My very first client that I had from my second year was a difficult P3 client, and I overcame the frustration and difficulties I was experiencing in order to value the situation as a learning experience. I feel I gained a strong rapport with that client, and I will always remember her. My experience with this client affected my attitude towards clinic for the rest of my second year, and much of my third year. It made me view the clinic as a place of high-stress, and I did not particularly like the clinic setting for this reason. However, I have always enjoyed my clients, it is simply the pressure that made me uncomfortable in the clinic setting, and to an extent, scared. While my classmates were experiencing relatively healthy clients, gaining their first positive experience in building clinical skills, I was constantly checking medications, blood pressure, performing research, investigating client management, learning about every restoration under the sun, and ever so slowly debriding a client who would still be considered on the more complicated side for me at my current level of clinical skill. I was incredibly lucky for this woman’s patience with me and the slow system of checking all intra and extraoral findings.
I am now very grateful for this client experience, it has allowed me to more effectively deal with stress, and work under pressure. It reinforced the value of organization. And my treatment planning and clinical therapy benefitted my client and her oral health. She was also my first experience with someone who spoke little english, which has come to benefit me in my final two years of education. Although I could have become overwhelmed, I dedicated myself to learning instead. I feel as if my very first client experience actually was a positive one. I built great rapport with my client, something I enjoy doing extensively, the change in client attitude is amazing once rapport is built. I truly believe I had a direct effect on my client’s oral health and attitude, a rewarding feeling that makes me strive to do the same for each client I encounter, and will encounter throughout my professional life.