Glasgow graduate Shad Jaff shares his experience of leaving dental school and stepping into the big wide world of work!
The transition from practising in the dental school to working life is a huge step and challenges you on so many levels. From your work life balance right down to monetary aspects and the NHS regulations there are many challenges. There is so much more than just a change in pace of dentistry to consider and the learning curve is a steep one.
I remember arriving in the practice on my first day of foundation training and, after being shown around, I had some patients to see in the afternoon. At the time I did not feel ready and the nerves were kicking in. The last patient I had treated was over four months ago by this point and it was under the safety blanket of a supervisor on clinic. The strangest thing to get your head around was that you knew all the steps but there was an overwhelming sense that you still needed to have confirmation that you were on the right track and this often left me lost in the early days. The fact is the help is there for you via your trainer, but I was so conscious that the patient had little/no idea that I was still in foundation training that it wasn't as simple to ask for advice.
Once I moved past this first hurdle it was much like passing your driving exam. I suddenly realised that you didn't consistently need to keep your hands at ten and two and I had this sense of freedom and independence like I never had at the dental school.
The next obstacle I came across was the NHS regulations. This is by no means a one-jump hurdle and I still find myself struggling with this aspect of working life. In the dental school we are trained to do dentistry essentially without limits. Cost is never an issue and neither is failure (to a degree) since the patient is often willing to give anything a go since they are not paying for it. However, when cost comes into play, treatment plans can take a huge change in direction not only from the patient's point of view but also the NHS. It can be frustrating when you know what would be best for the patient and what you would like to do but you are limited by the NHS regulations.
The best advice I can give is get your head around the NHS system as fast as possible and life will be a lot easier. In the early days, your nurse and trainer etc are likely to take care of this side of it and let you become good at dentistry. But if you can, it's definitely worth your while to try as much as you can to find out about the system from your nurse, and take it on yourself. We get so used to being in our comfort zone in dentistry, but I've learned that sometimes the best way to progress faster is to step outside and just go for it.
Before I knew it, I was three months into foundation training and already in full stride. My speed had increased as well as my confidence, decision making and technical ability. My routine became eat, sleep, commute, and repeat. A solid day's work in practice is significantly more exhausting than it ever was at the dental school and my mid-week social life definitely took a hit. With only the weekend left, plans would accumulate so much that I found my whole weekend would be packed and suddenly it was Monday again to repeat the cycle. Now seven months on, I have finally found a good work-life balance and have managed to find time to do the things I used to do such as go to the gym and catch up with friends. In the early days, these were abandoned until I could work out a balance.
Nevertheless, I wouldn't trade it my experience in dental foundation training for being back in the dental school for one second. A part of me will always miss the student lifestyle, but earning a wage is definitely worth it and you finally feel accomplished. It is hard work. But dental students are no stranger to that. We just have to keep playing harder.
Shad Jaff
Glasgow Graduate 2013