Hello Patients, Families, and Friends of Kaplin Orthodontics, This is a quick catch-up letter and an invitation.
The Invitation. Whether in a consultation, or on the phone, or by email, the last four months has truly startled me with the fear and desperation that is present in a large portion of the families in our practice. Since reopening, the topic of conversation that has affected me the most is hearing the struggles of parents trying to educate their children at home. For many parents, this goes way beyond inconvenience; most of us are just not set up to make this happen. And the stories that come my way is just the brave tip of the iceberg.
I have had the idea to sponsor an Online Webinar/Life Coach/Support Group for any parent that is struggling with online education. Facebook and friend groups are ok for sharing, but the advice given and shared is not like that from a certified Life Coach. Life Coaching, as I understand it, is to establish what the current challenges are, and make a plan to get you to a better place. There is no fee. It has absolutely nothing to do with marketing my practice. I have no interest in knowing who participates. Online, there is no need to participate, or even show your name/face on the Zoom call. In fact, there is no need for the participants to even be families in my practice — so if you know of someone who could benefit, please forward the info. The woman who runs it, Sheila Weir, is a Life Coach picked by my wife (a psychologist, life coach, and life coach trainer). The group will meet every other week. Check it out.
Next Session: Friday October 2, 2020 @ 2:00 pm
This week’s session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7KEPGPDPlE
The quick catch-up. Four months in, our staff and patients have remained healthy. PPE and infection-control is a skill, one that we are improving on. We have changed to face-shields-only, from allowing goggles with masks (CDC vs. OSHA). And while we are still working harder to handle less patients per day, and while we are pretty tired by 3:00, the laughter and joy have come back to our workplace. For sure, this translates into better patient care.
As you may have figured out, I was not able to sustain writing texts, emails, or calling each parent after every visit. We need to stay on time, and frankly, I’m pleased with almost all the progress in our cases. No doubt, I’ll write when I need to — and write when you ask me to. Simply telling our patients what to tell you has (for the most part) been working ok. I am hoping that the “parent in the car-thing” can end in the near future. Honestly, I miss interacting personally with you all.
Thank you for your continuing patience with all this inconvenience. Ken Kaplin
