I finished my 10 weeks of rotations today. I can't believe how quickly the time went. This means I have 10 weeks left of school and am officially 3/4 done with my 4th year of dental school.
My rotations helped me gain a lot of confidence and speed. It also gave me even more senioritis than I had before. It will be hard to be back at the school again.
I have all of my board patients...I hope. However, I cannot get ahold of one to confirm with her a time. I have not spoken to her for weeks. Her phone is not taking messages. I just got her mom's number and am hoping she will help me track her down.
So, I am looking forward to a few days off, to regroup, and relax before boards. The stress has gotten to me much more than usual. I need some time to unwind. (Too bad it wont be in the sun).
Please call me patient if you are out there! 8 days to go.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Truck Stop Dentist
What do you think for a potential new business plan? Does Iowa have room for another truck stop dentist or did he steal my niche?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/08/greene.truckstop/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/08/greene.truckstop/index.html
Spring Break Plans
Spring Break is coming. With that thought in mind (and rain outside instead of snow) I figured wrongly that today would be appropriate for a knee-length springy skirt. Oops. Still cold. I always forget that spring break in Iowa doesn't feel like spring.
I am starting to feel the doom of real life coming upon me. Not that I am dreading working and making money. The doom is that I can no longer have whole summers off to live in Honduras or travel Asia. This is sad, esp as I am finally going to have more financial room to do such things. Thus, I feel I really need to take advantage of the breaks I have.
I was hoping to do something fun for Spring Break. The problem: boards. This will make any spring break plans a little less than ideal. There are some great cruises right now, some for only $199 for 7 days in the Caribbean. Wow. What could be more perfect--Sailing in the sun, eating great food, relaxing on ship. Unfortunately, again, boards and no opportunity for a long trip.
We decided to visit Abe's sister in DC. We talk about going since I have never been. Finally decided to just go...a day later, flight prices were up again. So bummer.
So, looks like we will be here. Good for board prep I guess if necessary. My sister and her husband may come out. I am excited but feel the pressure. I love Iowa and always encourage people to come visit. However, once here I fail to find nice things to do, at least during the cold and rainy spring break season.
Any ideas?
I am starting to feel the doom of real life coming upon me. Not that I am dreading working and making money. The doom is that I can no longer have whole summers off to live in Honduras or travel Asia. This is sad, esp as I am finally going to have more financial room to do such things. Thus, I feel I really need to take advantage of the breaks I have.
I was hoping to do something fun for Spring Break. The problem: boards. This will make any spring break plans a little less than ideal. There are some great cruises right now, some for only $199 for 7 days in the Caribbean. Wow. What could be more perfect--Sailing in the sun, eating great food, relaxing on ship. Unfortunately, again, boards and no opportunity for a long trip.
We decided to visit Abe's sister in DC. We talk about going since I have never been. Finally decided to just go...a day later, flight prices were up again. So bummer.
So, looks like we will be here. Good for board prep I guess if necessary. My sister and her husband may come out. I am excited but feel the pressure. I love Iowa and always encourage people to come visit. However, once here I fail to find nice things to do, at least during the cold and rainy spring break season.
Any ideas?
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Mad Patient
This week I had my first patient walk out on me! Last year we did communications exercises where a simulated patient walked out on me. That was shocking and I really wasn't sure how to react. Sadly, I didn't learn anything from the exercise because I still had no idea what to do. Fiddle for an apology? We (my assistant, the assisting student, and the center aisle assistant) were all shocked.
The patient was upset when she was asked if she has any trouble with abuse at home. This is a standard question for patients at this clinic. Then, when I got started, she kept asking if I had the right tooth. We told her we would need to use a rubber dam (a stretchy piece of latex that goes over the teeth to keep them dry --we call them a "raincoat' with kids). My instructor started talking to me about a root canal on another patient and she got confused and thought the rubber dam had something to do with the root canal. I tried to explain that it had nothing to do with the complexity of the procedure, it was just a tool to help us get it done.
She had a difficult time opening wide enough for me to put the clamp on her tooth that holds the rubber dam in place. When I put it on, it pinched her gums (common but usually goes away in a few seconds). However, she kept complaining. I decided to numb her palate to make her more comfortable and she really did not like that. For whatever reason, I strayed from my habits and didn't warn her before hand. She scolded me for doing so. After some fiddling, we got the RD on. By now, she was fuming and told us to take it off. We reminded her we needed it for our treatment. She angrily demanded we remove it as she was leaving.
So, we did.
Oops. I don't know what went wrong!
The patient was upset when she was asked if she has any trouble with abuse at home. This is a standard question for patients at this clinic. Then, when I got started, she kept asking if I had the right tooth. We told her we would need to use a rubber dam (a stretchy piece of latex that goes over the teeth to keep them dry --we call them a "raincoat' with kids). My instructor started talking to me about a root canal on another patient and she got confused and thought the rubber dam had something to do with the root canal. I tried to explain that it had nothing to do with the complexity of the procedure, it was just a tool to help us get it done.
She had a difficult time opening wide enough for me to put the clamp on her tooth that holds the rubber dam in place. When I put it on, it pinched her gums (common but usually goes away in a few seconds). However, she kept complaining. I decided to numb her palate to make her more comfortable and she really did not like that. For whatever reason, I strayed from my habits and didn't warn her before hand. She scolded me for doing so. After some fiddling, we got the RD on. By now, she was fuming and told us to take it off. We reminded her we needed it for our treatment. She angrily demanded we remove it as she was leaving.
So, we did.
Oops. I don't know what went wrong!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Back to DM
I thought I would catch you up a bit before I head to Des Moines again in the morning with limited internet/computer access.
I have 2 more weeks in Des Moines. I had to drive to IC on Friday, back to DM on Sunday, back to IC on Monday, and am going to go back to DM early tomorrow morning before clinic. Lots of driving.
I finished my computer test for boards today. Yay. Glad that worked out.
Unfortunately, I did not win anything in my research competition. My mentor thinks I was at a disadvantage since all of the judges were non-clinical and my project was on clinical application. I am excited to write my paper and have it submitted for publication.
My friend Tina found a board patient we are going to share. What a relief! As long as they all meet the criteria and show up, I have what I need. Yay.
BTW I also got the dress situation figured out. Phew.
Funny how when it rains, it pours. It seems like everything was stressful and crazy all at once. Now, everything is resolving together as well.
I have 2 more weeks in Des Moines. I had to drive to IC on Friday, back to DM on Sunday, back to IC on Monday, and am going to go back to DM early tomorrow morning before clinic. Lots of driving.
I finished my computer test for boards today. Yay. Glad that worked out.
Unfortunately, I did not win anything in my research competition. My mentor thinks I was at a disadvantage since all of the judges were non-clinical and my project was on clinical application. I am excited to write my paper and have it submitted for publication.
My friend Tina found a board patient we are going to share. What a relief! As long as they all meet the criteria and show up, I have what I need. Yay.
BTW I also got the dress situation figured out. Phew.
Funny how when it rains, it pours. It seems like everything was stressful and crazy all at once. Now, everything is resolving together as well.
Cold Case
I'm not sure the case of the missing sonic will ever be solved.
However, the Iowa City Public Library for unclear reasons decided not to press charges and took our word that we turned it in. Wow, thank you ICPL! Now, if we buy the game it will be for ourselves and not the residents of Iowa City, although that would have been admirable.
As for the game itself, I enjoyed it. However, I prefer the traditional sonic mode with running obstacle courses than the "were-hog" (like werewolf) levels.
On another note, my research presentation went well today. I by far had the most questions which means people understood and were interested in my project. One professor even asked me to present in the freshman evidence based dentistry course this afternoon. She seemed very excited about my project. I will have to rush from my last board computer test to get there but I am glad my research may have an impact.
However, the Iowa City Public Library for unclear reasons decided not to press charges and took our word that we turned it in. Wow, thank you ICPL! Now, if we buy the game it will be for ourselves and not the residents of Iowa City, although that would have been admirable.
As for the game itself, I enjoyed it. However, I prefer the traditional sonic mode with running obstacle courses than the "were-hog" (like werewolf) levels.
On another note, my research presentation went well today. I by far had the most questions which means people understood and were interested in my project. One professor even asked me to present in the freshman evidence based dentistry course this afternoon. She seemed very excited about my project. I will have to rush from my last board computer test to get there but I am glad my research may have an impact.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The case of the missing sonic the hedgehog
We are lucky that our city library rents video games. With the recent purchase of our nintendo wii, we have enjoyed checking out games we are interested in trying for free.
However, last week we returned a game and forgot about it until we received a library notice today in the mail. The notice unfortunately states that the disk is missing from the case that was returned over a week ago and that we will incur charges until all parts are returned.
Abe and I both remember him placing the game in his backpack to return to the dropbox on his way to school last week. He even remembers double checking to make sure the disk was present (since we have returned empty boxes to the movie rental store before). We have checked everywhere it could be, including our game console and entertainment center (the only place we ever put it) with no luck. This is not like a set of keys that we would have set down anywhere in the house.
So, my only thought is...somebody (library worker?) stole the disk from the box. How can you prove to the library, though, that you are not the one responsible for its loss?
This turned into a more expensive "free trial" than I thought!
However, last week we returned a game and forgot about it until we received a library notice today in the mail. The notice unfortunately states that the disk is missing from the case that was returned over a week ago and that we will incur charges until all parts are returned.
Abe and I both remember him placing the game in his backpack to return to the dropbox on his way to school last week. He even remembers double checking to make sure the disk was present (since we have returned empty boxes to the movie rental store before). We have checked everywhere it could be, including our game console and entertainment center (the only place we ever put it) with no luck. This is not like a set of keys that we would have set down anywhere in the house.
So, my only thought is...somebody (library worker?) stole the disk from the box. How can you prove to the library, though, that you are not the one responsible for its loss?
This turned into a more expensive "free trial" than I thought!
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