My clinical rotation this year may have looked different than others. I decided to give myself a clinical rotation (shadowing) experience every Tuesday of the spring semester that I had available before my night clinic patients. I started the semester by shadowing Amanda Castle, a former UNE dental hygiene graduate, at Gentle Dental in Biddeford. The second office I shadowed was 207 Periodontics, which I will discuss more. The third dental office I shadowed was Dr. Kathryn Horutz Family Dentistry, where I also shadowed a former UNE dental hygiene graduate. Today, I shadowed multiple dental hygienists at Gorham Village Dental who graduated from the UNE dental hygiene program. I chose to shadow multiple practices and hygienists because I wanted to get a feel for the real-life hygiene world and what it offers.
For this assignment, I will discuss my experience shadowing at 207 Periodontics. The clinician I observed matched the expectations of working in a periodontal office. In periodontal offices, there is much more work, time, and energy going into each patient appointment when compared to a regular hygiene appointment. Typically, more work and energy goes into these appointments because the hygienist is trying to stop the disease from progressing to more significant damage. People referred to a periodontist typically require more frequent appointments and greater homecare routines to help promote good oral health. In terms of working in this office, I am still determining where I stand. In the future, as I get more experience as a hygienist, working in this periodontal office may be fun to switch things up. As a soon-to-be UNE dental hygiene program graduate, I would not pick this as my first office of choice straight out of school. If I did that, I might start rethinking my career choice; however, it may be a good idea when I need a change of pace or something different. I have also considered doing part-time as a hygienist in general practice and part-time as a hygienist in a periodontal office. Again, I would only do this after graduation, but it is something that I have considered a potential option for my future. I did ask many questions to the hygienists, dentists, and periodontists I have shadowed, sometimes leaving the office wishing I had asked more questions. When this happens, I write down the question(s) and ask the next office I shadow if the same questions apply. I have enjoyed my experiences shadowing at various offices, and it is something that everyone should do. It opened my eyes to what a good practice may look like and what a not-so-good practice may also look like.
Reflective Response
Idk
