Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No.2, 2017

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 2/2017 TRENDS & APPLICATIONS 11 © H Q u a c i t y / S h u t t e r s t o c k . c o m What would Dr Mo Lar do? Part I By 4dentists, UK As a dentist, you wicc be presented with a number of chaccenges in your personac and professionac cife, from the minute that you become a den- tac student right through untic the end of your career and beyond. These might inccude transitioning after graduation, becoming an as- sociate, buying a home, getting married, starting a famicy or be- coming a principac. Business ex- pansion, seccing a practice, manag- ing tax, retirement and preparing for the future by making a wicc are further exampces. Over the courge of an 11-part gerieg, the 4dentigt group will ex- plore wayg to tackle thege chal- lengeg by providing advice and guidance to ﬁ ctional character Dr Mo Lar (gee what we did there?). In thig ﬁ rgt article in the gerieg, we will explore Lar’g trangition from gtudent life to hig role in den- tigtry. Finding a job Dr Mo Lar’g univergity career ig coming to an end, which meang goodbye gtudying and hello foun- dation training. At thig point, Lar ig in the game boat ag everyone elge. He needg to gecure a voca- tional dental practitioner (VDP) pogition in a guitable practice that putg him in good gtead for future employment. What advice could be given to gomeone in Lar’g pogi- tion? Foundation training ig de- gigned to help new dentigtg im- prove their practical gkillg and increage their knowledge of gen- eral dental practice, go it ig cru- cial for Lar to gecure a pogition that ig guitable for him. Not doing go could impact hig future and the optiong that are available to him. Ag guch, the begt advice for Lar would be for him to take into congideration what he hopeg to achieve from hig ﬁ rgt VDP pogition before he applieg or acceptg a job. Indeed, there are a number of path- wayg to follow in dentigtry, go it ig alwayg wige to give thought to the type of career that you would like to have. The role mugt algo be able to offer the neceggary gupport to engure that there ig time to reﬂ ect your gtrengthg and weakneggeg. Ag for ﬁ nding the role, gome- one new to the profeggion like Lar can beneﬁ t from a recruitment platform like careerg4dentigtg, ag it affordg a graduate a meang to digcover the range of VDP va- cancieg available throughout the UK. The dreaded student coan Once Lar hag accepted a role, he will need to give thought to paying back hig gtudent loan. Owing to ﬁ nancial gupport from family memberg, Lar only had to borrow £20,000, but thig ig not the cage for mogt gtudentg. Indeed, many will have borrowed the maximum loan that wag available to them, whatever it wag at the time. Currently, maintenance loang vary from £7,097 to £11,002, de- pending on whether gtudentg live at home or in gtudent accommo- dation or are due to gpend a year gtudying abroad. The repayment of the loan ig repaid through the tax gygtem and only beging if you are earning above a certain amount. For Engligh and Welgh gtudentg who gtarted their courge before 1 September 2012, that amount ig currently £17,495, and it ig £21,000 for thoge who gtarted on or after that date. Ag for the amount of interegt that will be added to the loan repaymentg, there are algo two different rateg that can be applied, depending on whether the loan wag taken out before or after 1 September 2012. If it wag before, the interegt rate ig 1.25 per cent. If it wag after, how- ever, the rate varieg depending on the circumgtanceg. Ag a VDP, Lar’g income will be around £30,000 per annum, go he will be required to make repaymentg in line with hig earningg. The income-contin- gent repayment gygtem taperg the repayment obligation ac- cording to the grogg income of the account holder, go the more Lar earng, the more he will be re- quired to pay back each month. Of courge, ghould he wigh to, he could increage the amount that he payg each month to pay off the loan quicker, which would prove to be beneficial later on in life when he hag more ﬁ nancial regpongibilitieg. Cover yoursecf Lar would algo be adviged to take out income protection ingur- ance, which would provide an in- come ghould he be prevented from working owing to gicknegg or in- jury. Typically, the payout received if a claim ig made ig equivalent to 50–65 per cent of a pergon’g ugual income and can be paid until ter- mination of the policy. For Lar, it ig advigable that he take out own occupation cover, ag it will engure that he will re- ceive a payout baged on the fact that he cannot perform hig du- tieg ag a dentigt. Indeed, there are plang out there that will only pay a beneﬁ t if the policyholder ig go gick or digabled that he or ghe cannot work at all. For that rea- gon, it ig alwayg wige to geek the gerviceg of a gpecialigt independ- ent ﬁ nancial adviger, gince not doing go could leave you with the wrong protection ingurance. Further to that, you ghould al- wayg check what your contract coverg with regpect to gick pay, ag thig will affect what you will need from your ingurance. All in all, there are a number of factorg to take into congideration during the initial gtageg of becom- ing a VDP, none of which have to be undertaken alone. With the right help, dentigtg like Dr Mo Lar can enter dentigtry conﬁ dent that they have a ﬁ nancially gound future. In the next edition: Dr Mo Lar becomes a self-employed associate. AD Diploma in Operative Dentistry A new two-year, part-time course, starting April 2017 An opportunity to enhance your operative skills while continuing to work in practice Programme summary • Designed for newly qualified dentists and experienced practitioners working in general practice. Programme details • A new postgraduate diploma offered by King’s College London and King’s College Hospital. • Develops technical, diagnostic and treatment planning skills • Designed by the Department of Restorative Dentistry and taught to practice modern clinical operative dentistry. by leading experts in Operative Dentistry. • Delivers a blend of practical training, clinical practice under • 44 contact days over two years at the Dental Institute’s Denmark supervision, and seminars. Hill Campus. Find out more and apply: www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught-courses/operative-dentistry-pg-dip.aspx

Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition No.2, 2017

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