 Hello everybody Andrea Trawski here with dental tutoring. So you are almost in clinic So whether you are still working on your student partners and then seeing patients you are probably extremely nervous I remember when I was in school thinking oh my goodness It was nerve-wracking enough to work on my student partner now I have to work on a natural person and you know what you're nervous because you want to do Well, you do not want to look like an idiot You know in front of your patient in front of your classmates in front of your instructors But at the same time you probably feel like you you just haven't simply learned enough But there's a lot of pressure because in clinic depending on this the School that you go to you might have to get perfect You know basically if you do something wrong you Fail a patient and then you have to find another one and depending on where you you you live If you don't have any friends or any family close by it might be hard to find a patient to begin with When I was in hygiene school, I lived two hours away from my friends and my family So I didn't see any of them because no one would want to take the time to come up and be my patient for like six different appointments When you start off Again, depending on the school you are at We receive patients for at least six appointments because if you're new you're just new with the whole thing, right? So things take longer Then as you're closer to the end of your program, you might see them in four appointments So it just sort of depends, right? It depends on your comfort level But the I'd say the best advice that I can give you is be as organized as possible and just keep in mind that Everyone is nervous and the instructors are fully aware that you are nervous very very nervous But you still have to get past it You still have to get past it and you still have to do a good job But also keep in mind that every single person started off where you are now. I did too. I was a nervous I couldn't imagine I had nightmares for like months, you know But then as soon as you're in clinic the first couple times, it's not bad Your first time, okay. Yes, you're you're nervous, but even the second time you're like, okay At least I know what to expect now, right? But then by your like after your first week I'd say things get so much easier and you're not that nervous anymore Then you start to think about okay, I need to get good patients because I need to get good marks It's normal to not be perfect. So please keep that in mind. So when you're in clinic, you have the Assessment phase first which will take you the longest initially because you're new at everything And you have to write every little mark down, right? Right you guys every little thing. So that does take time But then your first time, you know saying okay now I have to probe somebody. Oh my god So the first time you do that that will take forever because you knew it the whole thing, right? But at least your first time should be working on a student partner, right? So they understand that you're nervous and they're probably saying to you hey, I Understand, you know, don't even worry about it, but then it gets easier, right? And then you have to think about okay. Well now I have to plan the appointments I have all of the assessments down. So now I have to plan everything and then implement, right? So then you're at the point where okay, so now I have to actually clean the teeth Oh my goodness. How am I going to do that now? I still remember the first time that I clean somebody's teeth I was like just a little bit in there and my instructor was kind of like you didn't even take off the plaque You know because I was nervous Don't be nervous. Just get in there you guys get in there with your instruments You know how to get in there, but keep in mind the typodons that you have in school Their gingiva is a lot more loose and flexible on a real person on a healthy person even it's not So I don't want you to go in there and like you know Go in there and be firm, but act but be careful But be firm not just kind of a little bit like this Be firm, okay, but not like this either because it's not like a type of not so I Guess what I'm trying to say is that I totally understand that there's so many nervous Things you're thinking of things can be very anxious Depending on the steps that you're in you know initially it's like okay I'm I'm nervous to go through them the medical history because now I have to like talk about the medications I I have to know about the medications So it does help to look them up ahead of time if you if you can and then you're thinking okay I have to go through the assessment phase. So I I have to mark down every single Mac you will Pap you will everything if I miss something. Oh my gosh, right take your time It's okay, and then you're thinking okay. Well now I have to probe somebody. Oh my god How much pressure do I put on am I not putting on enough pressure all of that? But then you have to plan the appointments properly, and then you have to actually clean the teeth So it's a lot, but it's normal to be overwhelmed. It's normal to feel stressed But just take it a clinic at a time and just keep on thinking it does get easier because we all had to go through it We all had to go through it and we all survived So please keep that in mind be as organized as possible know what you're doing I Guess before you're in clinic, you know, there's no sense looking through your chart saying okay What am I doing again today? Is it the assessment phase? Is it the cleaning phase? I can't remember now always know what you're doing and take notes It doesn't hurt to take notes like when I started seeing patients I would always have a notebook and then at the end of clinic like like I would take notes on what I did on that patient and How I felt everything went so like I could have said something like oh It took me a little bit longer to do the medical history today because I didn't know two of The medications so I had to look them up, you know So then look at that and then say okay, how could I have made that that easier on myself for next time? Well, look at the medications ahead of time, which means you have to ask the patient ahead of time What the medications are right? So it does help to take notes and then you can look at the notes afterwards and say okay What did I like in clinic today? And what did I not like? You know, how can I make that easier for myself for next time? so Try not to be nervous Everybody's nervous you will get over it and then by your First week or even second week you'll be like oh that wasn't so bad So now I have to focus on actually passing right, but that's another story all together So good luck. Try not to be nervous. If you need anything, please just let me know