I started my 2x2 rotation on Monday. I have just finished my third day and am a just a wee bit less exhausted than the first two..maybe I'm adapting.
I am paired with a classmate, so for the most part, we will both be at the same site (rockford being the exception). However, my partner got trapped on the east coast due to flight cancellations over the weekend and I had to go solo on monday. He didn't know about the cancellation until Sunday..so monday was booked as if he would be there. Nothing like getting thrown into the deep end right? Everything went great though and I'm having a good time so far.
Did I mention this clinic is inhabited solely by women? The dentists are all women, and ALL other staff are as well. I probably need to get used to that though since most practices have a similar ratio. Not that I have anything against women - far from it. However, anyone knows how the dynamic of a lunch room changes when it is all ladies as opposed to guys - and if you are the sole member of the opposite sex surrounded by these swarms, it can be an interesting social experience to say the least.
So I have probably accomplished in three days on rotation what I did in maybe 4-5 months of pedo at the college. Remember that I only spent 1/2-1 day a week in the pedo clinic during my D-3 year. The work load is absolutely overwhelming at first. You bounce around doing the POE check-ups and then run back to the nitrous room to do 3 fillings on a screaming 3 year-old in a papoose.
I have plenty of learning and adapting to go - but wow, the experience curve is amazing. Perhaps even more importantly, is learning to work with assistants. Some of them are amazing, others not so much. I still am getting used to ordering them around because I honestly have never been in a position of such authority in my entire life - as in pretty much the boss. Granted, I am still a student, but the assistants are supposed to treat me like any of the other dentists in the clinic - and they do...and it takes some getting used to.
I have no interest in pediatrics as a specialty, but I feel like this sort of rotation really really ramps up my comfort level. I mean, if you are OK with nitrous and a papoose board, you can deal with a HUGE percentage of the child population.
Complaints? The unit set-up. You can't sit at 12:00..ever - which makes the maxillary teeth a living hell on my back because I'm trying to learn new mirror angles. Why can't you sit at 12? Because the nitrous stuff and all the handpiece motors are right there...bleh. I also don't like the bur selection. Pretty much a huge block of 330s and round burs is all you get. I need a longer guy for those damn boxes...and I really really am sad they don't have enamel hatchets. But it's ok - you adapt...and fast because there really is no choice. My final, and perhaps biggest gripe is the gloves..they are slippery as hell. I have dropped my handpiece TWICE (thankfully never while running) and I honestly don't feel like I ever have a good grip on it because of it's awkward position in the operatory.
It's been a long couple of days...I haven't been this exhausted in a LONG time. But it still feels great. I feel like I'm working a real job. Yea we still get prep and restoration checks (but not always) but POEs are free game. If I think we need to do an amalgam on #I, then it gets tx planned and the kid comes back.
So I have 19 weeks of rotation this year...I really feel like this will be great for my technical speed. My only big concern is going to be lack of fixed work which is already a HUGE weakness in my experience belt. We will see though...there is an 18 year old coming in tomorrow for a PFM on #19...mayhaps I get to do it!?
Well I plan to post about my various rotation experiences as the year goes on. I still have 22 more days at the Children's clinic - so we will see how things play out in the coming weeks.
Expect a D-4 Experience post in the coming weeks.
Out.
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