Exhibit: Helping Classmates get Skill Signatures

Benchmark: Indivuduality

Skills: Ability to Work as a Team

 

            Being able to work effectively in a health care team is vital to the success of an office and it also creates a positive environment for the health care workers and for the patients. Being in my dental class has made me realize even more the importance of teamwork because we operate as a team. Everyone likes to have good, positive relationships in their careers. Having good relationships makes every employee’s day easier and more efficient. This is because a positive atmosphere truly affects the quality of work and the quality of care that is provided. I believe I am a good team player because I will go out of my way to help a fellow classmate accomplish their tasks, specifically in procedures. In this picture, I am allowing my friend Brittany in my class to identify the name, number, and arch of my teeth so she could get her tooth identification signature. 

            During a procedure it is important for the person who is in the dental assistant position to really be on their toes and you must be able to multitask and use four-handed dentistry efficiently. For example if the dentist is doing an extraction I must be in the mouth suctioning and I must always keep a hand free to be able to intercept tools and pass tools and scoop the tooth from the dentist while still maintaining the HVE (High velocity evacuator) in the patients mouth in a position that is best suited for the patient. This is why teamwork in a dental office is important.  I am actually quite good at this skill due to my ability to multitask. I have always been the type of person to be doing two things at once so I find four-handed dentistry an easy skill to master even when the procedure includes tools that are large and difficult to pass.

            I am a team player in aspects not involved with procedures too such as our non-lab curriculum. I often have fellow students come to me with questions on homework. I am always more than happy to assist them with completing questions they are stumped on. I enjoy helping other students because I like to see them understand concepts that I didn’t at first understand. I am able to find difficult answers often by thinking of the question in a different manor than I usually would have and often, this different way of thinking helps me find answers.

            Having a health care career teamwork will always be a part of my everyday job. I am thankful that I am developing skills in this area early in my career so by the time I am a dentist I can run an office effectively. Being successful in an office, you must think of the end goal of the team and think of how you can help achieve that goal and then do your part to add to the efforts of the team members.