Submitted: August 20, 2004
I would like to nominate Jane Weiner, RDH, for “Mentor of the Year” for 2005. I first met Jane via the Internet, when I was preparing to take the Western Regional Examing Boards in Anchorage, Alaska. I had discovered Jane through some articles she had written for RDH Magazine. I found her email address and let her know how much her stories had encouraged me. We soon became fast friends and computer buddies. Even though we lived worlds apart, (I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, and she lived in Tamarac, Florida) Jane encouraged me to keep studying and preparing for my board exams. She would email me questions via the Internet, and give me a list of possible answers. I would choose the answer I thought was correct, and she would email me back and tell me if it was correct or not. This process went on for days. Not only did Jane continue to quiz me, but she encouraged me to not give up on my attempt to gain my Alaska dental hygiene license. She was right by my side (via the Internet) every step of the way while I was preparing and even taking my boards. I could not have gone through this difficult process without her. Jane even told me about having to take the National board exams three times in her quest to gain her Florida license. At the time when she first took the National Board exams, there were no review classes to be found anywhere in the United States. Jane had to take the test cold, and she did not fare well. She retook the exams a second time, and still did not do well enough to pass. With the help of a state congressman, she enrolled in the Miami Dade Community College Dental Hygiene Program, as an audit student. She then retook the National boards a third time and finally passed. After she passed both the National and State Boards, the school would send hygienists to her for help. She spent hours with them, tutoring them and preparing them to take the National Boards. She had found her special niche, as a “hygienist-mentor,” and she has developed a Study and Review Course of well over 600 pages of material. When I took my Alaska boards, I passed the clinical boards easily, but I missed passing the written test by one question. Jane consoled me, and she reminded me of how she had to retake her National Boards three different times before she finally passed. When my husband and I flew to Portland, Oregon, I only had to retake the written part of the WREB’s. Jane was with me, every step of the way, and she was rejoicing with me when I found out I had passed the written test on my second attempt.
Jane and I have continued to stay in touch with one another via personal email and also through the RDHgroups@Yahoo.com **. Jane began her review courses in 1993, but she has been personally tutoring other hygienists for the National Boards and Florida Boards since 1985. Jane received her dental hygiene degree from Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists in Boston, MA. in 1964. She’s been practicing dental hygiene over 40 years.
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