Recently I have been enjoying a program on the BBC about "normal" people being put through astronaut training to highlight how demanding it is and probably drum up interest among the younger generation of potential space explorers. As always, everything I see/hear sparks off my brain thinking about how it could be applied to dentistry and there have been a few interesting ideas from this show. Either in terms of helping with teaching dental students or in relation to things that could be applied in general practice.
Here are a few examples from the show and ideas for how they could apply to dentistry:
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Yesterday was an away day for clinical supervisors and other staff who organise the BDS program for Peninsula Uni. It was a great opportunity for me to put faces to names and I am now even more excited for my first session next week. Through the day there were presentations on what to expect, important dates through the year, equality, safeguarding, dementia and even a spot quiz on Oral Med 😳. But the main take home message was this: TIME FLIES!
If you are at the beginning of your university journey or if you are just about to start your final year, or if you have gone through all that and are just starting in your FD placement this week, it would be easy to look over your diary and think "I have lots of time to do that assignment/get prepared for that exam/complete my portfolio." But when you actually get down to the nitty gritty of real life it is amazing how that time available vanishes with mundane tasks and before you know it you are cramming for that exam or maybe asking random strangers if they will let you do RCT on their molar so you can fulfill your credits requirements!😂 So my recommendation is this: Make the most of the time available to you. Start your new journey ready to put in the hard work from the beginning because you will be so pleased you did when the crunch comes in 9 months time. And enjoy the journey. The new academic year is fast approaching and my first clinical supervising day in Exeter is just 3 weeks away. Over the last few days I have been pondering how I can help students to plan what they will be doing in their appointments. In practice we get so used to doing things in a certain routine that most appts don't need active planning. But at the start of your career you don't have the luxury of having repeated something hundreds of times and therefore everything you are doing feels new. Critical stages may occasionally get missed but also just as importantly it is easy to lose a lot of time with inefficient ordering of the many processes being carried out.
In a similar mindset to my last TFTC (http://www.drchrisharper.co.uk/blog/5-word-appt-objectives) I have been considering how I can best lay foundations for my role as a clinical supervisor come September. In hindsight, when I was a student encountering a new supervisor it was very rare to have any meaningful interaction with a new supervisor before being thrown into a clinical situation.
So I am going to attempt to actively change that for any students I am supervising. I have set out a simple document explaining my expectations from students and what they can expect from me. I will attempt to explain this in person if time allows but if not then at least I can give students this on our first clinic together and build good relationships from there. As always I am very happy to hear any feedback from both current students and supervisors if you think any aspects could be improved further. |
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August 2020
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