When the Student Becomes the Teacher: Stepping into the Role of an Educator

In the 2019-20 school year, I worked as a clinical instructor for the fourth year UBC dental hygiene students. This was a dream job of mine ever since I was a student in the UBC dental hygiene program. I have always felt that teaching was a vocation of mine and it brings me a lot of joy to help others understand and learn. This position allowed me to explore the educator role of the dental hygienist. While it can be argued that hygienists assume the educator role in other aspects of practice, this was my first experience as an educator in a formal academic setting. I found this experience extremely valuable as it challenged me to recognize my own limitations as an instructor and clinician and motivated me to develop new practices and renew my commitment to life-long learning.

#educator #clinicaltherapy #criticalthinking #professionalism