Thank you for visiting the AKMOM Volunteer page. Our fourth event was a huge success!
We still need volunteers to take on the Chair positions to continue holding these amazing events.
Below is a list of volunteer job descriptions. Click on the name to see more info.
Volunteers will be helping to type/scan information from the patient charts into Access(computer software program) so that we can track the amount and types of services performed at AKMOM as well as some demographic information about our patients. Once input, patient records will be filed alphabetically.
Volunteers will be assisting in X-RAY by entering necessary information. Clinical knowledge is not necessary, but computer proficiency is preferred.
Volunteers will help direct volunteers to registration/ the volunteer lounge and patients to the end of the line. Assure emergency areas remain clear for emergency vehicles.
Each patient will participate in an exit interview at the completion of their treatment, before they leave the clinic. Volunteers will enter responses into an online survey system. They will also be available to answer any final questions patients may have about their treatment and aftercare.
Volunteers will assist AKMOM staff and department leads in preparing for and cleaning up the clinic. A variety of tasks will be available, from laying pipe and assembling chairs to stuffing gift bags, setting up clinic tables and getting everything ready for the clinic to begin.
*Leads and ADCF/MOM guests – please let us know in your section about your plans to assist with set up.
Oversee the volunteer hospitality area.
Provide water to patients in patient waiting area.
Volunteers will help at the volunteer information booth (inside the clinic), at the guest & media table and at the volunteer entrance to the clinic. They will have a copy of volunteer schedules, answers to some FAQs and access to AKMOM leads with answers to more complex volunteer questions.
*Volunteers will be assigned their position onsite.
Interpreters will wear a YELLOW shirt with a badge that denotes which language they speak. Interpreters will help our non-English speaking patients navigate the clinic. They should make themselves available in the area they are assigned, but can help briefly in a different department when they are needed. They can float among departments. Interpreters should look for YELLOW cards to be held up, indicating that assistance is needed.
Volunteers will assist with management of the patient line and bringing the line inside the clinic. This is an outside position; please dress warmly. Once all patients are inside, volunteers will be re-assigned to other responsibilities.
*Volunteers will be assigned a department on-site, and will probably move between departments many times during their shift.
AKMOM patients are never to be left unattended. They will be escorted between treatment areas, to the restroom, outside for smoking breaks, etc. Patient escorts should look for RED and GREEN cards to be held up, indicating that a patient is needed (green) or ready to go to the next department (red).
Volunteers in the waiting room will perform different duties throughout the day. Early in the morning, they will hand out patient numbers, assist with name tags and patient registration forms as well as some patient escorting and food distribution. Later, they will continue working as patient escorts and runners. A few volunteers will be asked to help with tech support for patient entertainment (movies, etc) and photography (using an AKMOM camera).
*Volunteers will be assigned a specific task on-site.
Once patients have finished triage and gone through routing, they will be taken to the appropriate treatment area. Each treatment area will have its own waiting area for patients. Each of these patient waiting areas will be staffed by one or two volunteers. These patient waiting area checkers will greet the patient, add their name to a waiting list and let them know when it is their turn to receive treatment. The checkers will also manage distribution of break passes.
*Volunteers will be assigned a department on-site.
If the chart is not complete/legible, they should follow up with the practitioner who treated the patient.
We need help preparing volunteer packets and materials to be brought onsite to AKMOM.
Each department has been assigned a couple of runners who will help the department lead in non-clinical capacities. Tasks might include replenishing supplies, organizing materials, finding assistance, etc.
All of the AKMOM instruments will go through a post-clinic sterilization on Saturday. We need volunteers who are very familiar with instruments to assist with the final sterilization and packaging of instruments to go back on the truck. This crew will also assist with tear down of the sterilization department. We would prefer 'fresh bodies' to assist us, so please do not choose this option if you will have been volunteering all day on Saturday.
We need a few people to help us get everything off of the trucks, lay pipe/electrical and get ready to set up the clinic. Folks with these skills would be especially helpful in the early morning shift.
Volunteers will set up the volunteer registration area and then will help get other volunteers checked in, give them their name badge & t-shirt.
*During slow periods, volunteers may be asked to help with other tasks, as needed. Flexibility is appreciated.
Each department (including the patient waiting room and volunteer lounge) has trash can(s) and, if necessary, sharps containers and hazardous waste disposal bins. Waste management volunteers will be trained on the safe removal of waste in the AKMOM clinic and will need to keep an eye on all departments to make sure that their disposal bins are usable. Volunteers must have a current Hepatitis B vaccination.
Dental assistants/students and hygienists/students will maintain central supply and ensure that all departments are fully stocked.
Dental Assistants are needed to work chairside in the following departments: Fillings, Endodontics, Oral Surgery, Kid Town, and the Dental Lab (prosthodontics). If your dentist is working in one of these departments during this shift, please sign up here. We will not be pre-assigning assistants to dentists this year, so if you and your dentist are registered for the same shift, you can work together.
*If you are not paired with a dentist, already, please choose one of the "chairside – not coming with dentist" sessions.
Dental Assistants are needed to work chairside in the following departments: Fillings, Endodontics, Oral Surgery, Kid Town, and the Dental Lab (prosthodontics). We will not be pre-assigning assistants to dentists this year. We will assign chairside assistants, as needed, onsite. We appreciate your flexibility, because as/if we run out of chairside positions, we will have you volunteer in other areas where we need help, such as sterilization, patient escorting, etc.
*If you are coming with your dentist, please choose one of the "chairside assistant – coming with dentist" sessions.
Assistants will work with dentists in dental triage.
*You will be assigned to a dentist onsite if you do not sign up with one.
Dentists will assess patient needs and discuss their top recommended treatments with them. Each patient well enough for treatment is guaranteed one procedure at AKMOM.
Dental equipment technicians, radiology equipment technicians, etc. Anyone who can keep the chairs and equipment functioning through its heaving use during the clinic.
Medical triage determines whether a patient is healthy enough to receive dental treatment. Review health history and medications. Take blood pressure and pulse and record findings. Take glucose levels, if appropriate.
Oral surgeons and dentists with extensive experience extracting teeth.
The Patient Education station will be manned by community volunteers and dental professionals who will provide demonstration and instruction in correct brushing and flossing techniques, as well as other important oral health information. All patients must participate in a Patient Education session.
General dentists may be moved here as space becomes available.
Dentists are needed to counsel patients, post-treatment, about follow-up protocols.
Orthodontists and dentists will fit and place partials for patients.
*General Dentists please insure all other dentist only slots are full before signing up here.
Removing decay, placing amalgam and composite restorations. Simple extractions as needed.
Dentists are needed to rout patients to appropriate treatment area after they have gone thru medical and dental triage.
*Dental Assistants, Hygienists and EMT's only.
All of the AKMOM instruments will go through a pre-clinic sterilization on Thursday. We need volunteers who are very familiar with instruments to assist with the packaging of instruments and final set-up of the sterilization area.
EMTs wishing to volunteer in sterilization must have a current Hepatitis B vaccination and complete AKMOM Sterilization on-site orientation.
Dentists are needed to read the x-rays taken by technicians.
Alaska Mission of Mercy Volunteer Service Agreement.
As a volunteer for the Alaska Mission of Mercy, I hereby agree to respect each patient's rights to self-determination and confidentiality, to refrain from harming the patient, to promote the patient's welfare, to treat people fairly, and to communicate truthfully.
I acknowledge and agree that the Alaska Dental Society (ADS), the Alaska Mission of Mercy (AKMOM) and the Alaska Dental Society Charitable Activities Fund (ADSCAF), hereinafter referred to as the "ENTITIES", do not assume any responsibility whatsoever for any of my personal property and I shall not hold the ENTITIES liable for any loss or damage to the same.
In compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Act: I agree to hold in confidence all personal and protected health information that I may overhear or come in contact with prior to, during and following the Alaska Mission of Mercy project.
I also grant the ENTITIES and their agents the right to use, without payment or consideration of any kind, photographic, voice and other reproductions of my physical likeness, in connection with publicizing and/or advertising the ENTITIES' activities and services in all forms of media, in perpetuity.
I understand that clinical providers rendering oral healthcare treatment services must have all the necessary, appropriate and active professional licenses issued by the appropriate licensing authorities and the requisite liability insurance to provide treatment to Alaska Mission of Mercy patients and that all volunteers must agree to a background check to participate in the AKMOM project. My acceptance of this AKMOM Volunteer Service Agreement gives explicit permission to the ENTITIES to verify my background and the status of my professional licenses.
Please make a note of your orientation time and make a valiant effort to meet with your section lead at the Carlson Center at the specified time and location (info will be emailed to all volunteers after March 27th). If you cannot make that orientation time, please arrive 30 minutes before your session time for an orientation from your section lead. All volunteers must have an orientation. At the orientation you will be given a tour of the clinic, briefed on the emergency egress plan and other safety issues, and given an overview of your responsibilities. You can also read all of the section information on this page under protocols. Please take time to read these documents and become familiar with your responsibilities before coming to the Carlson Center. You will also pick up your t-shirt or scrub top and your name badge at the orientation. Only authorized volunteers with name badges and AKMOM shirts will be allowed on the clinic floor so please remember to wear them to your session(s).
The AKMOM registration site closed on Monday, April 9th so the committee has time to put together registration packets, print name badges and place the final shirt/scrub order. If you have friends that are procrastinating, please pass this information along.
Parking for the Alaska Mission of Mercy volunteers will be FREE at the Carlson Center.
On behalf of the Planning Committee and Department Leads I want to thank you for volunteering and we all look forward to seeing you on Thursday, April 12th, 2018 for Volunteer Orientation.