How to Recognize a NINJA

Whoop Whoop It's Dental Assistants week!  Don't forget to recognize the awesome backbones of the practice - us!!! Look at the tagline- "Embracing the Changes of the Profession." That's exactly what NINJAs do! We embrace it, master it and rock the production out of it :)

I had a doctor recently ask me how he can find a NINJA assistant.  In fact, on a weekly basis I am asked this very question.  So in leu of "Recognition Week" dentists - here is how to recognize a potential NINJA - it is not what the assistant knows, rather who the assistant is.

A NINJA is:
Hardworking, Organized, Dedicated, Confident, Punctual, Studious, Caring, Energetic, Creative, A Thinker, An Achiever, A Leader, A Team Player, Competitive with themselves, Intrinsically motivated, Takes pride in themselves and in their work, A difference maker, Looking for opportunity and advancement and finally a NINJA is a mind reader - meaning we know what our doctors next step is before they know it!  All of these characteristics make up a NINJA.

14 years ago I knew little about dentistry.  I did not get the first job I interviewed for because I had never made a temporary crown - bummer for that office, right?!?!   It was the doctor that saw within me what I believed in myself.  He told me at the interview, 'I'm only as good as my assistant Angela."  He set the bar then and there.  I knew his expectations.  I was eager to learn and eager for an opportunity and I wanted to make him proud.  I was going to be the best assistant he had ever had - a NINJA - and make him the best dentist he ever was!

This, doctors, is what you look for within an assistant.  Someone that doesn't back down to a challenge, but embraces the opportunities presented and executes them.  Because it is the doctor that ultimately molds the assistant into a NINJA.  It is the doctor that provides education and opportunity.  So pick the right personality and develop their inner NINJA - you won't regret it - NINJAs strive to be the BEST!

During Assistants Recognition Week I must recognize the dental professionals that molded me into who I am today.  Thank you to:  Dr. Walter Hunt, Luanne Rynders, Dr. Brent Fredrickson, Dr. Pat Kingston, Dr. Trisha Lyke Rieck, Dr. Greg Smith, Dr. Terry Yacovitch, Dr. Alex Touchstone, Dr. Ed Suh, Lee Culp CDT, Jimmy Fincher CDT, Diane Mazzarella and finally to the dentist that inspires me and pushes me beyond my imagination and who I could not imagine my life without, Dr. Gary Severance.  You have all changed my life and I couldn't be more appreciative.

So although it is Assistants week NINJAs, thank your doctors for believing in you, challenging you and giving you the opportunities you deserve to be the best you can be!  We are Freakin' NINJAs!!!