Instrumentation

We are learning instrumentation. We practiced on each other with explorers. It went well. I definitely need more practice, but at least I didn't jab her gums. My partner did really well. She seemed to be a lot more comfortable with it than I was.

intraoral exam

On wednesday we learned how to do an intraoral exam. It wasn't hard to do; I just have to learn the names of all the structures. We practiced extraoral exams too. I like practicing that. I'll take a face and neck massage anytime!

mirror

Today we learned about using mirrors and fulcruming. I always forget to fulcrum. I need to work on that. We just used q-tips, so I didn't hajve to worry about hurting anyone with a sharp instrument for my first time in someone's mouth. I was able to practice positioning again. It was helpful. I'm getting it all down now.

vitals

Today we took vital signs. It went well. I've never taken blood pressure before, but I didn't have any problems with it. We also talked a lot about scheduling patients. It was helpful. I didn't know where they were supposed to get parking passes from and I never realized that they were free. That stuff is good to know; even if it is just for future reference. I reviewed patient positioning with my pod and it seems a lot easier now. We were all able to pass the PE off today.

Health Histories

I feel a lot more confident with health histories now. We did a practice one and then did each others. I'm not so worried about them any more. Ours were easy to do. Probably a lot easier than most of our patient's will be, but I feel good about looking up the drugs from the practice health history we did. I've ordered my drug reference book, so it's on the way.

Charting

We talked a lot about charting today. There was so much information; I hope I'm able to remember it all. We also learned what we will do when we are CA's next semester. Our CA's talked about getting patients and last minute cancellations. I'm nervous for that, but they said not to stress about it now; I need to focus on this semester. Now I'm going to pass off a PE!