1. Mock board next Tuesday (pretend board that our instructors have us do to prepare for the real prophy board). I still need to have my patient come in and take more radiographs, but he is such a nice guy I'm sure he'll do it.
2. Midterms: It's so lame that our national board (the 8 hour written you-have-to-know-everything board) is coming up in two weeks and they STILL make us study for midterms...lame
3. Level 4! I have a patient who has never been to the dentist in his life and he has BLACK calculus all over his teeth. The closest thing I could find to a picture of it was this:
It's just a model, but pretend they are real teeth and that there are gums around them up until the black part, and ALSO pretend that the black is on all of the teeth and you have my patient. Just to give you an idea of how hard it is to take off, it took me three hours to do one quadrant - that's 8 teeth! It's hard stuff!
This radiograph is exactly what my patient's calculus looks like. Notice the white chunks sticking off of the teeth:
Calculus doesn't usually look like that, so you know when you see that that it's REALLY on there. He is such a nice guy though, and hardly speaks any english, but yesterday he asked me "how are you". It took me by surprise! It's funny because I try to speak spanish to him and he tries to speak english to me. I was setting up his next appointment with him and said "seis y media?" as he was saying "six thirty?" he laughed and said my spanish was muy bien! SWEET!3. National Board exam: ah board exam, you are the bane of my existence. It's an 8 hour exam with 300 questions. wonderful eh? I went to a three day, all day, study session a couple of weeks ago that reviewed ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that could be on the test and I feel pretty good about it, but I just need to hone in on some information that will take more time to remember.
the funny thing is, instead of studying (even though I had a panic attack on Monday realizing the exam is in 2 weeks) I have been doing things to procrastinate! Like, I have been finding an excuse to bake something everyday or read something or study for something other than my board! Why? It's so close and scary that for some reason I can't bring myself to study! (I kinda just had another panic attack) Time to hit the books!
5. Anesthesia board exam: oh ya, and the DAY AFTER my national board, I take my anesthesia board. I still don't have someone who will be my board patient yet, but if anyone is willing to go under the needle for me...that would be awesome! I'm really good too! My level 4 said so :)
6. Apache Junction High School project: my group is doing a project where we are going into AJ high school where they have a high population of teen mothers, and we are going to educate them on proper oral hygiene for them and their baby. I'm really excited about talking with these teens, but on top of everything else this month, we have to visit the school to talk with the program director, plan an educational meeting for the teens, and then visit the school and present the information by the end of the month. It will be really rewarding though, and I can't wait :)
7. Finding a board patient: I am setting up a day in clinic that I can set aside for screening patients for my board exam. This exam is where they test your ability to remove calculus, so you need a specific type of patient. The list is quite extensive for what you should be looking for, so I'm setting up a screening day. Nick's cousin is dating a guy named Dallin, who is in the marines. I asked him if he thought that any of his buddies might need extensive cleanings done, and he said definitely yes. So I'll bring them in on my screening day, and hopefully I'll find my golden board patient! Here's praying for that...
so that is what I am doing this month, and it is ALL school related. How fun right?
On a happier note, I graduate in 10 WEEKS! WAHOO!
I will have no life until that moment
Loves,
K