2-22-10

I know I'm writting this a week late, but I still remember the day all to well. the worst day of clinic yet. But I'm not going to focus on the negative. It is one of my new goals to only focus on the positive and only learn from the negative, not dwell on it. I learned that no matter how prepared you are, there is always a chance of something going wrong, and part of being a professional is handling it in the best way or making the best out of the situation. Last monday I kind of froze up because the unexpected happened, I wasn't able to see my patient. I learned that I need to calm down and keep my head on straight. I need to have confidence that I know what I am doing. I need to not second guess myself. I guess the biggest thing is confidence. I get to realize that I am still a first year student and as such, I'm not going to be perfect. I need to have confidence in what I can do and learn from what I can't do. Anyway, I think that is enough murmuring, which is not why we have these blogs, so moving on. I was able to get an exam patient done today for a 1a and now I am done with 1a's. I don't feel like I did my best simply because I got frustrated. I guess that is what I was trying to say earlier. I can't function when I am frustrated, so maybe in the future I just need to take some time to maybe wash my hands and calm down before I continue and rather than loose my head, I need to draw on the knowledge that i have to fix the problem. There was just a piece of calculus that I couldn't get off. I know how to remove calculus, but I was getting so frustrated with the time limit and the fact that it was an exam that I kind of gave up and had the instructor finish getting the calculus. Why do I get so nervous? I think in the future, when that happens, I just need to take a little break and calm down and think about the situation logically before I continue. Time does matter, but quality matters more. So, bottom line, this is my new goal. When I sense that I am nervous or getting frustrated, I need to take a break to wash my hands under cold water and think about the situation and reasure myself that I know what I'm doing. I don't know what my last goals were as far as a 1a, but I think it had to do with completing the OD because last time I wasn't so sure about that. So, that goal I completed. I don't know how long it took me to clean the kids mouth. he did have a tone of plaque and calculus for a little kid though so I'm sure I'll be faster next time. But there won't be a next time until next semester since I am done with class 1a's and don't plan on having any more. I also have a goal to be more fun with them. I'm not the best at knowing how to handle kids in the Hygiene chair. I can play with them outside the office, but in the office it is still a little weird for me. I've got to work on that. I need to listen to Sarah because she always has cute things to say to the kids to make them feel comfortable. Okay, that is all. This blog took way to long.