September brought with it the glorious joys of the 'back to school' season. Parents everywhere had the mad rush for new shoes and trousers in time for term – bought with a prayer that this would not tempt the 'gods of growth spurts' to make their purchase redundant in a few weeks' time. This month will see the return to education for older students as the universities do their annual recall, this usually comes without the panic buying and growth issues. Your memory of university may not resemble the student lifestyle portrayed in the media today, and I'm quite sure the reality for the current crop of dental students is far from the easy life of waking up at noon and observing the daily ritual of Countdown. No one actually believes those stereotypes, right?
As CPD has been incorporated into the working life for dentists and practice teams (July next year sees the end of the first CPD cycle for DCPs) education in the profession has become a constant, and you are denied the back to school thrill. The pleasure of seeing old friends, catching up on all the gossip, and the optimistic look ahead to the bright future that lay in store for you... wasn't it great?
I was told by one reader that last month's comment was too negative in tone so I thought I'd start this month off with the positivity that a new term brings. In this issue it is Apolline's turn (see page 6) to try and depress as it questions what the future holds for the soon-to-graduate and newly qualified in the profession. The entire landscape of dentistry is constantly evolving and the dental world today's young recruits will experience could well be vastly different from the one dentists currently enjoy (if enjoy isn't the right word – please substitute your own).
Evolution
If the dental world is evolving then which species of dentist will thrive in the new climate and which will die off? Will the flood of regulation be the death of the GDPs who can't make it to the high ground as specialists? What about the associates... will they be starved out by the hygienists/therapists who flourish in the new environment? With the business structure of the dental world set for change will this have a knock on effect on the types of people practising? Will the world be too hot for the compassionate and warm-hearted dentists and so only the cold calculating UDA crunchers survive?
Those are questions for the future - but the personality types of those practising dentistry today is explored by Alexander Holden in this issue (page 48). He looks into some of the views put forward recently by some young dentists and questions the validity of some of the judgments put forward on particular patient types.
Dentists are used to passing judgment, it is a part of the job description when diagnosing and creating a treatment plan. You judge the state of the teeth and oral health, the need for intervention, and which particular course would prove most successful. Good clinical judgment is an essential skill, and you have not just the right but the duty to pass judgment on the oral health needs. The authority of judgment stops as soon as it leaves your direct professional sphere though and that shouldn't be forgotten. In spite of being a professional and well-educated, your opinions on the lifestyle choices of patients, their financial (mis)management or their status as an exempt patient are no more or less valid than their opinion of you. Yes – remember every patient will be scrutinising you as much as, if not more than, you do them. From your smile and demeanour to the price and quality of your work patients will be forming an opinion. Do you think your patients consider you a trusted health provider and valuable member of the community, or a rather less flattering stereotype. Actually... nobody believes in stereotypes, right?
As always there's a lot going on in this issue, and if you'd like to have your say on a topic you can visit our forum at www.the-dentist.co.uk/forum.php or email me at emackenzie@georgewarman.co.uk