Communication and Behavior in the Dental Office Syllabus for 2014-2015
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Instructor Information

Course Information

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Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

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As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

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The Amarillo College Privacy Policy is found at https://www.actx.edu/-amarillo-college-privacy-notice , and applies to all Amarillo College students.  If you have questions about this privacy statement or you believe that your personal information has been released without your consent, send email to humanresources@actx.edu .

Course

DNTA-1102-001 Communication and Behavior in the Dental Office

Prerequisites

Course Description

The study of human interaction and communication in the dental office.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

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Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(1 sem hr; 1 lec)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

Required textbook:  Modern Dental Assisting, 11th ED     Authors: Bird/Robinson   Publisher    evolve/elseiver

Required student workbook to accompany the above text

 Patient Assessment Tutorials  3rd ED  Authors:  Neild-Gehrig?Willmann   Publisher: Wolters/Kluwer

Additional modules given in class

Supplies

\ No additional supplies outside the normal classroom supplies are needed for this course

Student Performance

Students are expected to arrive on time and be prepared to fully participate in class activities including roleplay and leadership assignments.

Given the course textbook, personal notes, additional handouts and information obtained from various guset speakers, the student should:

1.    Learn technical terminology, facts, theories and principals associated with the importance of proper communication within a dental office.

2.    Apply this knowledge to a dental office setting

3.    Evaluate the learning experience from the perspective of the specific course outcomes

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1.    Explain ethics, including sources for ethics, basic principles of ethics AND why continueing education is an important obligation for dental assistants

2.    Discuss the American Dental Assistants Code of Ethics

3.    Describe the steps in making ethical decisions

4.    Explain why it is important to understand human behavior

5.    Understand the differences between verbal and nonverbal communication

6.    Discuss communicating with patients, including meeting patient needs

7.    Discuss communication skills associated with telephone usage, e-mail ettiquet, fax machines and written communications

8.    Explain the importance  of a pateint record, it's LEGAL significance and how the dentist uses the record to manage patient treatment

9.   Discuss patient forms, including:   Electronic records, medical and dental histories, new pateint information

10.  Explain the standards and criteria for entering data into a clinical record

PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES

1.   With the class, develop a "class" code of ethics that will be abided by for this school year

2.   Solve case studies that involve ethical delemmas

3.    Demonstrate correct phone techniques when talking with a patient/classmate

4.    Compose a business letter that includes the appropriate parts of a letter

5.   Write a patient/classmate a treatment follow-up letter explaining a topic to be assigned during class

6.   Develope a marketing tool for a ficticious dental practice

7.    Create and maintain a fictious "New Patient" chart with all the required forms completed

8.    Demonstrate how to correct entries on your ficticious patient record

9.   Create a new patient record for your radiology patient and record your activities of HH MH and dradiographs

 

 

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights and Responsibilities

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If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

\  A high standard of conduct is expected of all Amaillo College Students. The student Code of Conduct is defined in the Amarillo COllege Students Rights and Responsibilites publication. This conduct may be located online at Amarillo Colleges main web page    www.actx.edu   click, catalog, then click "notices to students"

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\ "Amarillo College expects a high standard of conduct from it's students. Students are expected to comply with the law, respect proper constitutiional authority, obey College policies, rules and regulations. Unacceptable conduct is defined as an action or behavior that is contrary to the best interest of a fellow student of students, the faculty or staff, the College, or the teaching/learning process. Students failing to  perform according to established standards may be subject to disciplinary action. Policies, standards, rules, and regulations apply to students attending College activities whether the activity taqkes place on or off campus.

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\ Each student shall be responsible for becoming knowledgeable of the contents and provisions of College policies, rules and regulations concerning student conduct .  In some cases, individual programs may have approved policies for student conduct which also apply to student conduct in those programs."

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\ ACADEMIC GRIEVANCES

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\ A student who has a grievance concerning an academic course in which he or she is enrolled is directed to appeal in the following order:  (1) Instgructor  (2)  Program Director  (3)  Dean of Health Sciences Division  (4)  Vice President of Academic Affairs and  (5) College President

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Grading Criteria

This grade table will be used for all Dental Assisting courses:

A = 93 TO 100
B = 83-92
C = 75-82
F = Below 75

Major Exams =    30%
Discussion leader = 20%
Class participation (Ethic Modules, notes from Guest speakers)   = 30%
Final paper = 20%

This course will have 3 major written exams. The exams may consist of multiple choice, fill in the blank, matching and critical thinking questions.   The student will also be responsible for leading two seperate discussions in class that pertain to opening di. alogue between a patient and the assistant Class participation will include attendance and the completion of assigned "modules" covering teamwork, attendance, appearance, attitude, productivity, respect and organizational skills.

The final will be a paper, created on the computer and printed using  Ariel, Times New Roman, or a similar easy to read font in size 11 or 12.  It will be a reflective paper covering all the topics discussed and any information given to you by any guest speakers we may have.

Attendance

\ Regular attendance is necessary for satisfactory achievement. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the student to attend class". Due to the amount of information contained in this course, the student who plans to succeed should attend all course sessions regulary and promptly. The student will need to come to class on time, fully prepared for that session, with the necessary materials."  There may be times when it is impossible to attend class due to illness or an emergency, but this course covers so much information in class that an absence can get the student behind and thus, miss some vital questions on an exam. In order to be fair, there is no distinction between an excused or unexcused absence. You may have up to 3 (three) absences in this class without affecting your grade. The 4th (fourth) absence will reduce the overall grade by 10 points. Missing 5 class periods is equal to missing 1/3rd of the semester and thus, 1/3rd of the vital skills for your chosen profession.

Calendar

Additional Information

\ It is a priveledge to have cell phones and this course will adhere to the guidelines stated in the dental assisting pre-clinical manual.

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\ We practice patient records in this course and will strictly follow established HIPAA regulations regarding the use and sharing of private information on patients, fellow classmates and others that we may have information for.