Completing the bachelor’s degree has contributed to my self-improvement. Regarding development as an individual, the need to stay updated on new assignments and organize learning time effectively created unique self-cognition and skill improvement opportunities. Mainly, I have been able to understand and address individual barriers to optimal time management, such as insufficient task prioritization practices and the inability to remove some distractions. These new skills will support me in succeeding in any endeavors and learning goals that will require thorough planning.
Professional development as a dental hygienist has been even more substantial. The program activities encouraged me to identify and work on potential field-specific knowledge gaps, including studying peer-reviewed research on various personal dental care supplies and their technical characteristics. Additionally, the program effectively leads the student through all aspects of EBP and responsible case analysis in clinical contexts. Thanks to this, I have become more prepared to communicate with clients with diverse needs and provide them with relevant oral hygiene advice.
The techniques and concepts learned from the program will be extremely helpful when I start working on the culminating project. I will utilize the PICOT statement formulation techniques and terms for diverse clinical question types to develop a logical and realistic statement compatible with the selected methods. Using knowledge from Boolean and database search assignments, I will make sure to locate credible peer-reviewed sources on the selected problem. Finally, with takeaways from community health program development projects in mind, I will work on proposing realistic and practice-oriented solutions and recommendations.
My most outstanding triumph occurred when I had just finished planning the mock community health education program for middle school students. In an informal conversation with a friend, a school teacher, I mentioned my idea to deliver information on the hidden dental health risks of vaping to that demographic. To my amazement, she replied that her school district would be interested in conducting such health lessons. That example of encouragement deepened my understanding of the profession’s importance.
Regarding the most significant challenge, at times, I found it problematic to plan to work on project milestone assignments so that all weeks would be equally busy. In multi-week projects that required database search, preparation, drafting, receiving peer feedback, and editing, it could be challenging to act as planned and get feedback from classmates on time. Nevertheless, I enjoyed working on all projects and exploring new trends in the profession.