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This website has been a labor of love (and mouse-clicking), and I hope you have enjoyed viewing

it. It was very difficult for me to select artifacts for the competencies, as I believe have accomplished so

much academically and clinically within the last year. When I reflect on some of the highlights of the

previous year at VCU, I can identify the areas I am excelling, and the areas in which I have only attained

marginal competency. I have had the honor to work underneath many talented and seasoned Dental

Hygiene professionals, and they all operate at a much higher level which I to aspire to operate at one

day. I value my clinical feedback, and I partly base my assessment of myself off of my clinical grading

reports. In the individual competencies’ sections, and elsewhere in my website, I touched upon my

strengths and weaknesses the last year has uncovered. For the benefit of my future growth and

progression, and for the benefit of my audience, I will delve more into my development as a Dental

Hygiene student.

I have a strong background in patient care in the dental setting, and so It was no surprise to me I

was able to jump right into patient care during the fall semester of my first year. I place patient comfort

and satisfaction on a very high pedestal. I managed to progress with regards to professionalism despite

the fact I was practicing alone in my cubicle from day one without a partner. This was an arrangement

which most of my coupled peers were unable to experience until the following semester. I was very

strong academically in my first year, and I attribute this to my background in undergraduate science and

research. I learned a great deal of this semester about how to integrate scientific research article

findings with the process of care I was providing for my patients. As evidenced by the Product

Recommendation and the Review of Literature assignments, I am a naturally inquisitive person and I

value the pursuit of knowledge. I particularly like to study products and devices which are being used in

healthy or habitual circumstances. At the start of this program, I was unable to synthesize all my

knowledge with the assessments collected and produce a satisfactory treatment plan and oral hygiene

protocol individualized to my patient’s unique needs. I am most proud of my progression in this specific
area, as evidenced by my Process of Care assignment. I am confident I will progress further in this regard

as I spend more time treating patients.

I do have areas in which I am progressing more slowly, and areas which I hoped to be more

competent at this point in my education. After assessing myself both in clinic and after my OSCEs, I am

inconsistent with my instrumentation skills. I believe it is needless for me to spend much time thinking

about how I arrived at this point, and it is more important on how I plan to rectify the issues. I know I

may have to fight my dental assisting muscle memory harder than others who do not have a similar

past. I constantly keep correcting my ergonomics after it was critiqued earlier in the spring of 2019. I will

need to work very hard on my instrumentation moving forward. I am planning to dedicate 20 minutes

twice a week to instrumentation practice on mannequins in Woolwine Lab, and I will ask faculty for

feedback more often during clinic. I trust in my abilities to rectify my shortcomings. Evaluation in the

process of care is another area in which I feel I am lacking growth. Lectures at the end of the spring 2019

semester have helped to demystify the rationale behind evaluation period, prognoses, and implications

for surgical intervention. I still hope for more first-hand experience in the future with evaluation of

patients after initial therapy.

I learned a great deal about myself in the last year. I am known to be stubborn, which has paid

off in the form of good grades in traditional academic courses, but it has resulted in lackluster

ergonomics and instrumentation marks as I work to shake off my old bad habits. I will research a topic

that interests me until I am satisfied, and I have used this to my advantage when completing

assignments several times in the last year. I have gained a working understanding of the dental materials

I am exposed to the most. I am very fortunate to have had so many opportunities to promote oral

hygiene in various groups within the community via volunteerism, and I cherish and fondly remember

every encounter. I am pleasantly surprised at all the leadership opportunities I have been exposed to

both within student government, and within the professional organizations which await me after I
graduate. I am so very honored and excited to be a student of the VCU Dental Hygiene program. After

reflecting on my first year, I am ready to challenge myself to perform at a higher level of competency

and to meet the goals that I have set for myself.

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