Set your dental career goals – then know how to achieve them
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 26th August 2022
Training to do something new, or deciding to take a different path from the one you’re on, does require confidence. But setting goals for yourself can help to fight the fear. Studies into goal-setting theory and psychology have shown that working towards one will improve motivation and performance, also that you can improve your chances of success when you apply principles like clarity, commitment and feedback.[i]
For a dentist, having a clear, measurable goal can integrate all the choices you’ve made so far with your ambitions for the future. Don’t be put off by background noise, think about what you want in life. Work-life balance is a personal issue, and something that is likely to change over time as your commitments change. Getting started on your journey now, to make your skills more competitive and take your career to the next level, could lead to freedom and fulfilment sooner rather than later.
Ensure your goal not only sparks your interests, but that it will align you with dentists you admire, and whom you would love to be mentored by. Your goal should also facilitate lifelong learning, to constantly inspire you and keep you on your toes, wanting to do more.
Personally, I think that becoming an implant dentist, and creating an implant team is the best example an achievable goal that also represents the opportunity of a lifetime. When you train to be an implant dentist, you will be building on the basic skills you’ve developed as a novice while growing as a clinician who can help patients comprehensively, enabling them to stay in good health for a lifetime. When you offer dental implant treatments, you will discover how it is one of the most rewarding aspects of patient care. You are restoring what is lost – in the most advanced cases, you may be rehabilitating the whole mouth, in health, function and aesthetics. Losing a tooth or teeth can have a profound impact on a person, physically, emotionally and socially. Dental implants are an option that more people are going to want, and that dentists should be offering. They are desirable as a safe and effective alternative to removable prosthesis, for patients of all ages. When delivered by a trained, highly-skilled clinician, they have an excellent prognosis too.
If ‘implant dentist’ is your goal, to commit to it, you will need to find postgraduate education that will keep you on track. This is where lifelong learning comes in. Your initial training will set up the pillars of your career, and get you ready for the next step, but you will be at the beginning of your journey. To achieve success, you must be prepared to constantly review your progress, listen to feedback and make adjustments. The road to being a confident implant dentist has milestones along the way, and this is where a mentor will come in. A mentor will support your ambitions, help you assess the specific needs of each patient and decide whether you have the skills, knowledge and experience to treat them. A mentor is a safety net, and will identify gaps in your learning, guiding your development.
As you grow in confidence, you can start building an implant team to assist you
during every treatment, before, during and after, including showing patients how to take care of their implant so it remains in function for years to come. This is how your reputation as an exceptional implant dentist will become established, and then soar.
Setting a goal will bring professional and personal rewards, but you need to translate ambition into action and achievement, and the postgraduate course you choose will therefore be a major part of your success. It should get you ready to start placing and restoring implants, while advocating lifelong learning. It should immediately make you feel at home, and part of a community of like-minded dentists, who will become your friends for life. It should connect you with mentors, while delivering quality training via theory and hands-on learning. The calibre of the teaching team is fundamental too, so look for world-class educators who can share the joy and fulfilment they have experienced during their career. In the heart of London’s west end, The One to One Implant Education offers fully accredited postgraduate training to take you from novice to confident implant dentist. With instructors that include globally renowned implantologists, the course offers evidence-based learning and opportunities for live surgery. You will be supported by a tiered mentor programme, and gain the skills and mindset to be on the right journey for achieving your ambitions.
When you set clear goals, you increase your chances of success. Don’t wait for the ‘right’ time – get started now! Create clarity for your future, integrate your choices and you will develop personally and professionally and enjoy a fulfilling dental career.
To reserve your place or to find out more, please visit
https://121implanteducation.co.uk or call 020 7486 0000.
Author bio:
Dr Fazeela Khan-Osborne is the founding clinician of the FACE dental implant multi-disciplinary team for the One To One Dental Clinic based on Harley Street, London. She has always had a passion and special interest in implant dentistry, particularly in surgical and restorative full arch rehabilitation of the maxilla. She has been involved in developing treatment modalities for peri-implantitis within clinical practice.
Dr Khan-Osborne is also the Founding Course Lead for the One To One Education Programme, now in its 20th year. As a former Lead Tutor on the Diploma in Implant Dentistry course at the Royal College of Surgeons (England), she lectures worldwide on implant dentistry and is an active full member of the Association of Dental Implantology, the British Academy of Aesthetic Dentistry and the International Congress of Oral Implantologists.
[i] Locke’s Goal Setting Theory. MindTools. Link: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_87.htm (accessed May 2022).
