Practice Assistant - AZ - Dental Institute

Midwestern University; Glendale (AZ); On-site; USD 36,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Midwestern University in Arizona seeks a Practice Assistant to support dentists and student dentists across multiple clinic areas. The role covers patient check-in, scheduling, instrument handling, and maintaining radiology records in a fast-paced teaching environment.

The Practice Assistant coordinates materials and supplies, handles calls, and ensures infection control standards are followed. The position involves rotating assignments and adapting to clinic hours as needed.

Qualifications

• Professional conduct and collegiality in a clinical education setting.
• Ability to coordinate schedules and patients in a teaching clinic.
• Competence in infection control and HIPAA/privacy requirements.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and confirm patient appointments to optimize clinic Utilization.
• Maintain treatment records and assist with radiographs per protocol.
• Prepare patients, sterilize instruments, and manage supplies.
• Assist dental students and ensure compliance with clinic policies.

Job 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 - Arizona.
• 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 - Arizona 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