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editor has the last word
SUCCESS IN THE PRACTICE
Dr. SuShant umre
Five years into practice
I thought I knew
everything, now some
four decades later I am
wiser and easily agree
that at best,
I am learning.
Recently at a social event while I was chatting with a group of fellow professionals, a
young dentist came up to me and showered me with flowery praises saying how she
was hugely inspired by my work and success. I must confess I was very pleased to
hear that. Praise boosts our self-esteem and triggers release of dopamine, the happy
hormone, more so when it comes from peers.
Professionally I have had opportunities to dabble in diverse activities and have
seized them. I founded a trust more than twenty years ago primarily designed to
create access to good dentistry for the underprivileged for free, and at the same
time help dentists learn and experience newer advanced science. I also head a
small pharmaceutical set up that markets oral formulations to dentists for more
than three decades. I have also had opportunity to head some dental societies and
manage their annual events. All these have been extremely enjoyable.
But when I look back at my career, I must say life has been most exciting in
the role of a clinical dentist. Compared to all other occupations, in clinical dental
practice I have tasted success on an everyday basis. I have felt very good and gratified
each time I performed a procedure successfully and made my patient happy.
At the same time, I have felt miserable when the outcome of my procedure
didn’t have the desired result or didn’t last the predicted period of time. But failures
taught me to get better, more importantly, to stay humble. Five years into practice I
thought I knew everything, now some four decades later I am wiser and easily agree
that at best, I am learning.
When I contemplate on goals of a good dentist, I get reminded of Bob Barkley’s
almost ancient quote which goes ‘Goal of dentistry is making patients worse at
the slowest pace’. That’s so true. And perhaps relevant to all medical sciences. So,
in reality all we are supposed to do is to attempt, as best as we can, to slow down
the process of deterioration of the patient’s health/ dentition. Therefore, there is no
reason to feel disconsolate if our solution didn’t last the ‘speculated’ period of time.
Because after all, it is a speculation.
My advice to young dentists would be to give it your best. Put your body and
soul in your effort. Success is not in the result. Success is in your endeavour, your
intention, your effort, that goes behind the noble thing that you are trying to do.
Once you have invested yourself completely, the result maybe not as significant; the
attempt is already a success. Because in reality, no one is in control of the result.
Success is that heady, happy hormone generating thing, which should be
enjoyed momentarily but one should not get attached to. Likewise, one shouldn’t
get obsessed with failure. In fact, failure is a great educator, makes you contemplate,
push your boundaries and energizes you. To quote Albert Einstein: “Failure is
success in progress”. Most importantly failures make you modest and re-evaluate
and re-learn.
Don’t stop learning. Our science is ever evolving. Today, we are really fortunate to
have abundant accessibility to continuing dental education. Continuing education
programs are being held in the remotest towns. Digitization has amplified it’s reach
by leaps and bounds. Luckily dentistry is a very visual science. We can communicate
very illustratively with help of pictures. Following some professional groups on
social media can also improve your exposure to the new. It also helps in sharing
your success and challenges with your contemporaries.
To sum up, Success is not a destination but an ongoing process. Don’t look
at what happened in the past. Be like water, keep flowing. And keep learning.
Happiness is in the moment.
Enjoy. Thrive.
Dental Practice i July-August 2023 i Vol 19 No 4 77