Hey everyone, Hope you've all had a great week! This past week has been absolutely packed with things to do, some things better than others, so let's just get straight into it! 🦷 Dental Diary At dental school this week, I had 2 clinical sessions on campus: the first of which was more clinical skills practice, working on scaling posterior (back) teeth, basically just practicing removing calculus in preparation for our practical exam in a few weeks. At the end of that session, we actually did an additional activity where we split up into small groups and answered questions about periodontal disease and calculus, but this time, in the context of clinical scenarios. We were essentially replicating the practical exam, and I realised that when talking through the procedure, we really had to be specific and basically "think out loud" and mention everything from our posture, chair position, and how we hold these instruments. This was really tedious because once you repeat something, it becomes natural, and you can then do it without much thought, but when you have to explain every movement you make, it really forces you to slow down. I guess that can be useful to stop us rushing and making mistakes. When we were asked about how we should speak to patients, I also felt another gap between thinking you know something, and actually being able to describe it on the spot! The best way to really bridge that gap though is to just practice talking to patients with friends when we prepare for this exam soon.
Clinical Cases, Teamwork & More!
Clinical Cases, Teamwork & More!
Clinical Cases, Teamwork & More!
Hey everyone, Hope you've all had a great week! This past week has been absolutely packed with things to do, some things better than others, so let's just get straight into it! 🦷 Dental Diary At dental school this week, I had 2 clinical sessions on campus: the first of which was more clinical skills practice, working on scaling posterior (back) teeth, basically just practicing removing calculus in preparation for our practical exam in a few weeks. At the end of that session, we actually did an additional activity where we split up into small groups and answered questions about periodontal disease and calculus, but this time, in the context of clinical scenarios. We were essentially replicating the practical exam, and I realised that when talking through the procedure, we really had to be specific and basically "think out loud" and mention everything from our posture, chair position, and how we hold these instruments. This was really tedious because once you repeat something, it becomes natural, and you can then do it without much thought, but when you have to explain every movement you make, it really forces you to slow down. I guess that can be useful to stop us rushing and making mistakes. When we were asked about how we should speak to patients, I also felt another gap between thinking you know something, and actually being able to describe it on the spot! The best way to really bridge that gap though is to just practice talking to patients with friends when we prepare for this exam soon.