One of the great things about attending Ross Medical Education Center is that the programs are very focused on the skills that are needed to get out in the healthcare field fast while still feeling prepared and confident. One of the important aspects of the educational experience is being in real world work settings. Much of this experience is found in the clinical parts of the classroom and curriculum as well as during the externship experience out in the field. However, many instructors also make a point to get their students out into offices in the community. That’s why having partnerships with successful area healthcare organizations is so important to the education of future healthcare professionals that graduate from Ross programs.
This spring, Ross Dental Assistant Instructor Nedra Stanford took some of her students from the Fort Wayne campus to visit Family Dentistry of Walnut Creek, the office of Wayne Walker, DDS. During the informative field trip, many topics were covered, and students were able to see some of the processes that they have learned about happening right in front of them! Some of the things discussed were dental office and clinical procedures. During their time there, he took time to demonstrate restorative procedures and he also spent time conversing with the students about attitudes and skill sets to use in their prospective first allied health position.
Dr. Walker enjoyed showing the students around the office as well as giving them some of the examples of those things done routinely there. Instructor Nedra Stanford said of the experience, “students were excited to see restorative procedures and front desk procedures. The students also enjoyed seeing how classroom practice applies to real life settings.” All of them look forward to externship and that first job, so the experience was helpful and exciting to them as they work hard towards their future careers as dental assistants.