Bob Loblaw

Plungin' in!

After days of checking the DOPL website for my license i was glad to see that it had FINALLY been posted! My sister-in-law is in from out of town for the summer. She too is an RDH. She has been temping and kept pretty busy, so i decided i'd give it a try until i hear back from the dentist i am hoping to work for.

Last night i recieved a call from the temp agency and they had a job for me if i wanted it......wow, i didn't feel mentally prepared, but heck...you gotta start somewhere, right?! I arrived 15 minutes early to be able to check charts and prepare for the day. That was worthless. Nobody from the office even showed up until after 8:00. I wasn't too impressed with the professionalism (or lack thereof). While i was waiting, i made conversation with a pt who was also waiting on the sidewalk for his appt. I must have shown some concern when i looked down at my watch. He assured me it was ok. "They're always late," he said. There was also a van with a family in it waiting for someone to show up. I actually ended up treating that family. I'm glad they saw that i was on time if nobody else was!

I made sure i was early, scrubs looking good, hair tied back, stark white shoes....the whole bit. One of the first people that i met told me her first name only as and introduction. I smiled, told her my name, pleased to meet her. As i continued to wipe the room down it dawned on me that SHE was the dentist. I did a double take, and then probably a triple take! I guess i have a stereotype for dentists and she didn't really fit it! Her bottled blonde long hair was left down, she had on some open-toed fancy sandals. She came into the room to show me some things on the compter and that's when i noticed her long bright red acrylic fingernails. Um....WHAT?!

So, i jumped right in and did my thing. Things went pretty well for my first day! I was very nervous, wondering how on earth was i going to finish a pt in 50 minutes? I guess when you're not waiting on a OD check or scale check you can make pretty good time! On one exam i waited almost 20 minutes for the doctor and that was a little frustrating, but i know that's how it goes because i've also been on the assisting end of things and i know sometimes i wish the RDH would leave us alone to do our work!!!! ha ha ha ha! I stayed caught up for the most part. The assistants were really nice to help me when i looked a little lost! During some down time i was reviewing the next patient's chart and an assistant asked if i could numb a pt for the doctor! SURE!! That was fun to do anesthesia without someone hanging over me! I felt comfortable with it! So, the end of the day was the best part---the paycheck! I finally got a glimpse of knowing that the past few years are now finally worth it! I can't wait for a 2 weeks-worth check....shopping can be part of my life again! (According to me, just don't ask Brett!)

posted by Jami @ 12:30 PM