Dental/dental hygiene trainees discuss dental training/education, race, social determinants of health, and patient care. (2023)
I would say I understand the purpose of OSPEs [objective structured practical examinations] and standardizing things, but I think when it comes to patient care, you can only calibrate and standardize so much in a person. And so I understand that we need some of that training. But again, I think we turn to faculty because at the end of the day, there’s a lot of knowledge and technical skills that comes with this profession, but it’s that experience that teaches you on a day-to-day, and it’s also the identity that you come as a provider. And so we talk about cultural competency in care, and we talk about diversity and inclusion, and I think it’s becoming more of just terminology and marketing, that every industry picks up and healthcare is picking it up in the same way. But if we actually break that down, I remember even, my first few years of classes here, I hear “social determinants of health,” I hear these things. I hear the same statistic I’ve been seeing over and over, and it’s that minority populations are dealing with issues at a disproportionately higher rate, compared to whites. And so we can keep saying that, and we can understand that, but when you see that patient in your chair and how you treat them, I think ultimately [it] just comes down to your experiences. And even like that patient I mentioned earlier, I learned so much from that case, moving forward. And how I deal with that on a daily basis is talking to my classmates, being deep and being like, “This is what happened.” We have shared characteristics in our identity and experience, and at the end of the day you’re always just trying to figure out, “How do I improve myself?” It’s at the same time, there’s patient accountability, there’s faculty accountability, there’s so many factors at play. And I’ll keep working on myself, but there are certain parts that I truly will not have control over. I can influence, I can persuade you, but at the end of the day, how do all of these things align?