On the Spot!
Interview with Gayna Horridge RDN Cert. DPM
Gayna is the Practice Manager at the award-winning Cahill Dental Care Centre Ltd in Bolton. She started her career in Dentistry way back in 1990 and has had many achievements in her career so far including success in many areas of Dental Nursing and also co-writing a book on Dental Nursing. Gayna has recently been short-listed for "Practice Manager of the Year" at the Dental Awards 2011 which is taking place on May 6th.
Q/ Gayna, how and why did you get into Dentistry?
A/ Well, I began my career as a student dental nurse at Manchester Dental Hospital in 1990 where I completed a 2 year training programme. I found out about the course through my own dentist who my parents had always religiously taken me to every 6 months as a child. I really enjoyed the training course and completed my National and Hospital exams.
Q/ What is your experience of the dental practices you have worked at and what have been your highs and lows of nursing?
A/ Once I had completed my training, I ventured into the big wide world of general practice. This was very different from the hospital environment I was used to but I soon got into the swing of things and became eager to learn more. I have to say I do genuinely love my job but I do feel it has helped to be involved with the people I have worked with over the years- they haven't stood in the way of my ambitious nature and have allowed me to achieve what I have done to date.
Don't get me wrong, we all have our bad days, me included, but I wouldn't say I've had any real lows that have made me want to leave dentistry altogether.
Q/ What post-graduate courses have you done and why did you want to do them?
A/ At one point I quite fancied the idea of being a Hygienist. At that time it was a natural progression for a lot of Dental Nurses to move into dental hygiene so I completed the Certificate in Oral Health Education and the Certificate in Dental Radiography. By the time I had done these I had become quite friendly with some Dental Tutors and I thought this sounded quite interesting so decided not to pursure the path of a Hygienist.
Q/ So you decided to go down the route of teaching rather than dental hygiene?
A/ Yes. I looked into teaching further and found some courses I could do and the college where most of our trainee dental nurses attended at the time agreed to give me the required teaching hours.
I was worried that my employer wouldn't be happy about me pursuing another pathway as well as working in the practice but I was very well supported and went onto complete my Further and Adult Education Teaching certificates Levels 1 and 2, the Certificate in Education at Bolton University and also the Assessor Qualifications to enable me to be an assessor of the new NVQ qualification which had been phased in by this point.
I really enjoyed teaching others and taught for about 6 years until it was becoming difficult to juggle all my roles.
Becoming a tutor gave me a great opportunity to have a go at writing a book titled the Essential Guide to Dental Nursing, which myself and a few colleagues were involved in. We were approached by a publishing company as they wanted to break into the Dental Nursing market as well as the other medical professions they published for.
Q/ Thats fantastic! So how did you get into practice management? What course did you take and how did you find it?
A/ My role in the dental practice was evolving more and more and I was soon given the role of Practice Manager. Of course I wanted to learn more and completed the Certificate in Dental Practice Management which I achieved with distinction. I completed the course through the Dental Resource company which consisted of monthly workshops and assignments to complete. I really enjoyed this course and it was helpful to be with other Practice Managers to seek advice not only with the course but with the general day to day running of the practice.
Q/ What do you enjoy about practice management?
A/ I absolutely love my role and I am so glad that this is the way in which my career progressed. I love the every day challenge of the role and no 2 days are ever the same. I am lucky to be working in such a forward thinking and successful dental practice and do still get to keep my hand in the surgery as I work once a week with our Implanologist and Sedationist who has been with us for about 18 months. This is great because this type of treatment has always been my favourite. Because of this I recently completed the Certificate in Dental Sedation Nursing.
I love networking and sharing ideas with other practices. Though it is a challenging role, it is helped greatly by having such a motivated, enthusiastic and award winning team. I am also highly honoured myself to be shortlisted in the category of Practice Manager of the Year at the Dental Awards later this year and thank my colleagues for this.
Q/ What advice would you give to Dental Nurses wanting to develop their career further?
A/ For anyone wanting to further their career once they have become a qualified dental nurse, there are many pathways you can take. As you can see, I seem to have given most things a go until I found what was right for me. I am sure as the Dental Nurse role develops there will be more and more pathways out there for Nurses to take, with the most recent development of the combined Hygiene and Therapy courses and the new Orthodontic Therapy course.
Whichever path you decide to take, do your research and find out what is out there, where the courses are available and what they involve.
Thank you Gayna and good luck for 6th May!
