Lessons from the Dental Lab at Debakey

(From left) Carolyne Huang, Penelope Rodriguez and Andrew Ha take a break from some intense dental impressions.

Although Michael E. Debakey High School for Health Professions is known for being a health science school, not many know that besides the junior and senior trips to Baylor College of Medicine and other hospitals in the Houston Medical Center, there are also opportunities for those who are interested in facets of health science other than nursing. The dental lab is a part of the three-section Health Science rotation for juniors, and, surprisingly enough, it’s not only interesting but also entertaining!

Recently in Ms. Morales’s (Health Science teacher for grades 9 and 11, as well as part-time dental hygienist) dental lab, we students have been able to have some exciting, interactive fun with arguably the worst part of a trip to the dentist - for the patient -dental impressions. 

Not only does the dental lab teach us specific skills used in the dental profession, but it also teaches us to work quickly and efficiently while having fun. Sounds almost like the rest of the DeBakey curriculum, just with some excitement and tears from laughter rather than stress. 
It can get a little messy, as we all know, but the lab coats make it seem extra fun -and  a lot like real life. No, we didn’t practice on our classmates. However, we did practice some real skills, like action photography and time management.

Overall, I feel that the variety of the health science program here is incredibly important- it lets students try out different medical professions in a semi-real way, but the interaction makes it fun.