The new semester has brought many new changes to campus, including changes in procedure for the Dental Hygiene and Certified Dental Assistant programs. These courses were the first to return to campus after the initial COVID-19 shutdown, and students and staff are currently getting back in the groove of in-person and online classes.
“It has been a process, and it hasn’t been fast, but it didn’t need to be,” says Dental chair Mandy Hayre. “We needed to make sure that we did it right. Our primary goal, first and foremost, is always safety for our students, faculty, and staff.”
Hayre says there are challenges around coordinating students and staff—who gets to be on campus at a particular time? What schedule works best for minimal contact?
“It’s added a whole other layer of complexity for everybody,” she says.
Despite the difficulty in scheduling, students were able to return in late May for a new hybrid semester with online lectures and in-person practice.
“My main emotion was relief,” says third-year Dental Hygiene student Julia Balogh. “I know a lot of people were pretty nervous about the fact that we were coming back. Everybody was quite unsure about the changes.”
Balogh says that with current safety requirements in place, there are some changes in protocol.
“There are still some procedures we’re not allowed to do right now, such as things that require aerosol production,” she says. “Anything that’s considered ‘high risk.’”
Hayre stresses that despite this, the curriculum hasn’t changed.
“What’s changed is that we’re offering pandemic education and what that looks like, right at the front of the program,” she says.
While the second- and third-year students of the dental programs have made a smooth transition, there is growing concern for the incoming class of first-year students, who will likely have more of a learning curve due to the new procedures in place.
“I think we [the returning students] were all able to adapt—we’re all used to being held to a high standard in terms of protocols for safety,” says Balogh. “The people coming in this year, the new hygiene students, are at a great disadvantage because they don’t get the class time together to bond as students and get to know each other.”
Balogh says that online schooling can’t replace the in-person experience; the organic relationships made in the classroom are not something that can be found in online meet-and-greets, she says.
“The actual presence of having people physically together in a class can’t really be replicated,” says Balogh. “It’s never going to be quite the same.”
This challenge has not only arisen for the dental programs—it’s the same for every Camosun program that has transitioned to online learning for the 2020-2021 school year.
“It was very different, the sort of relational piece,” says Hayre about the first days of school.
Traditionally, most classes would have a big group introduction, with time for the orientation and the added bonuses of snacks, fun activities, and a chance for students to connect with their peers. This year, all the orientation content was completely online. And for students like Balogh, the ramifications of being online will continue through the semester.
“I would rely so much on others for help all the time,” says Balogh. “You can still get that but it’s not the same when it’s not face-to-face. I think having friends in the program and really getting to know each other instills so much more confidence in yourself and in practice.”
Despite the plethora of challenges facing the oncoming school year, the students of the dental programs are striving to band together and make the best of the situation.
“But I hope it’s not permanent,” says Balogh.