Pursuing a career in healthcare through the programs offered by Ross Medical Education Center is exciting and filled with hands on experiences and lessons from instructors with experience in the field. Many students consistently enjoy the lab activities and skills that they gain there. Another exciting place to learn is off-site during the externship experience and even earlier than that during the field trips that the instructors plan and organize for their classes. Students appreciate seeing real healthcare professionals out in the field. It gives them a taste of some of the options that await them after they complete the hard work of finishing the program.
Recently, the Dental Assistant class in Charleston did just that! The students were able to take a field trip to Joy Dental Lab in the Kanawha Valley. Joy Dental Lab has been a great employer and externship site for students enrolled in and graduated from the Dental Assistant program. It has been especially perfect for those students and graduates who are most interested in lab work. Many students only see Dental Assistants and other dental professionals in dentists’ offices and similar locations. Lab work is not something that many of them considered before the program, but it is the perfect career for some.
During their visit, students got to observe working lab technicians. The first employee they watched was working to fabricate a wax tray for a denture. Another tech was working on carving an anchor into the front portion of a crown for a retired Navy Officer. Dental Assistant Instructor Tauletha Chaffin was very excited for her students to have this opportunity. “I wanted the students to see why good impressions and thorough lab work is so important,” she shared about the experience. “They were able to see the denture, crown, and bridge process from impression to insert. Additionally, I wanted them to see what a lab technician does and present it as an additional career option.” The employees and staff at Joy Dental Lab were wonderful and answered all the students questions. Students were excited to see the things they learned in class being applied to real patients.