this presentation help forth year dental students to better minimize the frustration

1. First Time Forth Year
Weam Banjar BDS., MS.

2. Disclosure
• None

3. Objective
• To help forth year dental students minimize the
level of frustration as a result of their clinical
exposure

4. DETERMINE YOUR STYLE
DEVELOP YOUR STRENGTHS
DESIGN YOUR OPERATIONAL
SCHEME
DEFINE YOUR GOALS, AND
STRATEGIES

5. • Are you frustrated?
• Do you feel overwhelmed?
• Are you thinking of quitting dentistry?
• Do you feel lost?

6. Keys of Success
• Maintain the balance
• Determine your weaknesses and strengths
• Understand your timeline
• Be prepared

7. Clinics vs. Lectures
• They are related and inseparable
• Information from the lectures are related to
your clinical practice
• Treat the information as package

8. Clinics drive you crazy!!
• Create a patients’ log and organize your
patients
• Determine your patients’ need and organize
them
• Create a file/ worksheet for your patients to
track referrals, progression, lab work

9. Clinics Drive you crazy!!
• The day before the clinic:
Ensure receiving the devices from the lab
(impression trays, try-in stage prosthesis, final
prosthesis, orthodontics appliances, etc.) and
make sure that they fit on the cast
Confirm the appointment with the patient
Write down the armamentarium that you may
need
File a patient’s record request
Review your patients’ future need

10. Clinics Drive you crazy!!
• The day of the clinic: (before the patients’ arrival)
Disinfect and wrap the clinic
Be prepared and arrange your instrument in
the order that you will be using them
If your patient is diabetic, be prepared and
keep a juice aside

11. Clinics Drive you crazy!!
• The day of the clinic: (when the patient arrives)
Call the patient yourself
Greet the patient
Review the medical history
Make sure that your patient had his/er breakfast
Do a quick general through examination
Determine the patient’s complaint, if any,
postpone the procedure and manage it
Explain what is your going to do
Do not surprise your patient

12. Clinics Drive you crazy!!
• The day of the clinic: (before the patient departure)
Provide clear instruction (orally and written)
Tell your patient what to expect (pain, swelling)
Prescribe pain-killer if you anticipate pain
Write the appointment slip
Ensure that the contact info. are correct
Provide your patients with a contact info. for
whom in charge in case of emergency requires
hospital care
Walk the patient to the door

13. Clinics Drive you crazy!!
• When you arrive home
Call your patient to make sure that no
problems have occurred
Update your patients’ log
Confirm the next day appointment

14. Studying drives you crazy!!
 Read the materials that you have taught the same
day
 Review the clinical cases that you have been
exposed to and relate it to the information from
the lectures
 Dentistry is one package, you cannot deal with it
as separate subjects. All subjects are inter-related
 Relate and associate information from the clinic
to that in the lecture

15. Studying drives you crazy!!
 There are topics that are common between all
subjects (e.g. occlusion), create one
comprehensive summary.
 Vitalize the dry scientific concepts by relating
them to their application (e.g. force distribution in
relation to the survival of the restoration)
 Do not wait until the day of the exam
 The information in medical subjects are clinically
relevant

16. Studying drives you crazy!!
 Summarize the key concepts in tables
 Draw and comment on your drawing
 Do not be shy to ask about what you do not
understand

17. Remember
• You need to maintain the balance between the
clinical work and your study
• Time management is of prime importance
• “Dentistry is the art of science application and
the science of art production “