4th Week

This week, I spent some time at the front desk and then I spent the rest of the time helping the dental clinic with paperwork. An administrator from the dental clinic saw me volunteering at the front desk so she asked if I was free to also help her. Since the front desk was running smoothly, I was able to help her. I was excited to get to help the dental clinic, even if it was probably just easy paperwork. Last semester, I got to shadow dentists twice at San Jose, which was a good experience. I got to see how a dental clinic works in an under-served area compared to a clinic that serves more fortunate people (which had been my only previous experience). During that time, I saw that most of the patients, even if they were adults, were extremely nervous. This was to be expected since they have not had the opportunity to visit dentists often. But I saw that the dentists were very good at calming down their patients, and I saw the gratitude in the patients when the procedure was complete.

My job this week was to simply take some patient files and write down the patients' ID and names. Then I had to alphabetize the files. It didn't take much work, and I didn't get to see any actual dental procedures, but it was nice to be in the dental clinic once again. Just being in a dental clinic makes me feel comfortable, reassuring me that I am meant to be a dentist, and nothing else.