Riz Dentis-Tree!
I am very excited to see you here and thank you for your time! I am Ishara Rizwana Hameed, Riz for short. Welcome to my world and dream!
I am a dentist by profession, more specifically - a specialist prosthodontist. I love my job, always have and I believe it is one of the noblest and best profession to be in. In recent times I have come across many a dentist, make difficult decisions of a career change or not working at all. I am hoping to change that opinion!
The ‘LOCKDOWN’ has given wings to a long-standing dream to take shape and grow…. I have always wanted to share my knowledge of how the dentists can help themselves come to love the job as much as I do…. And this is my humble effort towards it.
This is only to be used as a reference and to help give you ideas, I hope you will not hold me responsible for any human errors mistakes/changes in exams/costs - this is only my understanding of the system and my approach to things - Please do your own due diligence.
When general dentistry became un-challenging even with added skills like facial aesthetics, short term orthodontics, I.V sedation and the lot... I decided to take the plunge and applied to do my Masters in Prosthodontics. After a devastating rejection the first time around from all three colleges I applied to, I was focused and determined to study at King’s College London. I got admission to MclinDent Prosthodontics in 2014, which I completed last year.
All the things I think of as ‘wish someone told me when I started...’ has been penned down. If this helps some of you appreciate dentistry more and help you achieve better career dreams, it would be mission accomplished for me!
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To gain your confidence to invest your time in me and to motivate you to DREAM! You will not regret it!
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Completed BDS in 2002 from Yenepoya Dental College(YDC), Mangalore which was at the time part of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Banglore. It is now a deemed university.
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Did my Senior House Surgency for 6 months in the Department of OMFS, Kottayam Dental College, Kerala. - 2003
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Worked in Navi Mumbai for around a year and a bit.
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Migrated to the UK in 2005 looking for new pastures and in hope for a post-graduation. Completed the conversion exams - IQE (this was the predecessor of ORE) and started working in early 2007.
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Completed MJDF by Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2008.
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Examiner for MJDF Exams - Part 2, for 8 years till 2017.
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Worked in and around Birmingham in different practices from 2007 - 2014.
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More than 300 verifiable course hours in 2 years did not give me the confidence and understanding I was aiming for, so I decided to do my specialisation. (All the CPD was not a total waste of time as it made me realise that Prosthodontics and Implants were the way forward for me.)
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Applied in 2012 to all 3 London colleges that ran a speciality in Prosthodontics - and was rejected from all 3.
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I was determined not to give up and give in to the competition. So I re-evaluated my strategy, arranged meetings and college visits, did a lot of research on SOP and worked hard on my CV and Interview skills.
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Reapplied in 2013 - to only 2 colleges. My eyes were set on King’s College London (KCL) but I did apply to Queen Mary's College (QMCL) too. (ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B)
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I got accepted by, both colleges, and I picked KCL.
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I joined for MClinDent Prosthodontics at KCL - it was a 4 year course that I enrolled part-time with 3 days classes a week. Squeezed in a few house moves along with school moves for my older boy, bought a Dental Practice, had a second baby and did a 9-months stint in India. Commuted 4 hours daily for 2 years from Cambridge to London, while working part-time. And I finally completed my course in Sept 2019. (Whoop Whoop!).
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KCL is now ranked no.1 in the QS World Ranking 2020 for dentistry.
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I am one among the 444 (that was my YDC college roll number too!!) Specialist Prosthodontists in the UK, 103rd in the female list when I joined in 2019
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Proud to have the hard-earned post nominals: BDS, MJDF(RCS), MClinDent, MPros (RCS Ed
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My thesis was on ‘The Combined Effect of Attrition and Erosion on Tooth Enamel’ - So I know a lot about these two diseases of teeth - which are also one among the most prevalent diseases of the tooth structure.
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I work as a specialist at our practice in Kings Lynn and at the Guildhall Dental Practice, in Bury St Edmunds. I also work as a GDP at an NHS practice in Ely.
The 'WHY' for me?
TO HELP UNLOCK THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF THE DENTIST IN YOU.
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Dentists are facing a demand v/s supply CRISIS.
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There are more dentists than required being mass-produced from universities across the world, particularly India, and unfortunately with no clear guidance - many are doing post-graduation, starting clinics, migrating without having a clear plan and are now thinking 'wish I knew'!!
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For years, I have served as a useful source to those seeking inspiration, help, or advice about migrating to the UK or doing post-graduation here.
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I have finally decided to own that role and be purposeful about it.
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The COVID Pandemic 2020, has given me that time I needed to finally put it all into black and white.
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To share the information and experience I have gathered over the years to help and guide young dentists.
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I believe that each of us have to awaken and realise our potential within. Do not let ‘inertia to change things’ or the ‘dampened hope’ take over your life. You are who you really want to be.
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Age/Sex/Circumstance/Failures/Disabilities - none of that should stand in your way - Turn each of that into your unique USP !!
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I am a person of average intelligence and not as hard working as many others! But I am one hell of a dreamer and my focus is unwavering. I never let myself slip away from my dream and I pursue it relentlessly.
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Life is hard: marriage, children, finance, our everyday responsibilities etc may make things harder but not impossible. I want to be able to motivate everyone, especially the women to ‘dare to dream’.
What I intend to bring to the table?
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My aim is to open your eyes to the possibilities and opportunities available and the different routes you can take to migrate to different countries in the world, like I did.
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Guide you to the best of my knowledge; to understand the different post-graduate options available.
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Make you aware of the different membership and fellowship programs available from the various Royal Colleges.
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Share the knowledge, tips, tricks and methods in dentistry that I have gained over the 18 years of my dental career.
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Discuss the different cases I have done with explanations and videos.
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Tell you about the research I do before buying any new equipment or dental material.
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Part my understanding of evidence-based dentistry and introduce you to the most relevant research papers.
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Suggest relevant ‘study material ‘ needed to pass different exams.
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Tips on writing your Statement of Purpose (SOP), Curriculum Vitae (CV), Personal Development Plan (PDP).
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Preparing for an Interview/English language skills test (IELTS/TOFEL)
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Experience from Senior House Surgency/Externship at different colleges.
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Spread some of my ‘GYAN’ as a 40-year-old, having had many good and some bad experiences in life... which maybe can help others.
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I am quite new to the Implant world (with only 9 cases under my belt - from beginning to end - planned, placed and restored) so you can follow me on my journey as I explore and develop my skills. I have been lucky to get a mentor like ‘Sam Mohamed’ who is my guide into the surgical implant world. Prosthodontics has taught me how to confidently restore implants. But surgical implantology is a vast ocean - no way to learn it other than to take the plunge!
Where to find all this?
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Videos on my Youtube and IGTV channel - rizdentist - subscribe to it if you think it will help you gain some perspective and knowledge.
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Blogs on this website - so you can have in-depth knowledge and details of where you can find all the relevant information to grow your dental career.
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Follow me on Instagram to see what I am up to and the different cases I am working on and snippets of the blogs.
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To let you into my world of dentistry and motivating thoughts and a glimpse of my take on current affairs of the world.
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You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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I am a social animal and thrive on meeting people and interacting with them - if you would like to connect with me send a DM me on my Insta handle. You are most welcome to meet me here in the UK, or when I come to India - which is mostly every July/August.(Of course now COVID DICTATES!) - or maybe if a few of you all want to join together we could do a zoom call too... one to one would be too much so please do not bombard me with requests!!
How?
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‘Pathfinder Dentistry’ (PD) for young dentists - a guide about moving to different countries, courses, upskilling and understanding the business of dentistry.
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‘Riz-Dento-Pedia’(RDP) for general public awareness - to provide trustworthy dentistry information for the general public to help make informed decisions about the different aspects of dentistry. From cleaning teeth, prevention and possible treatment options.
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Riz-Dento-pedia (RDP) in Malayalam.
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Riz Explorer- for information sharing that is related to materials, methods, equipment, evidence and concepts in dentistry - packaged in an easy-to-understand way.
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‘Riz Implantology Diaries ’(RID) - a newbie's journey into the world of implant dentistry.
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‘Ichu speaks’ (IS) - Insights into the personal 'me' without the dentist's cap.