Dental/dental hygiene trainees discuss dental training/education. (2023)
And even still, I have tons to learn. We’re lifelong learners in dentistry. If you’re not planning on being a lifelong learner, then you’re probably not in the right place because it’s technology and everything. But I think our curriculum is different than many dental schools in that we don’t do comprehensive care on our own set of patients our third year, but we do our fourth year. So, you’re rotating through all these clinics, and okay, so you only see this patient for their crown, and then five other people saw them for fillings, and then… It’s a bunch of different providers. When I first started to feel like I had a better grasp on the whole picture is when I got my comprehensive care patients that I did everything through to the end of their treatment plan, and actually see your own work, how it’s holding up, how everything came together. I don’t know, I just feel like, third year, you’re good and you’re competent at individual things, but you’re not seeing the whole picture yet. That’s just me, personally. I know I’m the only fourth year here, so…