Clinic begins...sort of

So the horrible semester is finally done, and we have started into the summer session which consists of Treatment Planning and Introduction to Clinic. Talk about getting into the good stuff. Lectures are a lot more laid back, but full of useful information, and we are finally in the clinic. True, it is just assisting the upperclassmen, but it is in the clinic. We have one admissions and one oral surgery that are scheduled for us, and then we have to go in on our own time and attend two sessions of pedo, endo, treatment planning, removable, fixed prosthetics, and restorative. I have done my required time in Admissions and one session in restorative and treatment planning.

Admissions was a little boring at first, as we are waiting for someone to come to be admitted. But once the patient showed up, it was a little intimidating. You have to review the medical history, and it is amazing how many people are just sucking down the medication. One thing that was crazy is when the attending doctor grills you on what to do if the patient has this medication or what would you ask or what would prescribe for this problem remembering that the patient has these problems. It got hectic and you are humbled when you realize how much you need to know. The good news is, I know most of the information, I just need to learn how to mash it all together and apply it to each situation.

Treatment planning is kind of fun. It basically consists of a recall/hygiene appointment in private practice without the hygiene cleaning. We record the probing depths, mobility, recession, previous restorations, and then treatment plan (duh) what would be best for the patient to help them get back to their optimal health.

Finally Done

Finals ended yesterday. Finally. Ha. Scores have been trickling in so far, and so far so good. I have aced every final up to this point (with a 90 being the lowest) and am glad that two weeks with 2-3 hours of sleep a night paid off. I am a little worried about my local anesthesia test, as it wasn't so much on local anesthesia as it was on who discovered Oxygen and math. Remember that I haven't done any long division since the eleventh grade (which sadly was ten years ago). But alls well that ends well.

Waiting for Local Anesthesia

Now, I know that this picture has nothing to do with dentistry (or at least legit dentistry), but it is cool, and I really should be studying so I went with it. It is 9:44 am, Thursday morning and my local anesthesia test is this morning. I am so sick of studying that I couldn't take it anymore and decided to throw down a couple of thoughts on here.

Finals has mostly come and gone, minus today's anesthesia test and tomorrow's Oral Path test. I can't believe that they are almost done and we pseudo-start in the clinic on Monday (pseudo-start meaning we are in the clinic, but just to observe. I believe we get patients sometime in May). It all started with Pharm and it started well. I aced that test (quite literally, and thankfully making up for my first Pham test) and have since had Perio, Radiology, Endo, and two Pedo tests (don't even get me started how dumb that was). I have done quite well in everything except Endo, which I have no clue how I did.

Every Endo question had two possible correct answers, and depending on which question she picks as correct will dictate what my score will be.

Anyways, I am looking through Anesthesia and am bored to death...well back to the grind.

Drudging up to finals

Thursday once again. I can't believe that in one weeks time, I will be done with Pharm. That is fun and crazy at the same time. It feels like I have been studying for this class forever, but still have so much left to do. Finals are coming up quick, with Perio on Tuesday, Pharm on Thursday and Radio on Friday. Then, Monday is Endo, Tuesday is Pedo, Wednesday is Pedo again with Anesthesia, and finally Oral Path of Thursday. So, I guess that means in two weeks, I will be done with the hard part of dental school, or so they tell me. I can't believe how much I have studied the last two weeks. I have kept telling myself that soon it will be over, and then I can relax, but that motivation is quickly wearing off.

Tomorrow we have our big denture practical. We get to rip the teeth out of the denture wax-up we have been working on for the last month and set up our teeth in a couple of hours. Fun times. I actually don't mind the waxing up as much as other people in my class. Granted, it is not my favorite thing to do [I would much rather be doing Endo (my new found love), or restorative or anything dental related other than pedo] but it is a nice break from all of the stress of finals looming. My lowest practical grade this semester was an 87 in Endo and I think a 90 in Restorative, so I am not too worried about tomorrow at all. Even if I bomb the practical, I should still be sitting well in that class.

Dang...I hear something softly whispering my name from across the room. And I have a sneaking suspicion that is my Oral Path stuff...

Another week gone

It is Friday already. I can't believe how fast time has been flying by. I really can't believe it when I sit down to study Pharm and it seems like I get through half of what I want to and over two hours have passed by. That part stinks. Pharm is a scary class for me. It is cumulative (which completely sucks, but it probably should be...grrr) and that is scary. That is a lot of drugs that I supposedly have a good grasp on that will be tested on in no particular order. One of the few things that gives me hope is that I see some of the upperclassmen and tell myself that if they could do it, so can I....ha ha.

One crazy thing that has been going on here lately has been the recent number of attacks on SEPTA trains by teenagers. Over the past few weeks, it has mainly been teenager on teenager, but yesterday that changed. Sean Patrick was killed by four truant teenagers for no apparent reason. According to the many news sites (here is one) he just was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is crazy how uncivilized this city is. This city has some of America's most important history, amazing culture, and atmosphere, but turn the corner and this city is a dump. Some of the areas in this city are unbelievable. Not only can you not believe that human beings live this way, but I am amazed at how little they want to change their lives. Anyways, just one more unbelievable story out there.

Back to school. I can't believe that I am getting ready for finals. This is what I have been waiting for what seems like forever. I am so pumped to finally get the chance to work on real people. As exciting as typodont teeth are, and realistic as you try to make doing endo on real teeth feel like a real patient, as much as drilling into pig skulls seems more realistic, it is not the same. I can't wait to not only work on people, but to have the interaction with them. I have been working for a very, very successful dentist and I want to see if I have learned anything from him when it comes to dealing with humans.

This last week we received an email from our restorative IV teacher about a quiz we took last week. I did fine on it, but a lot of the class did very poorly (failing badly poorly). She decided that we would retake the quiz next Wednesday. At first I was bugged, because I don't want to spend another day of my life studying that stuff, but then when she said that the quiz was optional and she would take the higher of the two scores, I thought what the heck. I will study a little and see if I can't pad my grade a little so I am not as worried come finals. Anyhow, the wife wants me off the computer to spend a little time with them before I get to feeling guilty again and bust out Pharm.....

p.s. I found the pics of my gum grafting on pigs....I will have to post those soon. I still can't find my implant pictures. :(

Tonight, you get two for one

Just about to sit down and tackle a Pharm back exam in preparations for the final coming up soon, and then my son had a milestone in his life. Whether it is a good one or bad one, well that is up to you, but I am leaning towards not so good. My wife is playing with one of the hundreds (or so it seems) toys that he received from the wife and I, grandparents, wife's patients, etc for Easter when I hear a cough/sneeze. The wife lets out a holler and calls for a tissue. Just seconds later, another shriek (again from the wife) comes from across the room with a more frenzied call for a tissue. I put down the back test, get the tissue and go to deliver the wanted good. When I get there, I discover what the commotion was all about.

My son sneezed, partially blowing out a bugger (gross, I know, but I must continue). That was the cause of the first holler. Then, probably due to the fact that Garrett is now 4 1/2 months old and discovering all sorts of new feelings and that he can direct his hands very deftly now, Garrett takes his finger straight to his nose and cleans that nostril right up. Hence the second scream. My son's first nose picking experience. My son is now officially a nose picker; at 4 1/2 months. Like I said, whether or not you think that is good, well that is up to you. I just wanted to get this special moment in time written down.

Quiet before the storm

Mid-terms came and went, were stressful and are now done. It feels weird, the quiet before the storm. Starting April 8, we begin finals which runs until April 17. So, as of today, there is 24 days until this all ends. I have been trying to get through Endo and Pharm, but it feels as though I am not going to remember all of this long enough for finals. It is hard to really describe how it feels. I know in my mind that I need to be cracking down and really getting this info down, because I am running out of time, but there isn't that feeling of urgency that really makes you bust your butt off.

Today was our endo practical. We had to access two molars; one maxillary and one mandibular molar. That wasn't too bad. My mandibular molar access was a little wide, but I am happy with it considering that is was only the second access I have ever done (whoops, I should of practiced maybe once or twice more) and the pulp chamber was very, very small. Talk about being relieved when I finally found the pulp chamber. We also had to access and obturate the canal. That went smoothly.

All in all, not a bad day.