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It started a few years ago with Matt Giudici.

Matt is just finishing 3^rd year at Dental School in Bristol but came to work with us when he was a 6^th form student at the local Comprehensive School. He came on work experience and then became our first intern, he now works with us (when he has the time) as a paid member of the team during the holidays, providing massive value to the practice but also learning about what it’s like to work in a place like this so he is well prepared when he qualifies.

He taught some of his demonstrators how to use Cerec as Bristol Dental School!

This extended out into a bigger work experience programme where we now work with the local school to talk to people who might be interested in dentistry and even provide mock interviews. Anyone who might be interested has a chance to come to our place for an interview to see whether they’re committed enough to do work experience and then we bring them into the intern programme.

We have two of them at the moment (as well as Matt). It doesn’t always work and they don’t always get in but if they show commitment and the right attitude then generally they do.

I was then asked by the University of Glasgow to take an elective student last year for a 2-week elective project. So, we did, it was great, so this year we did it again with two. They’re in the photograph above.

It takes a bit of time and head space to have people like this in surgery and you don’t get paid for it.

But it’s worth it because like all of these things it pays forward, and these pay way forward.

This year Natasha and Oliver came from Glasgow for 2 weeks. They were a breath of fresh air in the practice and a joy to welcome into the team for a short period.

They contributed on a day to day basis, they made us laugh and even questioned things that we were doing when we had Study Clubs with GDP’s. Part of their elective project involved them counting some of the numbers and figures within the practice, it turns out that in the past 10 years I have perforated 27% of my sinus graft cases!

The range in the literature is 8-56%.

What is amazing though is that it turns out in my practice if I perforate your sinus graft you’re less likely to get a long-term complication than you are if I don’t.

Should it be that I should deliberately perforate? I’d have never of known these things if Natasha and Oliver hadn’t been.

We were sad to see them go last week and we wish them all the best because not only have they brought a breath of fresh air to the practice they have inspired people here to better things.

They have just finished 4^th year and they got news that they had passed their exams whilst they were here but they’re not going into 5^th year. They’re taking a year out to do an intercalated degree in Medical Humanities.

Imagine that.

Imagine being committed enough to postpone your graduation by a year so that you can study ethics which will set you up for the rest of your career. In the end, it turned out that Natasha and Oliver didn’t come here to be taught by us. They came here to teach us.

And they did.

Blog post number: 1661