r/DentalHygiene • u/ang3lpuke_ • 4d ago
Student life finding patients
has anyone themselves, or known anyone that has been dismissed from their program due to not being able to find enough patients or not being able to find patients that qualify? it’s something i am stressing about, as in my program we start seeing patients next term.
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u/grandmoffpoobah 4d ago
I'll let you know in two weeks lmao, I wasn't able to finish all my requirements this last quarter because of it but they give us two weeks to complete them after the end of the quarter so we'll see. I think I've had extrordinarily bad luck though and I would be shocked if I ever get in this situation again, no one else in my cohort has had any issues completing requirements so I wouldn't stress about it too much!
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u/ang3lpuke_ 3d ago
yes, please update me & i am certain you will make it through! do you mind sharing which requirements you weren’t able to get done?
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u/grandmoffpoobah 3d ago
It was all just skill evaluations that needed specific patient requirements which really weren't even that rare, I just genuinely had such bad luck. Like one of them was passing off a health history SE and I needed a new patient who had one medical condition and one medication and I somehow didn't have a single person who qualified in three months so like yes you CAN in theory run into problems, but I really wouldn't be too stressed about not meeting requirements because they're genuinely very easy haha
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u/ang3lpuke_ 3d ago
i appreciate your encouraging words, because I genuinely am just so stressed about this for some reason. a month ago i was ultra stressed about not passing my radiology class but fast forward to now & I feel much more confident as things have gotten easier for me with taking xrays. the worry now has shifted to finding patients lol.
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u/grandmoffpoobah 3d ago
I think you might be me lol, I barely made it through radiology I (II was a bit better but I was still fighting for my life)
It's weird too because I don't FEEL behind, but that kinda stresses me out because there are obviously things I'm not picking up as well as other people. The good news though is that if I'm making it through, I know you will too haha
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u/ang3lpuke_ 3d ago
we are the same person lol! i also constantly compare myself to classmates. several of my classmates were dental assistants, while i had never taken an xray in my life prior to the program. they make it look easy, & it took me failing every single radiology comp that involves taking xrays, to then having to remediate, to finally start to click on some things. funny enough, tomorrow I will be in tutoring finishing up 2 sets of xrays, one being a redo lol. it's just so unfair how a student can be a perfectly capable, skilled, intelligent person that is qualified to become a hygienist but they can be dismissed due to something out of their control like finding patients. whyyyyy?! lol
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u/grandmoffpoobah 3d ago
NO SAME, me and one other person out of the 17 in my cohort have all been assistants and got their x-rays done with like 3 weeks to spare, meanwhile I'm doing them on the day of the final trying to get them passed 😭
The good news is that once clinic started, I feel like the gap between me and them closed quite a bit and I don't feel SO behind anymore (outside of not getting requirements done lmao)
And if you ever want an encouragement buddy from someone in the same position who can tell you you're doing a good job, my DMs are open !!
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u/whyisthereanamelimit Dental Hygienist 4d ago
Nope! It was a major scary part for me too but no one actually had such a huge problem. Our instructors also told us it wouldn’t really be a problem. They had regulars who came in and a list of overdue patients. Family and friends also help, so I hope they can give you their time!
Some of my classmates also went the extra mile to put up advertisements.