Personal Narrative: A Career As A Lead Dental Assistant

Most assistants will work in an office where they will assist in doing a variety of different things like taking care of all of the equipment as well as the instruments used by the dentist. They will make sure that all of these things are in good working order and ready for whenever the dentist is in need of them.

A dental assistant must be able to work well with others because they are the second pair of hands for the dentist. A dental assistant must be able to understand the dentist and communicate with the dentist to provide proper tools and assistance. Assistants must be very reliable and have excellent manual dexterity so that they can provide the best service to the dentist and to the patient that they are working with. Dental assistants will also have to be knowledgeable on how to properly sterilize and disinfect equipment and instruments and how to set up and lay out instruments and materials for each patient. They must obtain and update patients records as needed and ensure that their patients are comfortable at all times.

We have case conferencing once a week and morning huddles every morning.” The last question I asked Mary was, “Are there department meetings? If yes what is discussed and when are they held?” Mary responded, “Department meetings get together as much as possible all the dentists will meet and so on.” The first part of the nine aspects I would like to talk about is Business Planning. Business Planning is how an organization plans including goals. At Dental Associates they have morning huddles, case conferencing weekly and department meetings every so often to discuss and go over goals and patient care. The next one is Management. This is how they structure and process for effectively accomplishing their goals. They have teams in their office. Each doctor/ dentist has their own team including hygienists, assistants, relationship coordinators, and financial coordinators. Next is Health Safety and Environment. This deals with workplace safety. Every time they have a needle incident where one of the workers accidently sticks themselves with a needle they are required to fill out paperwork regarding what happened. Another aspect is Community Issues. This is the role

Pandemonium. Sitting inside the film room at the Sprint Center in Kanas City, the pandemonium is diminished to distant cheers and faded clapping. As a second year student-manager for the Iowa State men’s basketball team, my job for the Big 12 Tournament was to record our game being played. That means I sat in a small back room in the arena with a few people, usually managers from the opposing team, and make sure nothing goes wrong with the recording. During the game, I kept feeling sorry for myself, wondering why I got assigned to this awful job. This is so unfair, why do I even do this job?

This past year I served as an administrative assistant to my regions largest convention in its history. Part of my job was to run the rituals steering team as well as overseeing logistical tasks. This convention only succeeded because of the logistical preplanning and precautions that were taken by the coordinator team.

I learned about the administrative assistant role from Stephanie Paul at the Royal Bank of Canada. We met recently at a networking event for financial services at Skills for Change. I believe that my business qualifications, administrative operations experience and strong client service focus will make me a valuable addition to the RBC Dominion Securities' team.

IU South Bend first came to my attention when they offered me a spot on their golf team. I then went for a visit and toured their dental hygiene program. The dental hygiene area had just been upgraded and I felt the program was a better opportunity for me to succeed than those of other colleges I had looked into. I also thought the smaller size of the campus was a good fit for me. My interest in teeth led me to decide to pursue dental hygiene. I have always been interested in the dental field since my mother was a dental lab technician and showed me impressions and dentures she had crafted in college when I was younger. Good pay and hours are other factors that contributed to my final decision. I decided this field would allow me to have job

Starting sophomore year of high school  I have been on the look for college I am interested in. Some research and a few campus visits really help narrow down my choices to five. My interest in dental school drove me to look specifically for schools with a pre dental program. I ended up applying to five different colleges and north park college was my top choice due to the great pre dental programs it has. I am middle eastern. After some research I found out that North Park university had a middle eastern club which got me even more interested because I all my life I went to schools with many different culture, but not each culture was appreciated enough. Knowing that north park had clubs for many of these cultures made me even more interested.

The job posting indicated that the requirements for this position are the related knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) associated with the position. I served as an executive-level Administrative Assistant for a local civil engineering firm for over five years where I worked for the Vice President of the company. In addition, I coordinated data compilation and analysis for management, provided database management, financial management, and organized events. I also worked as a Sales Representative at PepsiCo, which allowed me to serve as the main contact for a large assigned sales account base. While at PepsiCo, I negotiated sales contracts, organized marketing events, and actively engaged with customers daily. In 2013, I decided to resign

On a summer day in August of 2013, the announcer had called for my name in a big auditorium. I could hear my own heart beat as I walked up to the stage and received my very own white coat from the dean of NYU College of Dentistry. I clumsily, yet proudly, put the coat on me. Everything in life felt so right. In just four years, I will become a dentist.

It is a dream come true to return to Smiles On Broadway, my dental home. I first began working at Smiles On Broadway at the age of 11. As a patient, I was curious as to what it would be like to be a dentist. I remember the sweet smell of laundry-scented candles in his office. I was invited to spend a day shadowing. I never left. I showed up every single Saturday and fell in love with how the team cared for patients. My family saw the excitement in my eyes each time I returned home from my Saturday mornings at the practice.

I recently came across the job posting for Executive Assistant on CareerBuilder.com. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and express my interest in this position. I am a recent graduate of Illinois State University and live near Chicago, IL. However, I am no stranger to the Inland Empire. My sister has established herself since the early 2000’s in Redlands, where I have spent time every summer over the last 10 plus years. From a young age, I realized this is the area I wanted to be. I am immediately prepared for relocation.

Working in a two person office for many years, I have been forced to look at things from different angles. I am dedicated to my work and I have had to finds ways to process aid in an efficient manner. I was continually looking for ways to complete the tasks presented as quickly and correctly possible. This forced me to look at things from all angles, therefore, looking outside the box or problem solving. I discuss many things with my boss to get another perspective. Most of all, I need to be part of something bigger…the financial aid team. I cannot let my ego or my opinions get in the way if my suggestions are not implemented. I know I will not have all the answers, I have a team to help sort out what answers might apply to the questions.

In my early years, I was the quintessence of someone who could achieve anything they wanted. I was good in Sports, Math and active in the Boys Brigade. It was no surprise when I told my friends that I want to be a Dentist and own a Restaurant. A few of them laughed at my thoughts and felt it was preposterous but I am glad that I held on to my dream. I studied dentistry in one of the best schools in the United States and quickly worked my way up. It was not long before the buzz of the Internet began to define the visibility dentists enjoy. I had to learn the basics about inbound marketing in order to keep tabs with the realities of the day.

We were acquainted briefly at Tiffany’s restaurant on Decarie Boulevard when you were introduced to me by Anna Fierst, a colleague of my mother’s from Jewish People’s and Peretz Schools. I was glad to have met you and would be grateful to further our discussion about a career in dentistry. I would be happy to meet with again you at your convenience. Please respond via my email address: