When you first qualify as a dentist (or any healthcare professional) you get to treat one patient at a time.
Drip, drip, one by one, yet to help or change someone.
Sometimes, and for the lucky ones, you get to teach or speak to other people to tell them things which might make them better.
With a crash and a bang, you’re then affecting lots of patients at once (if you do it right and make a positive difference). The affect is exponentially greater in teaching than seeing a patient individually and therefore the responsibility is exponentially greater.
The outer part of the circle with the greatest impact and responsibility though is to count what you do and publish it.
If you have the opportunity or privilege to do this then you can make a difference on a global level (if you’re very lucky) and contribute to a bank of knowledge which is proven to work which improves things for everyone.
Some people get the opportunity to go straight into the outer circle but they miss the pleasure of treating patients one to one. It’s rare that you can jump straight into the middle.
You get to choose where you sit, how you will achieve and impact but understand which one you want and set your sights in that direction.
Blog post number: 1672