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— Getting hands-on experience is crucial when you’re learning anything, especially when what you’re learning is your future career. And the younger you get that experience, the better.
One Perham High School junior, Kallie Rourke, is getting that hands-on experience as a clinical assistant at Perham Family Dentistry through the school’s work-based learning program, with hopes of pursuing a career in dentistry post-graduation.
“Ever since I was younger, I’ve always loved going to the dentist’s office,” Rourke said. “I would like to beg my mom to take me back because I literally loved the dentist so much when I was a kid … The hygienist and the dentist — they were always so nice and so kind when I walked in, and they made me feel very comfortable there. I just thought it was so interesting looking at the X-rays.”
Rourke remembers one experience of a woman who cleaned her teeth and explained her teeth numbers and what was going on with them. Rourke found everything about the experience fascinating, and because of that, she began considering the work.
A few months ago, she was supposed to go on a field trip to tour several different dental offices and see a clinic. However, something came up, and she was unable to go. Since she ended up missing the tour, the school later reached out to her and asked if she’d be interested in working for Perham Family Dentistry. Of course, Rourke was immediately interested and ecstatic about the idea, so she got involved with the high school’s work-based learning program.
After this, Rourke got her schedule changed to include the program. She has the last hour of school off and leaves around 2:15 p.m. straight to the dentist’s office, where she works until around 5-5:30 p.m. So, not only does she get work experience, but she also gets class credit for going to work.
“It’s something that I think not a lot of people get, and I think it’s something that’s unique,” said Dr. Luke Sailer, a dentist at Perham Family Dentistry who works closely with Rourke. “It’s definitely something that she’ll benefit from in the long run — just getting that early exposure.”
Rourke added, “It’s important because kids can get their work experience before they graduate … They get kind of a head start because they’ve already experienced so much.”
When Rourke is at work, she acts a bit as a dental assistant. She helps Sailer with everything from procedures — such as fillings, crowns, dentures, root canals and extractions — to sterilizing instruments to lab work to making and putting on crowns. If almost everything is already done, then she’s able to stay busy cleaning up around the office. Regardless, she’s always hard at work getting that hands-on experience for future dental work.
“It’s been awesome,” Sailer said when asked what it’s been like to work with Rourke. “She shows up, and she has a lot of good spirit. She’s kind of like a breath of fresh air for everyone and picks up everyone at the end of the day, which is well-needed. She’s very interested in everything we’re doing … She’s going to do a good job, and what we taught her — I think that has been really beneficial for us. It’s been pretty fun to go over procedures, and it’s just nice to have someone who’s engaged and sit in on what you’re doing.”
While Rourke originally considered pursuing dental hygiene, her experience with this job has shown her that she wants to pursue dentistry. She loves helping others and has always wanted to do so since she was young.
When you’re a dentist, you help people with their tooth pain, which helps them feel better. Cleaning teeth has the same effect. On top of that, she just finds it fascinating. Knowing she can look at an X-ray and tell that a patient has an infection is interesting to her.
“There was nothing like (the work-based learning program) when I was growing up,” Sailer said. “I think I would be very interested in something like that if I was back in high school … The first time I ever got experience in a dental office was when I was in college, and I just asked if I could shadow. That’s sitting around and watching. I’m not getting any hands-on experience. I feel like you learn a lot more when you’re doing things. So I think that’s very beneficial for her, and I think it’s an awesome opportunity.”
Though Rourke doesn’t know where she wants to go to college yet, she’s now certain she wants to go to dental school.
She’ll be with Perham Family Dentistry until the end of the second trimester, around springtime, before she has to take a break for track season. Though, she hopes to keep working there in the future, if they’ll have her. Regardless, she is now certain dental work is her future dream thanks to all this experience.
“It’s been absolutely amazing,” Rourke said. “(Sailer) has been such a great teacher. And all the other hygienists and other dentist — they have all been so kind and so welcoming. They have made it the best experience ever.”
Elizabeth (she/her), 25, graduated with a degree in Journalism and Communications from the University of Wisconsin–Stout in 2020. Elizabeth has always had a passion for telling stories about people and specializes in community features, which she uses for her Perham-centered content.
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