Some pics from winter quarter

Liza and The Director - Art Dimarco



Kaitlin and Bryan



Dr. Ashlock (Dental Anatomy and Occlusion) and Dr. Sledge (ICM and Dental Materials)



The Director - Dr. DiMarco



Kaitlin and I chilling with the Man - Dr. McCoy (Dental Anatomy and Occlusion)

Inspection, Palpation, Percussion, Auscultation

One of the different things about the RIDE program is ICM. ICM is Intro to Clinical Medicine. It is a medical class that we take with the Medical students. It is part of this RIDE idea to create Super Rural Dentists that can practice in tiny towns where there are no physicians around, that can handle diverse situations.

So we take ICM to help teach us a little bit about the ways of the Physician.


This Quarter we are doing Physical Examinations. You know the one.....
Examine the eyes, the ears, the nose.
Listen to the heart and lungs.
Check for proper Neuro functions.
Check range of motion and reflexes.

2 weeks ago we learned and practiced the chest and abdominal part of the physical examination. Part of this exam includes palpating (feeling around) the abdomen. There is a very nice young classmate of mine that ended up being the Guinea Pig for her small group, and the technique was demonstrated on her in front of most of her group. As the Doctor is palpating her stomach he gets around to the colon area and states -

Doctor - " Can you feel that moving around?"
Young Female Student - "Yes...."
Doctor - "That is your feces moving around in your colon"

Medical Students from around the room gather in excitement to sneak a peek and learn how to feel for someones feces in their colon.

I'm glad I'm in Dental School!

Sometimes we will get comments from the medical students, all in good fun and usually in response to some comment made to them by one us regarding us making a higher salary, being done with school 4 years earlier, or having our loans paid back by the time they land their first job, that goes something like this "Ya, but you have to work in the mouth all day." I'm pumped I get to work in the mouth all day, if palpating for feces is the alternative...... But Hey, I'm biased.

When my classmate told me this story - I laughed hysterically. I think you have to participate in ICM as a dental student to truly understand the situation. As interesting and informative as this class is, it is awkward at best and most of us know we will never use 80% of it again.

I mean c'mon.. when is the last time your dentist asked you to take your shirt off so he could auscultate your bowl movements, or ask you to take off your pants so he could test your patellar reflex?

I can see it now..........

Location: Dr. Tuckers Dental practice in Middle of Nowhere, WA


Dental Assistant - "well Mr. Patient, before we get started today I'm just going to ask that you to take your pants and shirt off, drape this cloth over you, and the dentist will be in shortly to see you"

The patients are going to flock to my practice!!!

With all that being said, this stuff is really interesting and fun to learn about, and I know that I'll be better off as a dentist because I have learned these skills. One of my small group Physicians always tells the dental students that we really just need to be able to tell Normal from Abnormal, at that point we can refer the problem out or call for help. I think this is very good advice to keep in mind while taking this course.

Why is Dental School 4 years?

"Why is Dental school 4 years? I'm pretty sure I could learn everything my dentists does in _______ (enter any absurdly short amount of time, like 3 to 6 months, a year, ect)".

I have heard it twice since starting school, my classmate Eric has heard it at least once, and I'm sure I will hear it again. To be honest, when I first heard this statement I was a brand new dental student and I wasn't sure of the correct answer. However, as this year has progressed I've slowly started to learn the answer. Actually, now I get a little overwhelmed thinking about how much I have to learn in the next 3 1/2 years.

I thought some of you might like to see what we are actually doing with the laboratory time in our Occlusion class. Occlusion is a cool class and a good example of how there is so much more to our teeth and our mouths than I ever knew.

Disclaimer: Pre-dents may find this fascinating, while everyone else may find it extremely boring. :)

Meet my $1,000 dollar articulator - A little required expenditure.



This bad boy helps us imitate the movements of the mandible in relation to a person's occlusion (how their teeth fit together).

So what do we do with it in class? We wax anatomically correct teeth just like last quarter, but this time they have to fit and work properly in the mouth.

Each tooth must contact the teeth to the sides and the teeth opposing it, all in very specific locations.

Here are the side by side contacts (proximal contacts) - these contacts are responsible for that snapping when you floss your teeth - if you don't know what I'm talking about then you should probably start flossing :)




Then we have to worry about the teeth opposing our waxed up tooth. There are specific points on the opposing teeth, on the tips of cusps and in the bottoms of fossas. Each contact should be no bigger than .5 mm. It can be quite the challenge to get the right sized contact in the right place.

Here are some contact points:



Then of course we are graded on the anatomy. Contours and Embrasures are a big emphasis. Embrasures are the space outlined in blue. You would think these small spaces would be pretty easy to get correct, but that just isn't so..... I can post my grades to prove it if you don't believe me.




Then you use the articulator and move the "mandible" to the left, then to the right, then forward and backwards to make sure none of your anatomy scrapes on any of the surrounding teeth.

WOW... I'm boring myself just writing this. You are just going to have to trust me that it is fascinating stuff.... I promise.

Lots more to learn. I'm glad Dental school takes 4 years instead of 6 months to complete..... You should all be happy for that also. :)

Radiography

Earlier this quarter we had a day scheduled in the Dental Hygiene Clinic to get introduced to taking digital X-rays. Well it turned out that I was sick that day and I missed out. The other dental students had a good time, so I was feeling a little left out.

Well, I got to make up the session today. It was really interesting and exciting to learn how to use the X-ray machines and how to interpret the X-rays. Because I missed our previous session, my make up session was a one-on-one session with one of the hygiene professors. It was nice because I got to ask all sorts of questions. She was super nice and helpful. We took a set of full mouth digital X-rays and a Panoramic digital X-ray.

It is these experiences in clinic that help me remember the excitement I have for dentistry. I can't wait to get into clinic. It also got me a little more excited for my RUOP (rotation in a public health clinic). I was realizing today that even though I can't practice any "real" dentistry in my RUOP, there is still a lot I can learn.

Winter Quarter

This quarter is definitely less hectic than last quarter, but I think the material we are covering in our classes is more difficult. This quarter we are taking the following classes:

Pathology, Oral Histology, Dental Materials, Occlusion, Periodontics, physiology, and Intro To clinical Medicine.

To be honest, I haven't been updating this blog much because I've been pretty burned out. Autumn quarter was a beast, and in many ways this quarter just feels like an extension of the fall. Plus, a lot of classes we are taking this quarter are just plain boring (DISCLAIMER: this is just my opinion). There are plenty in our class that find the world of Histology and Pathology fascinating and captivating. I guess to a point I find it all fascinating also.

On the bright side we are getting to learn some pretty cool stuff that is more applicable to Dentistry. Our Occlusion class for example is great and very applicable to our future careers. We are currently using full mouth molds and our articulators to create wax ups that will actually function properly in the mouth. Dental Materials, another applicable class, can be pretty dry, but our local professor keeps us intrigued by related the science of the class with everyday dentistry.



Sorry for the Nasty Beard...... It was midterms.

On another note, A good friend of mine, Dr. Reid Folsom, gave me a pair of his old loupes this last weekend. He has moved up to higher magnification loupes and didn't use this old pair anymore. I haven't got a chance to use them yet, but I can't wait to try them out. They also come with an attached LED light (like head lamp). For those of you that aren't familiar with Loupes, they are expensive. I think most students probably pay around $1,000 or so for a pair. So this was a very generous gift and I'm very grateful. So thanks again Reid!!!

Joanna Kwok's Reflection

When I look back on the first quarter of dental school, I think of Seattle weather. I definitely had days where I was frustrated, days where I thought the rainstorm would never end. With 35 credits in one quarter, it was a struggle to find time to study everything. I had to learn to choose the most important information in each class to learn because there was simply not enough time to remember everything.

I found that the key to success is planning ahead of time and working together as a class. Being a part of RIDE was especially advantageous in this regard because you are with such a small class and you really get to know the faculty. Not only do you get to work closely with your dental classmates, you get a lot of interaction with the EWU hygiene and UW medical students on campus, which is not available in Seattle. One class that we take with the medical students is ICM. I started out not really understanding why I had to spend 2.5 hours a week in a class that seemed to only focus on medicine, but as time went on, I realized how useful this class will be for me in the future. We learn the medical language, skills to efficiently collect data from a patient interview, etc.

Although the rainy days were tough to get through, the beautiful summer days would follow. After getting through a long week of tests, I sometimes felt defected, but I also felt like I have really accomplished something. This sense of accomplishment is even more profound after finishing our last final. I feel like I have overcome a huge challenge and the long nights of study meant something. I also feel that I got so much more out of dental anatomy in Spokane than I would have in Seattle. We had a lot of personal attention and we had a lab for us to practice waxing in whenever we wanted. Furthermore, the gross anatomy lab facilities are wonderful and well ventilated. We never had to go home smelling like formaldehyde, which was great.

All in all, RIDE has its ups and downs just like Seattle has its months of crappy weather, but when the sun comes up, it always makes up for it. Despite how the program has some incontinuities with the Seattle courses and we have to go to school for an extended period of time, I am really glad that I get to be a part of the unique concept behind the program.

Camille Wahl's Reflection

First quarter of dental school is finally over! I have to admit, I have been waiting patiently for Christmas break since the middle of Anatomy! It has been a very tough quarter, tougher than any of my schooling thus far. It was also very stressful - full of late nights studying, countless study hours when compared to any quarter in undergrad, many uncertainties of passing a test, and the list can go on…



Despite the lengthy list of stresses and mild exhaustion, dental school has been even more than I expected! After 2 application cycles and many years of hard work, I was ecstatic upon getting my acceptance (in a voicemail by the way…)! Furthermore, I was even more excited about getting into the RIDE program. As with any new program I didn’t expect everything to be perfect and organized and that there would be many aspects that would need changing. But these downfalls are minute and have not affected the positive learning experience for myself.



The small class size is one of the most excellent aspects of the RIDE program. Not only getting the help I needed but also primarily to have all my professors and director genuinely care that me, as an individual, succeeded and that I get an unsurpassable education. Taking 35 credits was a bit horrendous and probably won’t change, but it was still a memorable year thus far. Also, in the mix of all the lackluster didactic classes, dental anatomy kept me going by helping me see that dentistry is what I’m interested in! And that it will eventually get here!



One of the main integrations for the RIDE program is taking classes with the medical students in efforts to help us understand the correlations and commonalities between the two professions. Having worked in both medical and dental fields for the past 7 years has definitely confirmed the similarities so I could immediately see the benefits of these courses. Many of my classmates did not understand this and constantly struggled with the importance of these courses. The best advice I have for future RIDE students is to enter these classes knowing you will one day utilize the communication skills they are teaching us. It will help make these courses much more interesting and positive!



All things considered, the quarter has been busy, it has been stressful, and it has changed my personal life, but it has also been important in becoming a dentist. I’m learning to enjoy it one day at a time!



Camille I. Wahl