DESCRIPTION
Summary
The Practice Assistant in the College of Dental Medicine – Arizona
(CDMA) provides assistance to the dentist and student dentist when it relates to examining and treating patients. The Practice Assistant in
the Dental Institute is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of the CDMA’s clinics, including the coordination of materials, equipment
and supplies, answering patient phone calls, scheduling patient appointments, and retrieving and relaying patient phone messages to students
and faculty. Incumbents in this position work in multiple areas within the CDMA’s clinics on a rotational and/or specific assignment-based
system. The Practice Assistant in the Dental Institute reports directly to the Practice Assistant Supervisor and must be able to adapt to
work schedule changes based on the hours of the clinic.
Essential Job Functions
Professionalism &
Collegiality
- Model and ensure professional and collegial behavior.
- Maintain a positive working
environment. - Provide an environment of high quality, open and respectful communications.
Equipment,
Instrument and Consumable Supplies
- Participate in the cycle of equipment, instruments and supplies.
- Deliver
instrument carts to student dentists within the various suites. - Check out equipment, instruments, and supplies to the student
dental provider. - Check used instruments and equipment back in.
- Deliver instrument carts with used supplies back to the
sterilization room and return used instruments.
Group Practice Clinic Functionality
- Schedule and
confirm appointments with the goal of optimizing clinic utilization. Among other tasks, it will include the systematic review of various
student schedules, review of reports for patients with overdue appointments, and proactively facilitating the clinic schedule to ensure that
available clinic times are utilized. - Keep treatment records.
- Report malfunctioning equipment to appropriate
personnel. - Identify and report general maintenance problems.
- Assure presence of necessary materials.
- Request and
maintain the materials and supplies necessary for day-to-day operation. - Assure adherence of all clinic policies including infection
control guidelines. - Participate in instrument, equipment, and supply coordination.
- Receive, greet, and prepare patients
for treatment. - Acquire digital radiographs, intra-oral, extra-oral, and Cone beam computed tomography.
- Assist dental
students with acquisition of above dental radiographs. - Oversee and demonstrate the correct radiographic technique to dental
students and Practice Assistants in the Dental Institute. - Assist dental students in planning and ordering lab fabricated surgical
guide. - Maintain sterilization and disinfection of radiology instruments and equipment.
- Import outside radiographs into
patient electronic chart. - Assist with dental operatory equipment infection control.
- Assist dental students and outside
candidates with acquiring radiographs for dental board exams. - Assist with training employees.
- Record keeping of radiation
dosimetry. - Facilitate the daily working of the radiology clinic and assist radiology faculty.
Education and
Compliance
- Function as an integral component in the quality assurance of College of Dental Medicine – Illinois.
- Work with student dentists, staff, and faculty to assure adherence to all clinic policies and regulatory requirements
such as infection control guidelines, OSHA standards, and HIPAA privacy and security protocols. - Provide information on violations
of clinic policies to the management.
Sterilization and Dispensing
- Responsible for the
dispensing, collecting, and processing of dental instruments, equipment, and consumable supplies utilized in the College of Dental Medicine
– Illinois clinics for the treatment of patients, both real and simulated as well as for the education of student doctors. - Prepare and process instruments, supplies and equipment.
- Clean, disinfect, sterilize, package and restock instruments,
supplies, and equipment. - Utilize aseptic techniques when handling instruments, equipment, and supplies.
- Track, inventory
and dispense dental instruments, supplies, and equipment. - Package and sterilize disposable supplies such as gauze, cotton
rolls, and cotton pellets. - Assist with data entry, ordering and sorting clinical supplies.
- Assists with maintaining the
organization, cleanliness, and general appearance of the sterilizing and dispensing rooms and their related storage facilities. - Maintain the stock of supplies needed to properly run the sterilizing and dispensing rooms, such as autoclave bags, tape, towels,
patient’s drapes, caps, etc. - Assist in the training of new employees.
- Educate staff, faculty, and students about
sterilization and infection control issues.
Chair Side Dental
Assisting
Provide chair side dental assistance, when required. While this is not an exhaustive list, the Practice
Assistant in the Dental Institute will:
- Transfer dental instruments.
- Adjust equipment to proper
position. - Manipulate and transfer dental materials.
- Retract soft tissue.
- Evacuate the oral
cavity of debris to maintain a clear field of operation. - Make diagnostic quality radiographic images.
- Set up
and maintain dental cubicles. - Utilize aseptic techniques.
- Follow up on proper infection control
guidelines. - Demonstrate four-handed dentistry.
- Place rubber dams on teeth to isolate them for individual
treatment. - Prepare materials for making impressions and restorations and make casts of teeth and mouth from impressions.
- Make temporary crowns.
Additional Responsibilities
- Bilingual/fluency in Spanish and English
preferred. - Assist with shelf organization for dispensary.
- Assist in the Sterilization Department, as needed.
- Dispense items to students and clinical instructors as needed.
- Assist with organization for dispensary and suites.
- Participate in Dental Clinic meetings.
- Assist in hygiene and emergencies when needed.
- Must be adaptable to shift
changes. - Other duties may be assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
The position has no
supervisory responsibilities.
Qualifications
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to
perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability
required. This individual must have the ability to work in a constant state of alertness and safe manner and must have regular, predictable,
in-person attendance. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential
functions.
Other Qualifications
This position requires a significant amount of interaction with the public
and many internal customers and therefore, the individual must be able to develop a positive rapport effectively. The ability to maintain a
professional demeanor, be detail oriented and promote a welcoming atmosphere is essential. The individual must have the ability to
become familiar with Dental Software Management Systems. This position requires working knowledge of how to take radiographic series and be
able to demonstrate radiographic techniques to students as needed.
Education and/or
Experience
High school diploma or GED
required. Associate’s or technical certification preferred. 1-3 years of dental clinical practice experience required. Must possess or
be willing to obtain an X-Ray certification within 1 year of hire. Must possess or be willing to obtain BLS certificate or CPR certification
within 120 days of hire. Registered Dental Assistant is preferred. Familiarity with OSHA guidelines. Experience working in a team and
customer service-oriented environment. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Computer
Skills
Computer proficiency in MS
Office (Word, Excel, Outlook). Ability to become familiar with the Clinic Management System.
Language
Skills
Intermediate skills: Ability
to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to write
routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.
Reasoning Ability
Basic skills: Ability
apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved written or oral instructions. Ability to deal with problems
involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations.
Mathematical Ability
Basic skills:
Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to
compute rate, ratio, and percent and to interpret bar graphs.
Physical Demands
The physical
demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this
job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While
performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, use hands to handle or
feel, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance and sit. The employee must
frequently lift and /or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. The employee is regularly required to
push up to 40 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, depth perception and ability
to adjust focus.
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of
those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable
individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
Midwestern University is a private, not-for-profit organization that provides graduate and post-graduate education in the health
sciences. The University has two campuses, one in Downers Grove, Illinois and the other in Glendale, Arizona. More than 6,000 full-time
students are enrolled in graduate programs in osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physician assistant studies, physical therapy,
occupational therapy, nurse anesthesia, cardiovascular perfusion, podiatry, optometry, clinical psychology, speech language pathology,
biomedical sciences and veterinary medicine. Over 500 full-time faculty members and 400 staff members are dedicated to the education and
development of our students in an environment that encourages learning, respect for all members of the health care team, service,
interdisciplinary scholarly activity, and personal growth.
We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental,
and vision insurance plans as well as life insurance, short/long term disability and pet insurance. We offer flexible spending
accounts including healthcare reimbursement and child/dependent care account. We offer a work life balance with competitive time off
package including paid holiday’s, sick/flex days, personal days and vacation days. We offer a 403(b) retirement plan, tuition
reimbursement, child care subsidy reimbursement program, identity theft protection and an employee assistance program. Wellness is
important to us and we offer a wellness facility on-site with a fully equipped fitness facility.
Midwestern University
is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not discriminate against an employee or applicant based upon race; color;
religion; creed; national origin or ancestry; ethnicity; sex (including pregnancy); gender (including gender expressions, gender identity;
and sexual orientation); marital status; age; disability; citizenship; past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services;
genetic information; or any other protected class, in accord with all federal, state and local laws and regulation.
Midwestern University complies with the Smoke-Free Arizona Act (A.R.S. 36-601.01) and the Smoke Free Illinois Act (410 ILCS 82/).
Midwestern University complies with the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 and Arizona Equal Pay Acts.
#MidwesternUniversityJobs
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EDUCATION
Required
High School or better.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with
Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further
information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of
Labor.
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