June 8, 2008

Boston Boot Camp 2008 - Educators

The educator attendees had a wonderful experience at camp and were very pleased with the camp content and information. They left armed with much accreditation information, calibration techniques, clinical documents and computerized grading information on the TalEval system. Each camp seems to provide more valuable information and tools for educators, it really is amazing.

A special treat for the attendees was a visit from the one and only Esther Wilkins! She was a pleasure to have and accommodated everyone with autographs and photos. It really added a nice touch to the camp experience.

Hopefully camp alumni will log on and post a comment or two to let us know how they are doing, add any new ideas or techniques or just say hi. This really could be a wealth of information for educators!

Hope everyone is enjoying some summer rest and those preparing for accreditation, our thoughts are with you!

Warm Regards,

Marianne Dryer RDH

Cape Cod Community College

Boston Camp 2008

June, 2008

Hello Fellow Alumni,

I had the pleasure of teaching this summer at the Boston Boot Camp 2008 with Cindy Biron, and what a wonderful experience it was. I could see the campers where feeling all the things I felt back in 2006 in Harrisburg, Pa. They were excited and stimulated by all the information and the chance to share with fellow colleagues. The Boston Camp had 37 attendees, 8 of whom where RDH's attending the hands on instrumentation course pictured above. I had the privilege of working with Ginny Wagner, first year clinical coordinator, Tallahassee Community College. I was so happy to see how much these ladies got out of the camp. Many came with physical complaints due to ergonomic issues they wanted to have addressed, and others simply wanted to experience an alternative instrumentation technique that was more effective with less operator fatigue. I am happy to post their course evaluations comments below:

"Precision in Periodontal Instrumentation gave me a new appreciation for my scaling technique and will help me in my career longevity."

"This is the only instrumentation course you will need. This course was the most hands-on with one on one instruction I have ever attended. Spreading it out over two days allowed the information to sink in and help perfect the technique by day two. I highly recommend this course to all hygienists, new & seasoned."

"I will take away so much valuable information that will benefit not only my patients with more effective instrumentation, but will also benefit me ergonomically and lengthen my years in the field."

"Being fresh out of hygiene school, I was skeptical as to how much I would benefit from this course. I thought it would be a helpful review of techniques learned in school, however it was so much more than that. I was so impressed by the techniques presented; they were smart, logical and nothing like I learned in school. I highly recommend this course."

"Thank you for a great instrumentation workshop! I learned how to remove calculus with finesse vs. bullying it off! As the camp progressed, I developed a much lighter grip with more tactile sensitivity."

"Thank you for opening the door to a whole new way of thinking. I am excited to impliment this new way of scaling on Monday morning."

The remainder of the attendees were educators who went to a Teaching Methodology course, Accreditation seminar and also had a hands on workshop taught by Cindy, Christine Dominick - faculty Mass College of Pharmacy and Robin Matloff - faculty Mount Ida College. Each camp becomes more informative and inclusive, see the main website for a detailed description of current camps. http://www.dhmethed.com/id13.html

Please feel free to post comments, suggestions or just a hello, we would love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Marianne Dryer

Marianne Dryer, RDH

Cape Cod Community College

West Barnstable, Ma

mdryer@ccccd.edu

What an awesome experience!

Greetings Alumni!
As promised, this will be a site designated to alumni of the Cindy Biron DH Meth-Ed camps & workshops. This should be a forum for any topics that the group decides. I will only assume the role of blog spot keeper! I have listed to the right, websites that have been resourceful to me and will post or provide any helpful items I may have regarding dental hygiene issues.
My thoughts are that this should be a fun place to exchange as well and will do my best to keep the blog rolling as it grows.
I believe we are a unique breed who could benefit by ongoing communication and support. I personally had such an incredible visit to the camp for so many reasons. I found it invigorating to be with all of you so genuinely committed to dental hygiene education. I believe we had an awesome group of professionals who connected in so many ways, it truly was special. I look forward to chatting with you all. Any and all suggestions in regards to a forum for this site are welcome and encouraged!

You can access my blog for first year students from last year by visiting http://ccccdh.blogspot.com/ to see how this works. I found it helpful for the first year students to get to know eachother via this mode of communication. I had them research websites and comment via the blog weekly for part of their participation grade. I felt it was successful last year.

With all that we learned at the camp and fall semester just a month or so down the road, I would like to throw out a discussion topic. How, if at all, will anyone change their PreClinic introduction to instrumentation. I know I will be "adjusting" what we are teaching them regarding "scaling" vs. biofilm removal for example. In what order to do most of you introduce the instruments? How many are using simulators vs. student partners? Let's toss around some thoughts. You can post a comment by clicking on "comments" in the bottom right of this screen. Let me know if you having any problem posting comments.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Hotter than ever here in Dallas!

Love to hear from Alumni & welcome to new campers as well!

Sincerely,

Marianne

Marianne Dryer,RDH
Collin County Community College
McKinney, Texas 75002
mdryer@ccccd.edu