Dental Hygienist Personal Statement

After being lost, puzzled, and indecisive for a while now about which health-related career I desire the most, I finally made up my mind and selected a major. I decided to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science after accomplishing an Associate’s Degree in Science, which is an open field filled with opportunities for several health professions. I realized that a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science is the way to go as it enables me to switch back and forth between all of the health occupations that I worship. Down the road, I can even further my education and specialize in a specific domain that I am willing to commit to. In general, Health Science is a major where professionals undergo several tasks such as improving their community’s health and overall wellbeing, get involved in nutrition related conditions, use epidemiological techniques, counteract various infections, and enrich physical and daily health routines.
The fact that Health Science is such a broad major, I am most likely to specialize in a particular field, which would probably be Dental Hygienist. A Dental Hygienist is obviously not as high on the ladder as a Dentist is, however, they both perform very similar errands. For instance, they both keep track of patient’s medical records and clean/maintain patient’s oral health (This includes the teeth and

gums). On the other hand, Dental Hygienists do not operate on surgical-related circumstances as Dentists do, which is the biggest difference between the two professions.
A Dental Hygienist must complete at least one of the follow credentials/degrees, in order to be qualified for a job: Dental Assistant Diploma; Dental Hygiene A.A.S; Associates in Science A.S, or an Associates in Art A.A.

Of Corse companies would prefer further education such as a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree. Whichever degree I chose will be extremely worth it considering the fact that Dental Hygiene jobs have increased by 8% in only the past two years, with an increase prediction of 36% within the next decade. Plus, within the next decade over 108 Dental Hygienists will be retiring, this will cause future job openings to sky

rocket.
To further prove that Dental Hygienists possess a job career with financial stability (which to me is an important work value), their general salary consists of approximately $70,800/per. Beginners, however, usually make around %50K/year and, depending on their degree and experience, can eventually earn up to $90K/year. Yes, those are amazingly large numbers but not everyone is capable of occupying such a career. For instance, to be a Dental Hygienist, one needs to have strong knowledge in several science courses, strong communication skills, have time management skills, judgment and decision making skills, ability to deal with medical equipment, able to look closely and clearly, and have the physical strength for long operations. Fortunately, a Dental Hygiene has rare traveling requirements, which is a plus for me because I would rather have a career where its location is stable. Furthermore, having a job in this career would involve typical working hours. Like many other jobs in the health field, Dental Hygiene jobs are stressful, exhausting, and demands many hours of sitting down and twisting your body in many ways. Moreover, jobs in this career have an indoors environment where they are exposed to toxins, radiation, pollutants, diseases, and many bacteria. Nonetheless, these issues are limited due to the safety tools and props that are used such as gloves, goggles, safety coats, safety shoes, and so on.
As I have mentioned earlier, Health Science is a general major which leads to careers like Dental Hygienist, Pharmacist, Nutritionist, Physical Therapist, and so much more. Therefore, in order to remain open-minded and keep my options open, I decided to interview a Physical Therapist to familiarize myself with other health-related careers. The Physical Therapist that I interviewed was named Lisa Miller and she works at the Wake Med Hospital here in Raleigh. Ms. Miller explained to me that it was only after her high school teacher entered the hospital that she actually thought about being a PT. While visiting her teacher in the hospital she was attracted to the one on one time that PTs had with their clients, plus, she always enjoyed science–related courses and figured that PT would be a great option for her after all. And on she went to become a PT, with so much appreciation for the flexibility that her job offers. For instance, she does not have a fixed schedule, she simply choses which clients to meet up with first and at the times most convenient for her. Ms. Miller, however, dislikes the busyness that her job copes with because it prevents her from spending the amount of time she wants to spend with each client. Also, Ms. Miller shared with me the many advancement opportunities available in her career, which could either be in the clinical field or the management ladder. She then advised me to take advantage of any prospects in the career because the more observation hours that I attend, the more I get to experience different aspects of this broad field. In addition to that, she informed me on what her typical daily consists of which is, getting doctor referrals, addressing the referrals within 24 hours, choosing a client, reviewing that client’s medical chart on the computer, talking to that client’s nurse and get updated on any new news, and then attempt to help clients recover. Lastly, Ms. Miller revealed what she wishes she had known about the career before working in it, which is about the presence of blood and fluids she would have to deal with. Overall, Ms. Miller was very kind in informing me about her career and what character traits I must behold in order to be successful in a job like hers.
Ms. Lisa Miller taught me a lot about what it takes to hold an occupation like hers, unfortunately, I realized that being a PT is not of great interest to me. I admire how much help PTs deliver and the personal connections they build with all their patients, but my mind set is still placed on having a career as a Dental Hygienist. Out of all the health-related fields, Dental Hygiene seems to best fit my personality and necessities. The reason why is because I am categorized in the social, investigative, and realistic categories that I expressed in my self-assessment. Plus, it contains the work values that I cherish like achievements, independence, relationships, recognition, support, stability, and social respect. With that being said I can’t imagine a career that better suits me than the way Dental Hygiene does.