Chantej Singh Bedi, clinician at mydentist Avalon House, Sunderland, shares his experience practising at mydentist as an overseas clinician, working with a mentor to increase his confidence in patient communication and build clinical confidence.
Deciding to pursue a new life in Oxford with his wife (who was a PhD student in the UK), Dr Chantej sat the Overseas Registration Examination and passed with flying colours. He relocated to the UK in 2016, starting his career working at a local sandwich shop and as data collector for a recruitment company. Here he was able to learn nuances about the life in UK and get to grips with the language and local dialect, growing in confidence when it came to his communication and dealing with the public.
He then found a dental nurse role, where he learned a lot about the dentistry in the UK and settled into his new life with his wife. Once he passed the Overseas Registration Examination and became registered with the GDC in 2019, Chantej was offered a position at mydentist Avalon House, Sunderland, where he met his now mentor, Matt Arnold, clinical development advisor at mydentist – and the rest, as they say, was history.
‘Matt is always available if anyone needs any support, whether it’s about clinical matters or about relocating to the UK and finding your feet. He was and is a great support to me.
‘Since I joined mydentist, I’ve been able to grow my skillset, career and confidence – particularly when it comes to patient communication, and I do believe this is because of the fantastic mentorship opportunities I’ve had through working with Matt. It’s shown me that dentistry isn’t just about being clinical excellence, it’s also about finding the right place to thrive,’ Chantej noted.
Finding your feet
On discussing his studies overseas, Chantej commented: ‘I graduated from Surendra Dental College, India, affiliated with Rajasthan University of Health Sciences and I did a three year master’s programme in prosthodontics at NIMS university, India. Like most people, university was one of the best things I’ve ever done because of the experiences and friendships that you form there – they generally last you a lifetime.’
Although the UK is famous for its grey skies, this is something Chantej wasn’t fazed about it: ‘Coming from a hot country, I was pleased about the new climate of the UK – I came from a hot country and didn’t want to be hot anymore! So, in a way, I’ve always appreciated the UK weather, and I’ve always liked rain.
‘When I started as a dental nurse at Diamond House Dental Practice, Oxford, the owner of the practice, Dr Amit Mohindra, was particularly supportive of everyone and helped me pass my exams and was actually generous enough to fund my exam process. Additionally, I had incredible support from other clinicians, Morgan Williams, Ionis Vallis and Jaz Gulati.
‘My wife was offered an exciting new career opportunity up north, so we relocated here. After I had passed the ORE and started to look for NHS positions, the communication from mydentist really appealed to me. I went to see Matt Arnold, clinical development advisor – we got along well, and it felt a natural fit. Matt was open and honest seemed keen as a mentor. There were also lots of patients booked in, so I was confident I would be able to grow my practice.’
Why is a mentor useful?
‘The people at mydentist have been so welcoming. I was lucky to start my career with the lovely practice manager, Lynsey Warrener, as well as head nurse Kelly Perry, and I worked with some lovely dental nurses, who were all patient and supportive while I was learning and growing – which is exactly what I needed.
‘There are huge benefits to starting your career with a corporate which can sometimes be overlooked. I’m pleased to say that since joining mydentist, I’ve increased my confidence in both patient communication and clinical development. Because mydentist has the Workday app, I can access most of the mydentist Academy resources available to help my continue my clinical development.
‘The courses available through mydentist have been fantastic and also have discounted prices for clinicians to take advantage of – one of the most recent ones I did was a Mini Smile Makeover course by Dr Deepesh Parmar, who was incredible in teaching and improving your skillset when delivering anterior composites. It felt incredible to learn the materials and techniques he uses.
‘I came back from that course and was able to put the learning to work delivering beautiful smiles for my patients, my confidence has massively increased. I also did an aligner course through the mydentist Academy, and because of this, I am now able to deliver aligner treatment.’
Advice to aspiring dentists
When discussing what advice Chantej would offer to other clinicians – both overseas and considering a career in the UK, and to peers already practising dentistry in the UK – he commented: ‘So dentistry, regardless of what aspect of dentistry you provide, is (I would say) one of the most satisfying jobs on earth. You get to relieve somebody of their pain, you’re able to help people with their dental anxieties. I’m not talking about money, because there are other ways to make money – it’s the “helping the people” part which is of great importance to me.
‘When you work with a company like mydentist, you can always contact someone in the network for support or advice. With this kind of support, it’s easier to find your calling in dentistry, and if you do find something that interests you, there would be people to support you.’
On maintaining a healthy work-life balance so that Chantej could settle into his new life in the UK with his wife, he added: ‘I outline my own hours, which means I’ve got independence and flexibility. The main thing that takes up extra time is development, which you can obviously work to meet your own needs. Personally, I’ve done an implant course, have done multiple composite courses and am looking forward to doing further aligner courses in the future.’
Relocating to the UK
While relocating to a new country can be a daunting task, Chantej found that it can be a fairly smooth process with right people by your side, noting: ‘While I didn’t start my journey in the UK with mydentist, I’m aware that mydentist has helped about 1,600 clinicians from over 60 different countries, and is extremely experienced in sponsoring visas – which is amazing.
‘From my experience, I can say that all of my enjoyment, fulfilment and success as a dentist practising in the UK has been possible because of the incredible support from everyone I’ve worked with so far in my journey. Being part of a bigger network at mydentist is honouring and humbling and feels like I’m contributing to something with a deeper meaning.
‘The team at mydentist Avalon House has been welcoming from day one, always offering support wherever I needed it. If you are “a learning dentist” – all you have to do is knock on the door and someone will be there to help you. In the five-plus years I’ve worked for mydentist, I’ve never gone to another dentist asking for help and been told: “Sorry, I can’t help.”’
Chantej concluded: ‘Working at my dentist, I’ve been able to deepen my clinical knowledge, grow my confidence in dealing with complex cases, and improve my time management. The mentorship programme has played a vital role in helping me settle and deliver the dentistry that I do today, to the standard that I do.’
The mydentist mentorship programme is fully funded by mydentist, with more than 500 trained mentors across the UK. For more information on careers at mydentist, visit www.mydentist.co.uk/careers/dentist-jobs/.
This article is sponsored by mydentist.
