By Jonathan Gammon ’12

FORT SAM HOUSTON, TX–I am stationed temporairly at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, as part of the Army Medical Division (AMEDD).  While here I am going through a dental assistant school, which is accelerated and will be completed in 8 weeks.  The class has both hands-on learning and classroom learning which is divided into different days according to the instructors’ discretion.  Class begins at 0830 and we retire from class at 1630.  At this point we are released for the day upon completion of marching back to the company area.  The class is a very interesting class and I am doing very well in it at this time thanks to the preparedness I have recieved at H-SC.  I currently am averaging a 98 in the class and am in line to be an Honor Graduate which would be a huge honor for me.  Throughout the class we are learning the anatomy of the head, periodontal diseases, oral diseases, and the proper instruction on how to use instruments on patients teeth.  The dental assistant is the one who hands the dentist his supplies, makes the fillings and composites, and aids in surgical procedures as a second pair of hands for the dentist.  This class is going very fast with much being thrown at you every day, but is a blast.