01: Professionalism – Belinda Yip's Journey

Job Market and Employment Survey Class

CDHA 2017 Job Market & Employment Survey (1)

I had the opportunity to take a course with Dr. Kanji who is the program director of my program at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Kanji specializes in professional practice and we went over many aspects of life following graduation. One of the classes I enjoyed the most was the one where we focused on the current job market in Canada and the statistics for each province. Dr. Kanji emphasized the importance of establishing an employment contract as well, and the documents we reviewed can be used in negotiation of the contract. I have always found it difficult to negotiate with past positions, but the use of evidence such as this survey to make my opinions known is a great way to start. This further solidifies my philosophy of using evidence-based information when decision making. Oftentimes, we get used to advocating for the client, but forget that we ourselves need to advocate for the profession as well.

Community Moment of Self Reflection and Change

410 Comm Reflection BYip

I had the pleasure of not only doing oral health promotion but overall health promotion in community at the Union Gospel Mission in Surrey. A gentleman from the New Westminster location came to see me and described his hesitation towards a new medication that was prescribed. He was very confused about the healthcare system and where to navigate to find more information. With both my knowledge of the healthcare system and prior experience in the pharmacy field, I advised him accordingly and he seemed very grateful. At this time, I realized how important my role of a healthcare provider is outside of the clinical therapy component. It was clear that the knowledge that I provided was appreciated and deemed credible, even when some times in more traditional practice settings, it seems repetitive. With this experience, I find that I can enter my career with more confidence.

Scientific Investigation and Leadership: Change in Plaque Index Policy

During our policy analysis class in third year, I investigated the efficacy of O’Leary’s plaque index at the Nobel Biocare Oral Health Centre at UBC. Although all sites are documented, the severity of the plaque cannot be measured. For example, there should be a difference of whether plaque is present on the whole surface of the tooth, or just the gingival margin of the distal aspect. This information would affect the oral hygiene instruction for the client, a key service provided by dental hygienists. Additionally, scanning of the paper document is not a mandatory policy at UBC and therefore information that is valuable is sometimes not present in the client’s file. Thus, this policy at UBC should be re-evaluated to determine a more effective way to conduct this assessment.

DHYG 400b_ Assignment 2 Part 1

Scientific Investigation and Leadership: Marijuana-use and its correlation with Oral Cancer

In third year, we were assigned to do a literature review in a quantitative manner. The topic I chose was whether Marijuana-use increases the risk of developing oral cancer. Through my research, I discovered that data shows both positive and negative effects on the oral cavity with marijuana use. Therefore, current research is controversial and more research needs to be conducted. As cannabis is now legal in Canada, the importance of this should be prioritized to understand the effects of this drug.

461 Assignment 3 Belinda Yip

Research Use: Baccalaureate versus Diploma Education

My first literature review explored the differences between Baccalaureate and Diploma education for the Dental Hygienist. At the time, not a lot of literature was available on the topic, but fortunately articles published by professors in my school allowed me to learn from this topic. My partner and I synthesized information and this further emphasized to us why it is important that we are in our current program. As dental hygiene is a dynamic field with growing evidence, the education level must increase as well to ensure future hygienists have adequate knowledge to become competent professionals.DHYG 210 Lit Review

Research Use: Investigation of Pathogenic Cocci and Staph Infections

In my last year at UBC, we shifted the focus back to microbiology and how this relates to dental hygiene practice. My group focused on pathogenic cocci and staph infections. Topics discussed included oral manifestations, and how to prevent transmission. I learned from this assignment that continued adherence to standard infection control and prevention is essential to minimizing/eliminating transmission of infectious micro-organisms. Hand hygiene is the single most important factor in disease prevention and transmission.Pathogenic Cocci and Staph Infections Report

Critical Thinking: Problem-based Learning (PBL)

Each year, we engaged in problem-based learning sessions with about a quarter of our classmates. The problems are designed to stimulate our learning in many ways so that we are well-rounded in our analysis of a client case, and are able to deliver client-centred care in multi-faceted ways. These aspects include analysis by behavioural theories, health history, medication, and referrals. Most were analyzed using the Dental Hygiene Process of Care model.

PBL PRESENTATION PBL Case Presentation- Team 4

Critical Thinking: Statistics Course

In third year, we were enrolled in a statistics course that pushed our limits in terms of analyzing data. Not only did we have to analyze a case, our work was switched with another group’s (on purpose) to critique and learn from others. This proved difficult as there was a word limit on the assignment, which limited the amount of information we could put in the assignment. I learned from this the priority of important information versus information that does not matter as much in terms of relaying the underlying theme of the study.

401 Assignment 2- Stage 2 DHYG 401 Assignment 2 Case Analysis_ Stage 1

Coordination: Nutrition Assignment

In third year, we were enrolled in a nutrition class with a specialist to learn more about how the items that we consume affect our oral and overall health. Our assignment was to find a recipe and alter it so that it becomes more healthy. My group chose fried rice as we were all of Eastern Asian descent, and it is a staple for our culture. Eastern Asian cooking usually utilizes a lot of fatty substances such as oil and monosodium glutamate (MSG). Therefore, we played around with the contents of this to create a healthier but still delicious dish. The coordination piece comes from when we actually tried to cook the fried rice, we really did require the four of us to work as a team to cook enough for the class. Duties delegated included, chopping/preparing ingredients, cooking, cleaning up/washing dishes. We were forced to meet before our class at 2 PM because we did not want to make it the night before, compromising the quality of the food. Therefore, time management and efficiency was key.

DHYG 210_ Nutrition Fried Rice

Collaboration: Oral Lesions Case

In third year, we were enrolled in an oral medicine course with Dr. Laronde. The course proved to be difficult as this was our first in-depth exposure to oral lesions. The class was divided into groups for Case 1 and worked on each case together to dissect the issues. I learned a lot about the importance of collaboration as studying each oral lesion/disease was a long and laborious process. With the help of my classmates, we each contributed our knowledge and research which expedited the process of the assignment.

435_ Case 1 Guiding Questions