Throughout the program we took a health skills class.

Unfortunately, I do not have anything to

show from that course. However, in health skills we went over harmful bacteria, the transmission of

various diseases, handwashing, disinfection techniques, and how to keep a sterile field. This course was

really one of my first tastes of how important it is to keep a clean operatory for the safety of ourselves

and others. Wearing gloves, masks, safety glasses, and lab coats are of the most fundamental PPE we

wear everyday when seeing our patients.

I remember being in Health skills class back when I was in the assisting program and being so

stressed out about setting up a sterile field. The intricate way you needed to open packages, put on

gloves, lay things on your field, and for the life of me I could not flick the gauze onto the field. I am so

thankful every day that I have never had to do that in clinic because your girl failed that proficiency twice

because my gauze would either land on the floor or just on the border of the sterile field. During our

rotation in perio I was able to observe a surgery where I often was assisting in grabbing items and placing

them on the sterile field without contamination.

One of our first proficiencies in clinic before we could see patients was being able to set up our

op. Looking back, I remember studying with a classmate going over and over again the steps to setting

up and tearing down our ops. It’s been drilled in my brain that now I don’t even think about it when I’m

in clinic. We always strive to keep our ops as clean as possible for the health and safety of everyone who

enters and exits our ops. However, I do remember getting a point knocked off for letting my waterlines

touch the suction, I can tell you I haven’t made that mistake again since.

Maintaining asepsis is such an important skill and as hard as some aspects were to learn I am so

happy to be proficient in this area of practice. The techniques I’ve learned in clinic will be taken with me

wherever I go in both professional settings and in my daily life. I will continue to do my part to maintain a

healthy work environment.