Interview 2 Reflection

Interview 2 Audio

1. Please explain how you are spending your mentorship time. 
• I spend my time in a dentist office mostly shadowing my mentor and also another dentist that works in the office. I like that I am able to speak with the patients sometimes as well as watch my mentor and learn new things in the office. My mentor is an expert seeing as he has gone to dental school and has a degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. I definitely do enjoy speaking to patients as well and observing them, which has helped me steer the direction of my topic and think of my EQ. 
2. How did you find your mentor? How did you convince this person to help you?
• My mentor is my dentist. I felt comfortable asking him to be my mentor because when I had braces Dr. Chen did my ortho work and over the course of 18 months I felt more comfortable with him. I wouldn't really say that I had to convince Dr. Chen. He was more than willing to help me out with my senior project and be my mentor once I had asked him. 
3. How would you rate your comfort level with your mentor at this point in your relationship? How does this relate to the time you've spent so far at mentorship with this person?
• On a scale of 1 to 10 I would say my comfort level is at about a 6. That meaning I feel comfortable enough with my mentor to talk about stuff other than dentistry and make jokes and stuff like that. He has known me for about 4 years. Of course having him as my mentor and going in to the office twice a week for a total of six hours has helped develop the comfort. 
4. What went well in this interview? Why do you think so? What do you still need to improve? How do you know? How will you go about it? 
• I was able to get some valuable answers and information from Dr. Chen. I think the questions I asked were what really helped me get some good and helpful information from my mentor. This interview was a bit rushed seeing that although I had made an appointment with my mentor, his appointments ran over closing time and caused a rush in the interview. Hopefully next time I will make the interview way more in advance in order to allow sufficient amount of time to comfortable complete the entire interview. 

Blog 9 - Advisory Prep 3

1. State whether or not you currently have a mentor, and what the status of your interview is with that person.
• My mentor is Chris Chen, DDS at Puente Hills Dental Group. I have scheduled a time for my second interview with Dr. Chen for October 27th. 
2. At this point, your research is probably guiding your studies toward more specific areas within your topic. Name the area or two you feel most promising and explain your reasons. 
• Patient Care/Easing a Patient: I will focus more on the psychology of dentistry, that is why so many people are afraid of the dentist. My mentor has told me that many people view dentists as "villians" or the dental office as a scary place. I could explain what makes a patient the most comfortable or why patients might have dental phobias or fears. 
• Ortho Care: I will be able to explain the anatomy of the mouth and teeth. I will also be able to educate my audience on how to take the best care of their oral hygiene. 
3. What kinds of sources do you think will help you in the next month to gain more research depth? Where will you go to get them?
• My mentor will definitely be able to provide me with more information about my topic. 
• I can go to the library and hopefully find some books about oral hygiene and tooth anatomy.
• Articles about the psychology behind dental fear/phobia/anxiety will really help me do more in depth research. 
4. Write down a possible EQ. 
• What are the best ways to maintain good dental hygiene/what is the most effective preventative care?
• How might a patient develop orthophobia's and how could a dentist best ease a patient? 

Blog 8 - Independent Component 1 Proposal

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours?
• I don't yet have a solid idea on what I would like to do for my 30 hours. Through my project I really want to focus on accessing things like what makes people afraid of the dentist and/or how to get people to be more aware of the importance oral hygiene. I was hoping I could make some dental care packages (filled with things like information, toothbrushes, floss, toothpaste, mouthwashes, etc.) and give them to the homeless shelters. I was hoping I would be able to go and talk with those people about proper oral hygiene and maybe find out if any of them have fears of the dentist or maybe bad experiences. Another idea would be to build a mouth out of paper mache. The whole structure would include the gums, teeth, nerves, etc.
2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.
• I could document it with pictures, a video log, and even actual logging of hours on paper. 
3. Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.
• By making dental care packages I would be able provide help for people who don't have access to a dentist or maybe who don't have proper supplies to maintain good oral hygiene. I would be able to talk to those people about their past experiences with the dentist (if any) and their oral hygiene. 
• By building a paper mache mouth I will be able to learn about the anatomy of the mouth such as things like nerves, bones, blood vessels, placement. 
4. Update your senior project hours log. 

Blog 7 - Second Interview Preparation

1. Who is your mentor and where do they work? If their workplace does not reflect their expertise, what makes them an expert? 
• My mentor is Chris Chen, DDS. Dr. Chris Chen works for the Puente Hills Dental Group in Hacienda Heights, CA. He is one of two dentists apart of the group that perform regular exams and cleanings, orthodontics, root canals, etc. that are apart of general dentistry. Dr. Chris Chen has obtained degrees in biology and chemistry from University of California Irvine and doctorate degree at Columbia University School of Dental Medicine. He has been working under the title of doctor of dental surgery since 2005.
2. What five questions will you ask them about their background?
• When and where were you born?
• Can you tell me where your family comes from?
• What role did your parents play in your education?
• What were you like growing up, what were your focuses/aspirations/goals/dreams/morals/etc.?
• When did you know that the path to dentistry was the right path for you? 

Blog 6 - Advisory Prep

1. What has worked well for you concerning senior project this year? What has made it a positive experience for you? 
• What has worked well concerning my senior project has been me finding a good mentor. I feel I was very lucky to get a mentor that is willing to help me with my project and even with anything else that I may need.It has made it a positive experience being able to go in to an environment where I feel comfortable and encouraged to learn more about my senior topic (Dentistry). 
2. What are you finding difficult concerning senior project? How can you adapt to make that portion work better for you? How might the senior team help? 
• I am finding it a bit difficult to really find a certain part of dentistry I would like to focus on. I want to be able to learn about and present something that other people would be interested in learning. I think I will be really doing more research to find a specific part of dentistry that really interests me and I would be able to teach people. Also, I'm having trouble thinking about things I would be doing for my Independent Components. Most of the difficulties I'm having I should probably figure out myself, so I'm not yet too sure what the senior team could do to help. 

Blog 5 - Interview 1 Reflection

1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview? Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?
• The most important thing I learned from interviewing my mentor Dr. Chris Chen was that although Dentists generally have a bad aura, they are apart helping so many people change or improve their lives. What comes along with being a Dentist and being able to change someones life, is the chance to be able to be apart of their life in a more personal way. Through Dentistry you are able to make a difference in people's attitude about themselves or their appearance, but also allowed the chance to have them be apart of your life in return. One thing I would probably do differently would be to have my interviewee in a more controlled setting. When we performed the interview, I feel like it should have been in an office and maybe not out in front of other people. I think that difference would have made the interview a lot more personal. 
2. Did I get additional resources and contacts? What is the most useful? Why? 
• When I asked my mentor who he would recommend I speak to or what he would recommend I read, he didn't really have a specific answer. However, he did suggest that I speak to the two other dentists in the office that I mentor at to be able to get different views and ideas. One of the dentists is a pediatric dentist, which means she is a dentist with a specialization. I feel the pediatric dentist would be someone who I would be able to get great information from. 
3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?
• My interviewee is qualified to help me because he is a Doctor of Dental Surgery, and a dentist of the Puente Hills Dental group. As previously stated, he is also my mentor. 

Blog 4 - House Advisory Prep 1

Things I hope to accomplish through my senior project topic:

1. I would like to have a basic understanding of what the occupation of Dentistry is like (day to day routine, procedures, patient interactions, etc.).
2. I want to learn how to make a patient feel most comfortable and at ease when going to the dentist and how to communicate with patients who may be overly anxious or difficult. 
3. Hopefully, I will be able to gain knowledge (more than I already know) about proper oral hygiene.