Nuts and Bolts - Part 3/3 of Organizing a Military Dental Clinic

Nuts and Bolts - Part 3/3 of Organizing a Military Dental Clinic

Practical tips for making your clinic more efficient. These are actual, real world things you can do to help improve different areas of your clinic.

Post contents:
-Supplies
-Patient Records and Forms
-Meetings

Supplies:

1. Everything has a home

Make sure every single supply has a "home". Some bases have storage areas that can accommodate everything, but some don't. That's ok! Everything should still belong somewhere. NEVER order a supply and deliver it straight to the treatment rooms only and don't just throw the box on a shelf somewhere. You MUST have an area that the rooms are restocked from that itself is a holding area for the clinic. An assistant should never ever ever ever run out of an item and not know where to look for more. The process CANNOT be "tell me when you're low". The item must have a home!

With that being said, this "home" should have standardized labels! NEVER place a box on a shelf by itself unless it's a large box and the shelf itself has a label for that item. Always place the box, or the items in the box, into a standardized container with a label on the front that will allow ANYONE to find that item again later. See #2 for how to do this.


2. How to label item containers in supply areas

Every item must be labeled on a standard container with at least the following information:

-Item Name
-Manufacturer
-Manufacturer Number

These 3 pieces of information are all you need to reorder the correct item. Do NOT just rely on the name alone. Too many products sound similar to trust the name alone! We moved to this system at my previous base and one had 1 item ordered incorrectly in 2 years. At my new base? We accidentally ordered an extremely similar, but extremely wrong, version of the "right" product last month that has wasted money and time, not to mention we have to start over and order the right thing (which we are now out of).

We are working on it :)

3. Have a doctor supply huddle

Every time you get new doctors in the clinic, sit down and go over the supplies. There's no reason that the doctors in the clinic can't compromise on 1 or 2 types of bond. Every single doctor should not have a special bond for themselves. This is ludicrous and adds unnecessary work and strain on the supply chain. Bond is just one example, but it goes for everything.


4. Develop a simple system for alerting the person who does the ordering

Here are some ideas that have worked well --

• Place a sticky note on the low supply container. The Logistics person sees the sticky note and orders more. When they order more, they write the date the item was ordered on the sticky note and the sticky note stays on the item until it comes in, at which point the sticky is removed and the item is restocked.
• Pros
• Eliminates verbal communication 
• Eliminates Logistics person being notified multiple times about the same item
• Eliminates the assistants and doctors wondering when an item was ordered
• Good for clinics with 1 supply area
• Cons
• Stickies sometimes fall off
• Required Logistics person to visually scan supply area
• Not ideal for clinics with multiple "main" supply area

• Create a re-order clipboard. The logistics person keeps this clipboard in their area and techs and docs come write down items they need.
• Pros
• Centralizes all ordering information
• Good for clinics that hold supplies in multiple areas
• Cons
• Same item might get logged multiple times
• Handwriting might be an issue
• Often still required Logistics person to go look for the low item to decide how much to order

• Create order sheet binders or forms that can go in special areas. Many clinics have supplies that are exclusively held in an Endo cart or Surgery room. Hang a printed and laminated Excel sheet with the applicable information (name, manufacturer, manufacturer number) in the room or on the actual cart itself. 
• Pros
• Makes reordering very simple, because the item is identified as being low and the reorder information is right there
• Cons
• Make sure the sheet stays updated with new items or item changes

• BONUS: Same as the "order sheet binder" idea, but just place the info in a relevantly placed Excel document on a shared computer drive. Post the location of the document in the relevant location. This is the same concept as the binder, but more accessible for the person who likes their information digitized. Plus, when you modify it, there's no need to print it off.

5. Consider pre-sterilized burs

I love these so much. Individual burs, sterile from the factory, at practically the same cost as whatever burs you are currently using. 

• Pros
• No more nasty looking bur blocks!
• No more burs running through sterilizers 20 times (or more) before they get used
• No more "is this rust or blood"?
• Eliminates entire process for your sterilizer workers
• Safer for everyone (assistant, doctor, sterilizer techs) due to fewer burs needing to be handled (ie: decreased needle sticks)
• Cons
• Takes up more physical space in the treatment room and in the supply area
• Packages must be opened when needed, stalling your work slightly during the appointment vs having an open bur block with several types of burs

Brasseler and SS White make tons of these. There are other companies as well that should be easy to find with a Google search. Email me if you want some catalogs. I also recommend some magnetic bur holders from Dux Dental to act as temporary bur blocks.

6. Standardized treatment rooms

This is easier if your clinic was built so that all the rooms are the same. This is far harder if you have various types of room layouts in your clinic. Consider at least making all the basics (barriers, suction, etc) standardized. At my previous assignment, we had literally every room standardized, with the exception of the 3rd drawer in a rolling cart, so the doctor could add special things they wanted into that specific drawer.

This made room checks unbelievably simple. Doctors could move to other rooms in a breeze. Assistants knew where everything was in every room. It's a dream come true.

My new clinic was built within the last couple of years, but was actually designed very poorly with little foresight. We have 3 different types of room configurations in the clinic among our 12 treatment rooms (in addition to a severely dwarfed main supply area). I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how best to serve our patients with these bizarre construction limitations. If I had it my way, we would demo the place and start over! Whoever designed Buckley would have been wise to recall this famous quote: "Begin with the end in mind" -Steven R Covey.

I put this step last on purpose. You must have the previous 5 things accomplished or the standard room will be a nightmare to try to create and enforce.

Note: In order to make this stick, you must have the room photographed so that binders with these photos can be made of what a "perfect" room looks like so the standard you create isn't lost! The binders are used by the techs to standardize the rooms, and used by the docs and NCOs to enforce the standard. 

Patient Records and Forms:

1. Have a weekly record scan program

I wish I thought of this one, because it's so simple. Basically, you have someone in charge of reviewing a set of records weekly.

You have a form on the wall where that person can log the date, the record range they checked, and how many errors they fixed.

Common errors to look for:
Duplicate records
Poor handwriting (rewrite the record)
Misfiled records
Records with missing or incorrect colored tags and papers

This would be in addition to the monthly records review, because that program doesn't hit every record. This does!


2. Put all the forms in the same place on the network drive

Nothing drives me crazier than having a medical history in this folder, the initial charting in that folder, etc.

Put them all in one spot! Here's why:

Makes it simple to train new people (the forms are here)
Makes it easier to update forms (this is the only version of the form, let's update it)
Eliminates redundancies (no more having 3 versions of the same form floating around)


3. Develop a naming system for the files so they are printed correctly

This is how we name our files:

"(BW, Yl, Double sided) Fly Cover Sheet, updated 31 Oct 18"

This naming scheme answers 5 questions:
1. Black and white, or color?
2. What color paper do I print it on? (In this example, Yl stands for "Yellow")
3. Do I print double or single sided?
4. What form is this?
5. When was this form last updated?

No more misprinted forms! Yay!


4. Put the date the form was updated on the form itself

In the example in #3, we would also have "updated 31 Oct 18" printed somewhere on the Fly Cover Sheet itself. This helps us know if a form we are holding in our hands is the most recent version or not.


5. Put physical forms in as few locations as possible

No more forms in treatment rooms. Period. This is where forms go to die and get resurrected 2 years later in a chart out of nowhere.

Find a centralized location, or two, that all the forms can be stocked. This is much easier to replace forms and make sure everyone is using the same version now that they aren't scattered to the 4 corners of the Earth.

6. If the form is part of a program, type the directions ON the form itself

Class 3 forms are standard in the Air Force, but we added a couple things to ours. We minimized some fonts to make room for these instructions:

"Putting a patient in Class 3
1. Have patient sign this form
2. Write up treatment note
3. Assemble completed chart and place chart in Class 3 box in records room
4. Class 3 NCOIC will take chart and... etc...

Taking a patient out of Class 3
1. When treatment is completed, write treatment note
2. Take the blue chart tag out of the chart
3. Take this form out of the chart and place the form in the Class 3 box in records room
etc..."

Now, it's extremely obvious what to do with a Class 3 record! Again, this forces the doctor or tech to go through the proper steps, get the chart to the right person so that person can run their OWN checklist for the Class 3 program. This ensures that all Class 3 charts are handled identically, and HOW to handle them is clear and obvious.

How easy would it be to train a new person on what do to with Class 3 charts using the above instructions? If they can read, pretty darn easy.



Meetings:

1. The length of a meeting is a maximum time limit

Don't feel obligated to stretch the meeting to fill the time allotted. Consider that a "maximum time". If the goal of the meeting is accomplished sooner, leave!


2. Have an agenda for every meeting

This is why people hate meetings. They turn into a circus of confusion and pointlessness. If the goal of the meeting is "let's brainstorm XYZ" then that's great! But set aside time for that type of work, don't make it the default. For everything else, plan it out in order and get to it. A powerpoint on the wall that helps guide the meeting is a great way to keep everyone on task.


3. Don't hate the meeting, hate the chaos

This sort of goes back to #2, but don't hate the meeting itself. If you are prepared with an agenda for the meeting, then implement it use this time to work ON the business/clinic. This is the time to build a better machine! If absolutely no one wants to attend the meeting, you should think very hard about why it exists at all, or how you can make it more efficient (or how you can convince the team that the meeting will result in better outcomes). To gauge interest in the meeting, don't ask a large group. Ask individuals one-on-one.

Don't eliminate the meeting just because you as the meeting leader don't see the purpose. There could be other people looking forward to that meeting for a variety of reasons and they deserve the chance to speak in that setting if they were expecting it.

Most meetings need to happen, but simply don't have an aim and end up running into chaos problems.


4. Be prepared and be decisive

Meeting chaos stems from a variety of places I've already mentioned, but the big one is indecisiveness. Make the decision and move on. "Let's talk about this later" is still a decision. Don't let a group of people spin on a topic forever unless the purpose is to get everyone to brainstorm ideas.

Actually, most decisions are made before the meeting beings (most meetings are a time to disseminate information), unless there is designated decision-making or brainstorming time. If you are prepared for the meeting, a lot of it should be delivering clear and concise decisions to the relevant group, or soliciting feedback from a group to finalize a decision. Once you get the feedback, finalize it. Start moving on it. You can adjust later.

Also, it shouldn't take an entire meeting to decide the theme for the summer picnic so don't let it. Most people won't care anyway, so have a separate conversation later with the group that cares... which brings me to point #5.


5. Don't waste everyone's time

If the decisions in the meeting, or outcomes of the meeting, are only relevant to 1 or 2 people there, consider having a discussion with those people only. The entire clinic doesn't need to hear a discussion about which bonding agent 3 doctors like the best.

A New Voice

My whole life so far has been a push to get to the next thing.  To achieve the next goal.  I've been pushing and working to be right where I am (maybe not Alaska specifically, but you get the idea) since I decided to become a dentist back in 2007.  But that was during college, a place I wouldn't have been without good grades and the solid work ethic I developed in High School.  Which was obviously a carryover from that high-energy Middle School kid I was before that.  Don't forget the little me who was always fascinated by science and helping others!

Ok, so I guess... theoretically... I've reached the place I've been pushing for my whole life.  But what does that mean?

To me, it means this.  It's time to decide what's next.  I have thoughts and ideas about what I want to do, who I want to be, etc., but there's no carrot sitting out there for me to chase anymore.  Not an obvious one, anyway.  In some ways I feel like I'm "done" with what I wanted to accomplish.  And in a purely goal-oriented sense, I guess I am.  I didn't plan any further than this.  I wanted to be a dentist.  Poof.  Done.

Now What?

I thrive on structure and planning.  It's in my blood (all my blood cells are in perfect lines and neatly flow through their respective vessels).  Until now, most of that structure has been structured for me.  And you'd think that in the Air Force it would still be there.  It is to an extent, but I'm undecided on if the Air Force is going to be my long term plan so even that structure may not apply to me.

From birth to the end of my AEGD residency, there were goals to hit and tasks to hit them.  Now the goal is... whatever I want it to be!  It's freeing and a little scary at the same time.  My life has always revolved around some sort of curriculum or syllabus and has been divided into 9-week and 2-semester intervals.  No more!  It's summer time and for the first time ever, I don't really have a "summer break".  I worked a lot when I was younger during high school and college (even dental school) and I'm so thankful I did.  It showed me life outside of the academic bubble, and I'm fully immersed in that now.

The last few months in Alaska has sort of been me kicking up my feet and not feeling the pressure of performance from outside sources for the first time in my life.  But as those voices from the outside fall away into the past, a new voice has emerged to push me.

Mine.

Ok, weird dude. What's that about?  So without professors and instructors and mentors saying "don't do that" or "let me show you"... even "nice job!" and "good work!", I have to be that for myself now.  It's made me thankful for the training I've received because I have an internal compass of what I want to do and what I want to be.  I have to look at a filling and say "wow that's great!" or look at an impression and say "I really need to take this again", no one is doing that for me.

And it's slowly coalescing into a new vision for my life, one that's still pretty blurry (but getting clearer) right now.  As a believer in Christ, I am constantly pulled towards things and ideas that allow me to give to others more than I take.

Just an introspective post for you guys.  Remember that all the training you're going through is helping you develop your voice.

Specific questions can be sent to my email.  Comments are moderated so they take a couple weeks sometimes for me to check up on.  Have a great summer!

Steel on Target and Chemical Warfare

These last few weeks have absolutely flown by.  I finally finished the COT guide and am seeing patients in my AEGD.  Here are some thoughts so far about the experience.

If you don't want to be in the military, the HPSP is not for you.  The "military" things die down a little after you finish in-processing to your base but you have to wear the uniform every day and operate in the understanding that you're doing dental work on members of the military to further the mission. 

Air Force dentistry is awesome and frustrating at the same time.  Having specialists and people who genuinely care deeply about the work they do is awesome.  The paperwork can be confusing and redundant and sometimes you'll wish you could "experiment" a little more.  By experiment I mean try some more cutting edge things.  My base does have a CEREC machine but you won't see us throwing CAD-CAM crowns on any tooth we feel like.  Everything the Air Force does is backed heavily with research because they have to do what is going to be the absolute best for airmen and soldiers in deployed situations.  A posterior composite may work for a patient on a yearly recall, but amalgam has the better long term track record so you'll see much more of that on posterior teeth, for example.

The military community is special.  People understand each other and get that the mission is crucial.  There's an overarching feeling of teamwork that is really cool to feel every day.  Some things about the Air Force are frustrating when it comes to dentistry but it's hard to ignore how important the dental work is.  

Financially the Air Force isn't as lucrative as private practice but as a new clinician, I'm happy to be where I am to further my skills and training for free (and getting paid!).  The compensation is more than enough without having student loans and you should be able to live comfortably if you are budgeting and planning correctly.

All in all, I'm really happy with my decision.  I've had a few late nights but the weekends are always a welcome time to relax.  I try to get absolutely everything done during the week so I don't have to come up and work on weekends.  So far it's working out!

If you're about to head to COT, check out the COT guide on the Additional Resources page!

[The title of the post is somewhat of an inside joke but just know that they're very corny jokes about using burs to cut teeth (steel on target) and fluoride (chemical warfare)]

Life after first semester

Seeing as it's been almost 2 months since my last post, I feel I owe my blog another update. Unfortunately, not much has changed. However, I have noticed 3 important things I'd like to share that will hopefully help someone, somehow, someway. Anyway, no new Air Force stuff, so I'll jump right in.

1. Easier classes do not equal better grades

-This is pretty counterintuitive, but hear me out. Last semester I did fairly well for myself. I had a few close calls but made roughly half As and half Bs in what was touted as the 'hardest' semester. No doubt, it was VERY time consuming and quite difficult. This semester, the 'easiest' semester, is no doubt far and away less stressful and time consuming than last semester. However, at my current pace, I'll end up with darn near the same GPA as last semester. Why? I think it has to do with expectation. When we are told something is difficult, we tend to prepare for it to be so. The same is true in reverse. If we are told a class is easy, we don't try as hard (in general). So keep that in mind when you head to dental school. Just because a class is easy doesn't mean you're going to be handed the grade you want without effort. No, it's not effective to put a ton of time in an easier class, but don't walk in and not try just because of what you've heard. Not everyone will be good at the same things so just because it was easy for someone else does not mean it will be the case with you.

2. Fair = unfair?

-We recently took two exams (in different classes). For the first one, a test was given that was outdated, from last years curriculum (it's been largely condensed this year for this particular class). Most of the class did terrible on it for the simple fact that we were not even taught all of the material on it! This is obviously unfair, but since our attendance had been lacking (the lectures are recorded, so we DID watch them all), the professor deemed that it was our lack of effort rather than lack of knowledge that led to the poor scores. Huh? So in other words, us not learning what was on the test had nothing to do with the fact that it wasn't taught? For the record, I made a 58%. My worst test in dental school by roughly 20% points. WOW. There was no score adjustment.

-As for the other test, we were given two versions (half got A, half B). Version A and B contained the exact same questions, just in a different order. As it turned out, version A scores had an average of 27/36 while version B scores had an average of 29/36. Logic would lead one to believe that it just so happened that those with B happened to do better out of their own accord, not due to the difficulty of the exam (because they were the SAME). Our professor, however, decided that somehow the ordering of the questions on form A led those with form A to miss an average of 2 more questions. Once again, huh? So he awarded form A people with 2 bonus points. If you're thinking "how is that fair?", you're not alone. Long story short, someone in the administration at the College of Dentistry did an analysis and found that random distribution of students had created a situation where a disproportionately high number of highly ranked students happened to get form B. Well duh, right? In the end, both versions got 2 extra points.

-The moral of this story (or stories) is that you control your fate. Study hard and do well enough so that when these crazy and weird situations arrise, they have a much lower effect on you. In the first case I was sitting at a very high B going into that test. Needless to say, I dropped quite a bit. Luckily, I ended with an 82% in the class (it only lasted half of the semester) so in the end, it didn't matter to me. Others who were counting on this test to pass the class didn't have that luxury. So even if you don't want to specialize, or just don't feel like studying all that much, find it within your self to try your best so that you don't get stuck in one of these situations. (As a side note, neither of the professors work directly for the College of Dentistry. They are professors that work in other departments that come and teach our science material.)

3. Enjoying dental school has very little to do with dental school

-This is just an option I hold, but I've found that those who have something to look forward to OUTSIDE of dental school tend to be happier in dental school. It seems that those who get caught up in 1 point here and there, a procedure in clinic, etc., tend to be the most stressed out. Relax and do your best, and it will all work out. Oh, and have something you can look forward to every night. Whether it's going home to your spouse, eating some chocolate (guilty), or playing with your dog, don't make dental school your life. It's a part of your life. The way I see it, happiness is 10% your situation, 90% your attitude.

Other than that, things are smooth sailing right now. I work as a tutor for about 7-9 hours/week, depending on the week. I'm also on the lookout for a place to move sometime in August. If I haven't said already, I currently live with my dad about 25 minutes from school. We're selling our house and he'll be getting remarried so it's time to move on! Hopefully it's also time to move closer. Being 25 minutes away from school isn't bad... until you do it every day.

For those looking for just an ounce of Air Force in this post, I'll say this. Each day that goes by I am more and more pleased with my decision to take the scholarship. I can't tell you how much I love being able to sit back and not worry about going into debt. It's nice to even be making some money to do what I want. I'm pretty frugal so I'm trying to save as much as I can just in case, but money stress is something I don't have and don't plan on having ever again. Between the scholarship, my tutoring job, and getting paid to mow a few lawns, this dental school thing is turning into a decent gig! In this economy with school getting more and more expensive, I'm more than happy to trade 4 years in the military for 20 years of paying off loans.

As always, feel free to email me (and follow me on twitter!) if you have questions about the Air Force HPSP, the DAT, dental school, or whatever. I get about 1 email per week from a new person with questions so keep them coming!

Almost there!

Can a month in dental school be totally un-memorable? Well I think I've found it and it's the month of November. This was by far the most average month I've had so far. I had no Air Force reimbursements, no truly difficult weeks, and really nothing super awesome (except my birthday!). I hate to break it to you all, but there's just not much to report from an Air Force perspective. I had some tests, did well enough, and am looking at (hopefully) a 50/50 split with A's and B's. I was seriously considering just doing enough to get B's in all my classes but my inner competitor came out last weekend and I got really motivated to study like crazy these next two weeks. I think it's a good thing because it can't ever hurt to have better grades. Besides, everyone else will be studying so it isn't like it's really going to benefit me to sit on the couch a little more. Might as well push it to the max! I've already gotten more B's than I did in 4 years of undergrad, so that was a bit discouraging, but I keep reminding myself that this is a whole different deal and it's my effort, not always my grades, that's going to make me successful.

We found out a few weeks ago that our schedules will be undergoing a massive overhaul beginning EITHER next summer or fall. For the incoming class, they will begin under the new system. As you all know (or at least now you will) my plan was to go to COT in the summer of 2011. If the new schedule takes effect this next summer, that will not be happening. We'll only have 3 weeks off, which is not enough time regardless of when COT beings and ends. So in all likelihood I may just move COT to 2014 after I graduate and stop fussing with it. I'm still disappointed I didn't just do it last year before dental school, but doing it after school has it's benefits too. I'll be a higher rank, it'll be fresher on my mind, and I won't run the risk of growing out of my clothes before active duty. Either way, it will all work out. As for the new schedule itself, the goal is to create a test block environment where we only take a few classes at a time, take their finals, and then move onto new classes; rather than taking 26 credit hours spread out over 4 months, this would mean taking about 6 hours at once for a month, and then 6 more, etc. It will hopefully lighten the burden and allow us to really sink our teeth into the material. They're also thinking about changing our clinics to make them less "requirement" oriented so there is less competition for patients and such, but I have yet to see a patient so I won't comment on this because, quite frankly, I don't know enough about it now to know how drastically it will change.

I did order my loupes yesterday, and I'm waiting on my school to write me a "proof of requirement" letter so the Air Force will reimburse for them. Our school tells us to have them, but it's not officially written anywhere so I have to have the school type up a letter so the Air Force won't think I'm asking them to buy stuff I don't need. for those interested, the Air Force (as of December 2010) covers $1,100 for loupes and $300 for a light attachment. That's a total of $1400, ad most companies have a student deal just under the (for example, my package with loupes and light run $1370). They don't really have individual prices in the package so they just write up the receipt for $1100 loupes and $270 light so I can get it all covered. For those wondering, I got the Designs for Vision black nike pounce frames with 3.5x magnification. (http://www.designsforvision.com/DentHtml/D-Frame.htm)

Finals are around the corner and I have 12 tests and 1 quiz in 9 straight school days starting this Tuesday. 5 this coming week with a quiz, and 7 next week. I'll be back after I get my grades and report on how my first semester went and let you all know how smoothly the loupes reimbursement goes. If my prior reimbursements with the Air Force are any indication, it should be no problem.

Oh, and I hear our spring semester is pretty light compared to the fall semester I'm in right now, so I've agreed to work at my old job tutoring just chemistry for 5 hours a week next semester. Should be no problem but we'll see how it goes!

Finding all my ducks... and getting them in a row.

Well I haven't posted in about a month... but seeing as no one is probably reading this right now, I think we'll all survive...

I took my oath of office on March 5th so I am officially a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force! I don't feel very official yet, probably because I don't yet have a military ID (hopefully in a month!) and haven't really done any "military" things yet. Speaking of military things, on the 4-year scholarship, they "require" you to attend COT during the summer before dental school. I had mine deferred to the summer between 1st and 2nd year because I have an orientation thing for dental school that was the same day that COT was set to end this summer. So for those of you wondering if you can change your COT date around, the answer is yes. To an extent. If I didn't have this legitimate reason to move it, I would have, in all likelihood, been in Alabama at COT this coming summer and missing the last week of my job... not good. Luckily I will be able to work the final week and hit up COT between my first and second year, giving me one last summer of salvation before school. For those on a 3-year scholarship, COT will be tacked on after your 4th year. So you'll graduate, go to COT, and be off to the Air Force!

Here are some other things I have been up to lately...

I got my scrubs ordered! Our class, the great class of 2014, will have hunter green scrubs. There are far worse colors than hunter green to be stuck with for 4 years. In fact, I think hunter green is probably the best color we could have gotten in my opinion... I really like that color.

I have to get a CPR certification for dental school (CPR with Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers, aka BLS) and I plan on doing that sometime in June just before school starts. The certification through the American Heart Association expires every 2 years (as opposed to every year like some others, for example, the Red Cross) so I checked the 2009 school schedules to make sure my certification will extend beyond my 2nd year so I will have a gap with no school when it expires.

I also recently got my vaccination history from my pediatric doctor and was lacking 2 minor things which I got taken care of a couple days ago.

I had my final transcripts mailed off to dental school this morning... since I graduated in 3 1/2 years, I don't have to wait around for grades to be posted in May (since I graduated this last December) because I'm not in school right now. So bonus for me and my sanity.

One other thing that is slightly irritating is that to be reimbursed through the Air Force, my required items must be purchased within 60 days of the start of my scholarship. For a 4-year guy like me, this means the start of school in late June. That's not a HUGE deal, but it did require some delaying of payments with the scrubs company (who were very nice about it and helped me out a ton) as well as some potential little things that may not get covered (vaccinations, etc.). Not terrible, but a bit annoying. Obviously I have yet to send in a reimbursement form but hopefully when I do my first one that will go smoothly.

Other than that, I'm just waiting for an updated book list from the school so I can go ahead and purchase thousands of dollars in books! How exciting... I know...

As a final note for anyone who is interested... I have yet to determine where I will be living for my first year of school. Possibly with my dad which is preferable in terms of $. Stay tuned...



I'll try to be more diligent about keeping up with this so that people referring to it years down the road will have a better idea of the steps I have been taking with the start of dental school just over the horizon.

The Oath

So today I went out to the State Capitol of Oklahoma to check out some places that I might be able to take my oath for the Air Force HPSP. My recruiter told me I just have to have a place with an American flag and an Air Force Officer (which he's going to work out for me) so I wanted some place neat and memorable and I think the State Capitol building would be really neat.

I've been looking into the Commissioned Officer Training material a bit and I'm hopeful that my schedule will work out to allow me to go to COT this summer (May-June). I'd like to get that under my belt before dental school so I don't have it looming at the end of my 4 years, although I've heard it's just fine either way.

Once COT gets closer, I'll be creating and updating the COT page. I've found lots of great information on the internet but it seems to be scattered in several locations. Hopefully when it's all said and done I'll have lots of great first hand experience information to pass along to those looking at the HPSP scholarship or COT in general.

Since I haven't mentioned it yet, I'll talk about what I'm doing this 'semester' since I'm not in school.

I currently work as a high school math and chemistry tutor for a few kids in the area. My dad is friends with a lady who started her own tutoring company a few years ago and had told my dad she was looking for a new tutor. Lucky me! I was looking at the possibility of waiting tables (again...) and I'm much happier with this job. It's a shame that my favorite job to this point in my life is a job that will only last a few more months but all good things must come to an end.

I'm off... hopefully I'll get some time to work on these pages quite a bit this week!