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Learning is not attained by chance
Finding your way in the fog of the day to day
Dr Rosemary Morgan
January 26, 2025
If your New Year’s resolution is to be more organised and systematic, download these procedure templates. For the month of January you decide how much you want to pay!
Whether you’re starting out as a new grad or whether you’ve been practicing for a few years, the road ahead can sometimes become obscured.
Great Alpine Road, Mt Hotham ,Jan 2025, 5C
As a young dentist, I had no plan, I just went to work (UK, NHS) and didn’t have any strategic thoughts. Seeing so many patients, I put a lot of reps under my belt and learned from experience. There are pros and cons to this approach.
It's still necessary to do the reps, and there's no replacement for experience, however, developing a structure to your working day, developing goals and learning how to balance work and life are essential these days.
These are also the things mostly lacking from formal dental education. The focus is mostly on completing procedures and getting through.
It's tempting to “have a break” from study /focus/ more formal development after the intensity of dental school.
It's all too easy to keep doing the same things once out in the workforce and not growing as a clinician. We’re creatures of habit, it makes us feel safe.
Work is busy and there's not always time to think and reflect.
Prompts to learn new things are reactive (to particular experiences or events) rather than proactive.
In Australia, there is no formal postgraduate year with a structured approach to learning and development so new grads are on their own, identifying a suitable place of work and receive mentoring.The word mentor is used casually by both the new grad and the employer/mentor, often as a carrot dangled to lure potential employees. Online courses or a WhatsApp group do not necessarily equate to meaningful mentoring.
In the absence of a formal mentoring relationship here are a few things that can help get started:
Developing the discipline to take time to reflect on your day and make a note of what went well and what was a challenge is a good starting point. Jot a note down in a diary to help identify patterns.
Mentally plan every procedure,think it through, reviewing the radiograph and photo prior to calling the patient through, highlighting any tricky points with your DA. This will help you build a structure for your appointments and manage stress. It will help your DA help you. It will make you more productive and efficient in the long run.
For more complex cases, make time well beforehand (not the night before) to talk the procedure through with a more experienced dentist. Do some reading. Make a plan for the appointment with the steps laid out that you can refer to during the procedure and talk it through with your DA so they can best assist you.
This is a starting point for day to day. Without this type of insight and practice developing and achieving long term goals will be a challenge.
“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."
Hve a great week
Rosie
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