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For new graduates seeking entry-level jobs in the dental profession, the quality of workplace mentoring on offer is an important consideration. By John Burfitt
A clear message has emerged in recent years about the priorities of dental graduates about to enter the workforce—strong mentorship is top of the list when seeking employment.
The transition from academic life to clinical practice is often exhilarating and daunting in equal measure, and a time when strong leadership and clear direction is essential. It’s also when prioritising dedicated mentorship can make the world of difference to a new dental career.
Rhiannon Harvey is about to enter her final year of study at the University of Sydney Dental School and says discussions about career mentorship in the workplace is prevalent among her peers. “It’s clear that a workplace offering a strong approach to mentoring is the first priority among the students I speak with, and many are already putting out feelers to find the best places to land jobs in the future,” she says.
“I think we graduate from dental school with a good baseline of solid skills, but there is still so much to learn with a whole range of procedures and professional practice, and that is when having a good mentor is so important. I don’t think anyone in their first job wants to find themselves feeling they have bitten of more than they can chew without having a good mentor to back them up and show the way.”
Dr Phil Burke, unit of study co-ordinator at the University of Sydney Dental School, agrees. “Mentorship has emerged as a hugely significant element in new graduates’ decision-making process when deciding who to go to work with,” he says. “To not understand from the outset just how important this is could lead to issues down the track both for the employer and the new team member.
“It’s often something graduates will be upfront about and will want to discuss during a job interview. And it should not be interpreted as being demanding; if anything, it shows just how dedicated they are to learning and the development of their skills.”
Mentoring is defined by the US company Mentor Management as: ‘A professional relationship in which an experienced person (the mentor) assists another (the mentee) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less experienced person’s professional and personal growth.”
Dr Burke says the students he works with are looking for a supportive workplace culture with principal dentists who have the time and patience to support the learning of new dentists as they become established in their professional role.
“They want a workplace where there’s an understanding they will want to ask questions, sit in on procedures, be allowed to undertake new opportunities and be directed where necessary,” he says. “They want support as they do so, and feedback on how they are going, as well as how to do it better.
It’s clear that a workplace offering a strong approach to mentoring is the first priority among the students I speak with, and many are already putting out feelers to find the best places to land jobs in the future.
Rhiannon Harvey, dental student
“Now that takes time and commitment from a mentor who is willing to offer all of that, but the end result could be a confident, well-skilled and highly competent young dentist who, in time, becomes a major asset to the practice.”
Bupa Dental Care has just launched its 2025 Graduate Program, a 12-month initiative that offers new graduates a practical and supported learning experience by matching graduates with a dedicated mentor from one of 1100 dentists within the 168 Bupa practices across the country.
Bupa Dental Care director Guneet Sawhney says the program has been designed to offer the new breed of young dentists the level of support they want. “A key part of this development is from our experienced dentists who are eager to educate, support and share skills based on a graduate’s individual needs and interests,” Sawhney says. “It’s a flexible program that delivers meaningful and practical guidance and continues to support young dentists in living up to their full potential.”
Dr John Schaefer at Barossa Dental in South Australia, part of the Bupa network, has hired graduate dentists through the Bupa program for the past two years and has also employed many other graduates since 2005.
He says providing a structured approach to mentoring, which includes regular treatment demonstrations, feedback sessions and a flexible approach to additional CPD and further tertiary studies, has proven critical to the success of the young dentists he has employed.
“I’m officially the mentor, but all our senior dentists also play a role in supporting the new dentists to find their way through the various processes they are presented with,” he says. “It’s a part of our culture and it does make a difference to helping the new dentists settle in. If there’s a patient or a case that can get a little tricky, the new dentist always knows they have someone to go to who will assist and direct them in the best way to handle the situation. It’s an evolving process and it does take time, but it’s usually not too long before we see success.”
Providing a robust approach to mentoring that delivers on the expectations of graduates can also play a vital role in staff retention.
“Providing what you have promised is critical in terms of retention as too often we hear of a scenario where a graduate has joined a new practice with the promise of strong mentoring but left within a year because it has not been taken seriously,” Dr Burke says.
“New graduates present a significant ethical insight into why they want to become dentists, and to keep learning to improve oral health outcomes of patients—and want to be in a practice that is supportive of that concept. If they don’t find that, no-one should be too surprised if they move on to a place that does.”
