Dental
Hygienist Uses Memorization Strategies for Added
Patient Safety
After
a career in law enforcement, 32 year-old Robert
Rapp decided to become a dental hygienist. Soon
after entering the dental hygiene program at
Portland Community College (PCC) in Oregon,
he began 
struggling
academically. One of his instructors noticed
that although he did very well in class discussions
and clinics, his exam grades were very low.
She suggested that he be assessed at PCC's Office
for Students with Disabilities. It was after
testing in this office that he learned he had
a learning disability.
"I was diagnosed with a long-term, short-term
learning disability," says Rapp. He describes
his learning disability as affecting his memory,
his ability to grasp concepts auditorily, and
his ability to understand visual concepts such
as bisecting lines in space. "It was quite
an enlightenment for me," he explained,
"to realize that [throughout my academic
career] that I wasn't unintelligent. It's simply
that I wasn't able to remember things as readily
as other people were."
Rapp credits the PCC Office for Students with
Disabilities with teaching him several strategies
to be successful in school despite his learning
difficulties. He used a laptop computer in class
to organize his class work and notes. He also
tape-recorded lectures and studied with flashcards.
Most of the things he did to accommodate his
disability were study strategies that would
be beneficial to anyone. He also took his exams
in a private room to avoid distractions, and
asked instructors to grade him on the content
of his answers and not on spelling. Instructors
also took time in clinical settings to repeat
objectives and tasks more frequently to Rapp.
All of these accommodations helped him to "keep
on an even keel with the other students and
thus afforded [him] better success in Dental
Hygiene."
Since
graduating with an Associates Degree from PCC,
Rapp has built a successful career as a registered
dental hygienist. He holds two positions: one
as a chair side dental hygienist in Salem, Oregon
and another as a dental hygienist coordinator
in a family practice in nearby Woodburn. He
has incorporated several strategies into how
he does his job to ensure quality care and patient
safety. He uses a custom made form to chart
procedures that helps consolidate information
in an organized way. He then transfers the information
from his form to the standard chart later in
the day or before work. This also allows him
to double-check the information in the charts
and actually allows him to be extremely accurate.
Rapp also takes extra time in the mornings before
work to organize his day and review the patients
charts and the procedures for the day. Other
strategies he uses are things that he has carried
over from school. Student hygienists use bitewing
guides to line up the X-Ray camera when taking
pictures of patients' teeth. Many hygienists
are eventually able to discontinue using the
guides and place the X-Ray by sight. Because
of the difficulties Rapp has with visualizing
intercepting lines, he continues to use the
guides which produce an accurate X-Ray every
time. He also has gotten into the habit of double
and triple checking patient histories to make
sure that he never compromises patient safety.
"Because of my memory issues, I stay keenly
aware of any patient health concerns. I am hypersensitive
to making certain before I do any anesthesia
or any procedure that can harm a patient that
I double check everything," says Rapp.
He says that dentist will sometimes specifically
request him to administer anesthesia because
it is understood that he will always double
check whatever he is doing.
Rapp agrees with many health care professionals
with disabilities that his experiences with
his own disability bring a value-added aspect
to the profession. He has been able to work
more effectively with patients who are not grasping
certain issues with their dental care by using
strategies that have worked for him to explain
things to them in a way they can understand.
He feels that his challenges have given him
more patience and compassion when working with
diverse patients and colleagues.
Although he admits that getting where he is
today was sometimes very frustrating, he says
that his success really came from working hard
and being prepared. Rapp credits an instructor
at PCC who assured him that if he didn't give
up on himself, she would not give up on him
and he would be successful in the program. "You
need to find someone to believe in you and you
hold on…but ultimately, it lies within
[ourselves] to do it."
