

We will serve some light food.

Hope to see you there!

The End Has Come

Well, to my surprise, today was my last day of dental school! I was scheduled to see two more patients tomorrow (our official last day) but they both cancelled. Normally we have to wait around in case someone comes in but in this case they said don't worry about it!

So, I did it!

It feels so good to have things checked off my list and done! And, I even received enough points to get an "A."

It is so strange to think this part of my life has come to an end!

Come to me for your implants...

I won an award. It seems a little funny to me, esp since it was from the Pros department and I never thought Pros was my strong point. I never win these kind of awards. When I received an email telling me about the luncheon they were having to award it, I thought, "Great, another award I didn't win. Thanks for rubbing it in." Needless to say, I was shocked enough I said "What!" out loud as I walked down the hall with my BlackBerry when I saw my name on the end of the list.

The award was The International Congress of Oral Implantologists/Sullivan Schein Predoctoral Student Achievement Award. I was given some cash as well as a free implant CE course, all for my excellent achievements in my sophomore implant course and my skills during my implant clinical experiences and screenings.

I still don't really understand why they chose me. Did I even do well in that class my second year? I guess I must have done better than I thought!

Moral of the story: if you need a dental implant, I guess I am the one you want to come see. Ha HA HA!

Private Neighborly Conversations

One of the downsides of living in a condo is the thin walls and neighbors in close proximity. We have had times in the past, parties in particular, where we have been unable to sleep at night. However, most of the times I put up with it, including our upstairs neighbors almost relentless jump roping.



However, last night after a long and tiring day I was unable to sleep due to the conversation our neighbors upstairs were having. Not only was it loud in decibels, it was loud in offensiveness. I was able to hear every word of their conversation. I have at times wondered what guys talk about in the presence of only guys, but I was wishing in this instance that I was not privy. Basically, it consisted of one guy giving another a pep talk on girls, what kind of guys they like (big, confident, being in dental school is a big plus), and what sex acts he would allow a girl to perform on himself according to how hot her body was.



This is where I drew the line. I marched upstairs, pajamas and all and knocked. No answer...they quieted down. I was a little relieved for the lack of confrontation but I still had a few things on my chest.



I wrote a note instead which basically said something like this:



Dear neighbors,

While it is true many girls like big and confident guys, they also like those who are courteous to their neighbors and do not talk too loudly after 11 pm, particularly about how to lure girls into _______ (little sibling eyes do not need to see).



I can't remember the rest, but I wanted to let them know that not only were they loud, but I knew exactly what they were saying.



I also was disgusted to think of how many girls are so free to give themselves away for nothing, that this guy would "let" a girl do something to him even though her body was hot because he saw her running but not THAT hot. That without any kind of regard for who she was as a person he would submit to said act since she was kind of hot. Yuck.



Anyway, I am happy to report I received a very apologetic note on our door for waking us up and because it "also occurs to us that we have made jokes in poor taste recently. Ethically, it would probably benefit us and the community if we raised our moral standards. I personally will make an effort to do so and will encourage my roommate to follow a similar path."



Thank you neighbors for not being defensive and mad and for being apologetic and willing to change. I hope we do not disturb you, either.

Insurance

I currently have a patient who has great dental insurance coverage. Unfortunately, she will be losing that coverage at the end of this month. This is a concern since she still has many treatment needs that will need to be addressed next year.

Currently, she pays $96 per month. Her insurance plan covers $1500 of work, and 80% of prosthodontic procedures (things like dentures, crowns, bridges). This is a very good plan, one of the best we see at the school. However, at $96 per month, she is paying $1152 per year for a $1500 plan she unfortunately will not max out. She is losing her insurance because of retirement. I am assuming she has carried this plan for the bulk of her career but had a 15 year absence from the dentist due to a dental phobia.

My point? Dental insurance isn't insurance at least in the way medical insurance is insurance. Going without medical insurance could be catastrophic. Having dental insurance can be very helpful. However, many of my patients, friends, and even family members have used lack of insurance as an excuse for not seeking regular preventive care or even receiving ideal care. If you can't afford insurance, paying for an annual exam and cleaning (and maybe small filling or two) will probably be cheaper than the premium on an insurance plan. This is assuming you do not have huge dental problems.

Dental insurance is a great thing, but shouldn't be used as a crutch for not seeking appropriate care. For my patient and others like her, she can continue her dental care by paying herself the $96 per month and putting it towards her dental treatment. It may not be all available to her right away, but with some planning and perhaps a payment plan, she may actually save herself some money.

Thoughts on the past 4 years

I officially have two weeks left until I am finished with 4 years of dental school! For many of my friends (and/or their wives), dental school has been the most horrific, miserable experience of their lives. For me, it has been a lot of hard work but I have really enjoyed it. I love dentistry. I like working hard. I enjoy learning. In many ways, it was better/easier than BYU. I have excelled much more academically despite taking 35 credit hours per semester, I haven't had a part time job or BYU lacrosse to distract me.

The first few years were rigorous academically. We had something like 140 quizzes and tests our first year alone. Third year was stressful in trying to incorporate all of my learning into patient care. Applying knowledge and facing new procedures almost every day with a pit in your stomach, pretending to be confident when your patient wasn't quite sure about you.

However, I think senior year was the hardest. It has been very different. Very little class time, only about 4 or 5 tests the whole year. Things that made it hard where mostly jumping through the hoops toward graduation. Things like managing your patient schedule to meet your requirements on time and finding patients for boards. This was my most stressful year of dental school by far, but most of it had very little to do with school.

When I left for my rotations, I had an interview with my instructor who told me I was passing with a "C" and should be very proud of myself. I was below our group average on points and wasn't doing very well on my daily evaluations. I felt far from proud--I felt very discouraged.

My rotations forced me to be independent, to make decisions, and to trust my judgement as well as improve my speed. Now, I am on my way to a "A" in daily procedure points and continue to receive multiple compliments from instructors, including things like, "You should work on my teeth" and "Perfect work, right from the text book," and "You are getting better and better every day." I am so grateful all of my hard work seems to be paying off. I want to be a great dentist not only for myself, but for my patients. And after 4 years of school at one of the most rigorous and excellent dental programs in the country, I am beginning to feel ready. I am so grateful that I have had the many opportunities that have been given me.

Let's see what I can learn in the last 8 days!

Scooped

I love the idea of online news. News at your fingertips at any moment of the day.

The problem is, when I get bored, one of the first things I do is check the news on a variety of network pages. This "up-to-date" info at the click of my finger (usually multiple times a day) makes for very boring news.

Very rarely do I see headlines that are like, "Now that's news!" Instead, it is a bunch of gobbley-gook about American Idol blog updates and updates on Brooke Hogan. Whoot.

The best moment I had with online news was with Obama's VP pick. I was on CNN.com rather late and saw a banner up top announcing Biden was the selected candidate. However, Obama had promised his special grass root campaigners that they would be the first to know the next morning. Oops! Within just a few minutes, the banner was gone. I couldn't help but wonder, "Would they have respected McCain that much to pull their big headline so he could save face with voters?" Somehow, I doubt it. I don't know much about journalism but the movies I have seen make it look like everyone wants the scoop. At least I had it!