A well-learned lesson?

I got a phone call Tuesday morning in response to an email/resume I had sent out to various dental offices in the area. In my email I clearly stated that I was currently in school but I was interested in helping out/ shadowing an assistant in order to get more experience.  I got a call the very next morning asking for an interview. Naturally, I was quite excited. I called back and set up an appointment with the dentist for the following morning (yesterday).  I got all dressed up (clean pants and my new shirt from my amazing husband) and made my way over to the office. After getting thoroughly lost- the grid system failed me- I found the office and met with the dentist.

It would have been useful if he had actually read my email and resume before calling me for an interview or perhaps even before I got there. Nope. He seemed quite surprised when I seemed surprised that he was interviewing me for a full-time job. One for which I am certainly not ready. Long story short, I went in to assist today from about 9-5:15. I now understand why there are openings at the office. The assistant is super sweet, very kind and patient. While the dentist was demanding and basically expected everyone to be mind readers, the rest of the staff was the exact opposite.

During the course of the day, I learned how to go through all of the steps involved with room prepping (I did it about 10 times by myself today), fill a cavity and cure it, prep and mount a rubber dam, not pass instruments, develop X-Ray film and fully sanitize dental instruments... among other things. I am a firm believer that one day of practical experience is worth 3 days in lecture. Oh, and it's a good idea to make sure that you like (or can at least handle) the people you might someday work with ;)