Day 2 - Coming into focus

Still adjusting to the time change so I was up early this morning. Wanted to go back to bed, but it's difficult when the sun is already high in the sky at 5 AM! I made breakfast this morning, and fortunately I found an old newspaper in the dental clinic on Monday so I was able to complete the crossword puzzle and read the comics. I took the 8:06 AM bus from DeHart's to SEARHC.

Dr. Hort and I immediately went from the dental clinic to the administrative building to speak with Jeannie Monk and Sara Fujioka. Sara was in SEARHC's clinic in Sitka, Alaska so we used the organization's Polycom system to set up a video conference. There is a Polycom center at each of the 18 Southeast clinics so at any time some in Kake can speak with someone from Juneau while simultaneously video-conferencing with someone from Prince of Wales. This keeps the clinics (particularly the smaller, more remote ones) all connected and aware.

Jeannie Monk is a grant writer and Sara Fujioka is a biostatistician. It was so helpful to pick their brains and use their experience to help me develop my own survey. The most interesting part of the meeting came when Sara suggested we focus on a specific subgroup of patients within the patient population. It made sense - why would a 65 year old man in Kake, AK want to receive dental care information in the same manner as a 22 year old woman from Juneau, AK? We decided to focus on OB women. This is interesting to me because I will now have the opportunity to interact with women in the OB clinic on Thursdays. This will add a new dimension to the project.

This afternoon, Dr. Hort and I got sidetracked focusing on the nutritional aspect of my summer project. Recently, there has been a lot of study conducted on Xylitol, a sugar found in many of the foods we eat daily. Xylitol is important to SEARHC for many reasons. First, it is completely organic which is vital to the lifestyle of many of the native Alaskans. Second, studies have shown that it can reduce plaque and prevent cavities (at least finish reading before going to buy a pack of Orbitz or Icebreakers gum!). Dr. Hort convinced the SEARHC board of directors to purchase a vending machine for the clinic and stock it completely with products that contain high concentrations of Xylitol. My job this afternoon was to research products that would work well in the vending machine. We went to Blockbuster and Wal-Mart to check out the candy aisles and huddle over nutritional facts and ingredient information. I'll keep you posted on what we settle on!

The drive around town was a great chance to get to know Dr. Hort and a little bit about life in Alaska. One of the most interesting things she said was that high school sports in Alaska suffer because parents are often required to pay extensive travel fees so the athletic teams can compete with teams all over the state. Sometimes the closest softball or water polo team can be a day long ferry ride away! These costs add up and, as a result, sports suffer in the area.

I spent the rest of the afternoon researching dental caries, prenatal health, and dental anxiety to build a strong base of information for my survey. Dr. Hort is really trusting me to take the reins on this project and I am excited to immerse myself in the information to make it mine.

I took the bus to downtown Juneau to explore the harbor and Main Street. I saw lots of cruise ships, bush planes, and plenty of tourists. Main Street and the historic downtown district were buzzing with people coming off the ships. I walked around and saw the state capitol, Supreme Court, and Governor's house (no Sarah Palin!). I have now seen all of Juneau from the Mendenhall Valley (where I am living) to downtown Juneau. It is about an 18 mile stretch. On the bus ride back home I got a little excited after Ryan Ludwick homered to put the Cardinals back on top. I forget I am not in the baseball-crazed Midwest anymore.

Just finished dinner and probably headed for another early night - I have been going non-stop since I got here. Not that I am complaining - each day brings a new challenge and a new set of tasks. I am enjoying what I am doing and who I am doing it with. Let's see what tomorrow has in store!