Charts, Charts, Charts!

Because I did not volunteer last week, I volunteered for 2 hours this week. The dental clinic still needed help with organizing old patient charts...a project that seemed to drag on forever! Despite having numerous volunteers help out for several weeks, I was told that after writing down all of the patient's names and ID numbers, there was another step to the project...so at least there will always be something for the volunteers to do!

Every time I am in the dental clinic, it is just so great to see how friendly everyone is. The dentists joke around with the assistants, and they are so good at calming down nervous patients. It really is a great working environment and it's all for a really great cause. Everyone welcomes the volunteers with a smile, and they always try to joke around and start conversations with us which helps me feel less intimidated. The head dentist told me that even though he took a huge pay cut to work at San Jose, he loves it. He is originally from up north so he really likes the warm weather in Houston, and he is really enjoying being out of private practice. I think it's great that he truly knows what makes him happy. At first, he was a mechanical engineer and realized it wasn't right for him. Now he's a dentist that has switched from a private practice to a clinic for the uninsured...and he's happy where he is. Hopefully, I one day I can experience this feeling too!