Helping you take the next step in your career development

Young dentist Sahar-Tara Aghababaie reflects on her first few years in dentistry and the steps she has taken to develop skills to meet the changing demands facing the profession.

When you look back at your time in dental school, how much thought did you give to your career development five, 10 or even 20 years after graduation? Any plans you may have made will certainly need to be flexible enough to reflect the changes the profession will undoubtedly go through over the coming decades.

I graduated from King’s College in 2015 but soon discovered that once you graduate, the learning never really stops. That’s the wonderful thing about dentistry – it’s definitely not a ‘one size fits all’ career path.

The profession is constantly evolving and developing. As clinicians we need to ensure we have a good grasp of these changes. Not just for our own personal development. But also to ensure we provide the best quality of care for our patients.

Foundations

During my dental foundation year, I completed my MJDF exam. I then undertook further post-graduate training on a one-year course in dental education. As I have a keen interest in teaching in the future. So, I would say to any young dentist – post-graduate training is paramount for further development!

Many young dentists agree the main challenge facing them is working within the current NHS system. Dental school certainly provides you with the core clinical skills needed to become a dentist, but it doesn’t prepare you for the minefield of the UDA system and targets in practice, associate contracts, accounts and finances, the ever-present fear of litigation and of course, rising indemnity and registration fees.

All of these can place a lot of pressure on newly…