Tag: Student Experience

Hamna Khan, fifth year BDS Student, University of Manchester, gives you her tips for a successful new academic year after an extended break from clinical practice.

It’s that time of year again for us to buy our planners, top up our stationery and wipe the dust off our clinic shoes! Only this time, things are going to be a little bit different. It’s completely normal to feel anxious or nervous about the upcoming academic year, so here are some tips on how to settle back into the operator chair and kick-start your studying.

Online teaching

Without a doubt, this will be the new normal and adjusting to this style is vital. You will need to learn to adapt to online teaching, so get to know your new virtual tools. Our future studies are expected to be this hybrid-learning model so embracing this as soon as possible will boost your chances of success. Whether sitting in a cafe or at your bedroom desk is how you work best, meshing your ideal study surroundings with your university teaching this year is how you will engage and absorb the most information. 

Reviewing theory

Not having the time won’t be an acceptable excuse this year so if you haven’t already, start looking back at previous years’ notes. Brush up on those topics you don’t feel as confident in and know procedures inside out so there’s no time to waste when faced with one. 

Articles

Whilst extra reading was important before to complement your studies, reading recent articles now is more valued than ever. It’s key to stay up to date with the latest Covid-19 guidelines and the pandemic’s ever evolving impact on Dentistry as a profession. Regardless of your year of study, Covid-19 will have changed aspects of your degree and it’s good to know how and why. The FGDP website and various social media channels prove to be great resources to help with this.  

Use your time wisely

Being back at University will definitely mean life’s on the go again but you will almost certainly still have spare time and many hours off campus. Planning in advance and time boxing will help you maintain focus on your studies. Also, breaking up your work into smaller chunks can help you adjust back to life as a dental student. Aside from your dental learning, it’s essential to stay productive and not slip back into the laid-back routine many of us will be familiar with after having so many months away. Pencilling in regular physical activity to stay fit or volunteer work where help is needed are just a couple of the many things you can do. 

Pace yourself

Many of us will be eager to get back into the thick of things but just know it’s okay to not get that alginate impression first time like you used to be able to do! It would be ideal to continue from where you left off but we’ve all missed out on clinical experience and we’ve all been away from the drill just as long as each other. You may need to do some extra practice to get rid of your rustiness, but don’t be too hard on yourself because before you know it you’ll have bounced back! 

Find your support system

Dentistry can be challenging as it is and confiding and leaning on others is something that is part and parcel with the degree. During these unprecedented times, spending quality time with friends and family or anyone who you feel uplifts and encourages you will support you in your journey and enable you to carry on. Although our University experience is likely to be different to last year, it is still important to embrace student life as much as possible, either in person – respecting the relevant Government guidelines, or virtually. Engaging in the campus community remains a powerful and long-lasting benefit of these five years at University.

I hope this helped you feel more at ease and good luck with the year!

Author bio

This student advice blog was originally published by FGDP(UK) in October 2020 and has been republished by the College of General Dentistry with the author’s permission.

Aavan K Matharu, fourth year BDS student, Trinity College Dublin, gives her key pointers for a smooth transition to your clinical study years.

Introduction:

The transition from pre-clinical years to clinical years is one that many dental students look forward to. It becomes a momentous occasion where we can apply all the theory and practical skills, we have learned from the mannequin lab to actual patients and clinical situations. However, this overwhelming realization comes with its demands and challenges. As I reflect on my own experience, there is no doubt that I have learned a great deal not only about myself and how to make my clinical experience fulfilling but also how to tackle these challenges.  

To help you achieve a smooth transition, here are a few pointers I have put together to tackle the clinical years to come.

Bracing the Clinical Experience:

1.Dive deep: As we start clinics, it is normal to experience nerves and opt for simpler procedures. However, delving deeper and putting yourself in clinical scenarios within limitations, which test your knowledge, confidence, and clinical skills, are critical to your development early on as a student. It is important to encourage your learning and try to make the most of dental school while you are there as clinical time is already so limited due to the pandemic.

2. The Plus 2 Rule: Attempt to do procedures at least twice or more during your clinical years. Chances are that when you do a procedure for the first time, you will make mistakes and learn a lot from it. However, when you do the same procedure, for a second time on a different patient, you will be faced with other challenges and essentially a different way to apply your knowledge. Although this can be challenging depending on the amount of time you are given for clinics, try your level best to achieve this as it will teach you resilience and problem solving earlier on.

Pre-Clinical Advice:

1. Know the why to a procedure: When creating a treatment plan/preparing for a procedure such as a composite filling or root canal, it is critical to know WHY you are doing it. Understanding the importance and order of what you are doing creates confidence and allows you to reflect on the benefits/risks of the procedure as well as the ethical reasoning behind what you are doing for the patient.
2. Ask a friend lifeline: Discussing topics with friends/upper years beforehand can be very helpful. See what your friends have done, what their process was in doing the procedure, stressful parts, etc. Discuss how they communicated with patients, common mistakes, and how they organized themselves to get a better understanding of what to expect and how you can learn from their experiences to ameliorate your own. 
3. Keeping an orderly fashion: One of the most helpful things I learned was to organize my instruments in the order I was going to use them. This can really help in stressful times when you don’t want to be looking around for instruments and materials but are rather using them as you go along.
4. Stick to the essentials: It is important to understand which instruments can be filtered out during a procedure. During a composite filling, for example, there is no need to have the entire operative kit laid out.  Instead, narrow down the essential instruments to items such as a mirror, contra-angle sickle probe, flat plastic, and micro brushes, etc. This will create more space on your bracket table and will reduce the overwhelming feeling when looking for instruments.

I hope these tips/tricks are useful to you during your exciting progression into clinical years. Remember to embrace your transition kindly and to focus on yourself as a growing clinician. All the best!

This student advice blog was originally published by FGDP(UK) in August 2020 and updated in May 2021, and has been republished by the College of General Dentistry with the author’s permission.

Angela Li, first year MChD student at the University of Leeds, shares advice on successful online learning from home.

The unprecedented coronavirus pandemic is having a large effect on dental student life, impacting on our studies, social life and wellbeing.

I spent the first few weeks worried and unproductive, not knowing what tomorrow could bring and constantly being bombarded with news updates and anxious messages from fellow students. We were worried about missing clinical experience, unsure about whether to go home or remain in university accommodation and wondering if summer exams would be cancelled. Around the same time as all of this, we also received our February exam results – some students had the added stress of resits and hoping they could still progress to next year.

Unlike students on most other courses, non-final year dental students are still waiting to hear if and how exams will still take place. This seems bothersome but makes sense when we remember our clinical responsibility and professional accreditation requirements. It is tempting to delay revision until further exam clarification is given, but this may only increase future stress, since we will need to learn the material sooner or later. As the next generation of dentists, we should study not only for the sake of exams, but for our own clinical competency and most importantly, for our patients.

Universities have migrated to online learning, and although this allows for greater learning flexibility, it is much easier to get distracted at home and lose our sense of routine. Many of us are accustomed to revising in the library with fewer disturbances and structuring our day around attending lectures and other activities. It has taken time to adjust my learning habits, but I have found these changes beneficial in terms of improving my mindset and productivity.

Here are a couple of my top tips to help you make the most of your home learning:

1) Be organised
Creating a to-do list is a great way of organising your tasks. I also find it useful to assign specific tasks to each section of the day (early/later morning, afternoon and evening), rather than to rigid time slots, allowing you to organise each section in your day as you go along. Setting up a distraction-free work zone at home is a key part in allowing for focused work, and I find productivity apps that use the pomodoro technique particularly effective.

2) Be proactive!
I’ve recently discovered a world of online dental webinars and Instagram live sessions led by top clinicians. Topics range from digital dentistry to facial aesthetics and from implants to biomimetics, which are highly exciting areas often not taught at undergraduate level. For webinars, I recommend signing up for the ‘Lockdown 2020’ series organised by Dr Clive Schmulian and the weekly Smile Dental Academy webinars. These can encourage the discovery of new interests within the field of dentistry and significantly helps to increase motivation.

In these uncertain times, it’s important to not get overwhelmed by all the changes around us. Instead, we would benefit from using this time as an opportunity for learning, personal growth, and setting goals for our next academic year. Before we know it, we’ll be back in dental school fitting rubber dams to phantom heads in no time.

Author bio

This student advice blog was originally published by FGDP(UK) in July 2020 and has been republished by the College of General Dentistry with the author’s permission.