DentaltownUK April 2017 - 100

Students

Time management
among dental students -
Something to consider?

by SAHIL SHARMA, BDS4 dental student at King's College London

Would I be exaggerating if I were to say that
no other university experience compares to
the life of an average dental student?
As cliché as it may sound, it would
be difficult to match the exponential
professional growth seen by typical dental
students in such a short period of time.
In addition to providing patient centred
care, we inherently need to take responsibly
for our development, seeking inspiration
from within. From day one we are constantly
encouraged to seek new knowledge, remain
up to date and challenge ourselves to learn
new skills.
There is also an emphasis to differentiate
ourselves as undergraduates due to the
competitive environment in the profession.
Like any other student, we have desires to
partake in extra-circular activities and are
subject to a variety of personal circumstances.
With this potentially hectic lifestyle, a poorly
organised student may face extreme pressure
and burnout. This begs the question - must
we need to look more critically at our time
management?
Firstly, there is significant variation among
students and their ability to manage time.
Examples of good time management differ
among individuals and tips and strategies
may not be applicable to all.
The emotional intelligence (EI) of a
student has been suggested to influence
behaviour associated with good and bad time
management.

100

APRIL 2017 // dentaltownuk.com

Students with high emotional intelligence,
overcome setbacks more easily, and in the
process rely on good time management to
assist them. In contrast, lower EI is linked
with poorer organisation and less ability to
manage stress actively (Pau, Croucher et al.
2004)1.
Stress and time management appear to
have a mutual effect on each other. Time
management has long been cited as a leading
cause for stress amongst GDP's (Wilson,
Coward et al. 1998)2.
Students similarly cite lack of leisure time
due to high working demands as the top
contributor to stress (Pöhlmann, Jonas et
al. 2005)3. With more clinical exposure, we
should also aim to optimise clinical time
management through adequate planning
ensuring that patients are being treated safely.
Having an idea of how the day will pan
out, setting goals for treatment with patients
and appropriate handling of correspondence
help make a schedule smooth, lifting morale.
Final year students are also perhaps more
likely to distinguish the performance of
their peers regarding, efficiency and time
management, when compared to their
BDS2 counterparts (Tricio, Woolford et al.
2015)4. Most of the literature evaluating time
management intervention in students shows
positive changes in academic results.

One study, however focusing on dental
students showed no association between
strategies and performance (Mace, Tira
1999)5. Macan 19946 suggested that
perceived control of time could lower stress
in employees, leading to better individual
performances.
This effect was owed to simple time
management strategies, aimed at setting goals
and prioritising important tasks. It is widely
accepted, that the use of such strategies at the
very least improves health and reduce stress
(Häfner, Stock et al. 2015)7.
Looking at time management models, I am
particularly intrigued by the Pareto model. It
states that 80% of the results achieved should
come from 20% of the input. This highlights
the need for efficient, result-based work. This
works when investing the most time into
critical stages of a task.
The 20% could refer to the fine detail of
this aspect leaving the other 80% less critical
while appearing to be more important as it
is 'larger' (Craft, Leake 2002)8. Another
famous concept is that of the pickle jar
model. It describes a jar mainly holding
rocks (important tasks), pebbles (desirable
Team of dental students
and volunteers in
Honduras after a week
of running a brigade.
http://www.dentaltownuk.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK April 2017
