New Year = New Job! The beginning of January I started a new job at the Salt Lake Donated Dental Services. I completed my externship hours for my dental assisting certification at SLDDS back in June. After completing my course, I started working for Monarch Dental but I would occasionally cover shifts at SLDDS on my day off. Well, Monarch wasn't the best fit for me so when SLDDS had an opening for a dental assistant, they thought of me for the position and I was more than happy to accept! I already knew the staff, was familiar with the facility, and the hours would better accommodate all the other things that I'm trying to do with my life (theatre, yoga, church, etc).
These first couple of weeks as an official staff member at SLDDS have been quite challenging. I assist all the dentists that come and volunteer at the clinic. Because they all work quite differently, prefer certain materials and instruments, and seem to except me to know exactly how they like things done despite the fact that I just met them, each day feels like the first day on the job! Although I am a bit discouraged right now, I know with time it will get better and I really believe I will love working at SLDDS.
On Saturday, a fancy dinner was held at Cucina Toscana in Sugarhouse to celebrate the 21 years that the Salt Lake Donated Services have been in operation. The founder gave a speech before the four-course meal (!) was served. It was such a great reminder of what a needed program SLDDS is. In the past 21 years, over 50,000 patients have been seen and over 15 million dollars of dental services have been donated. Pretty incredible, huh? I feel grateful to be a part of it all!
Here`s a picture of some of the SLDDS dental assistants and administrative staff at Saturday's dinner.
too bad you can't just work with just a few of the dentists and then add in a few more new ones. maybe you need a trainee tag so they remember that you don't know what they want. glad you are enjoying your new job, even if it seems a little like groundhogs day!
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