DentaltownUK Winter 2017 - 60

a day in the life

What time do you normally get up
on weekdays, and how far away
from work do you live?
This is the worst part of my job! I usually
wake up at 4:45 a.m. and I'm out of the house
by 5:30, because I live about 60 miles away
from work.
What do you eat for breakfast?
I don't usually have anything-just coffee,
which I don't end up finishing.

Name: Dr. David Radford
Age: 58
Job title: Director of clinical studies
at the University of Portsmouth
Dental Academy
Teaching responsibilities: PhD and
master's students supervision KCL and
Uni of Portsmouth. I oversee the
outreach programme for final year
dental student for KCLDI at the UPDA.
Past clinical and didactic teaching on
M Clin Dent and master's programmes
at KCLDI. Examiner MJDF (RCS), Dental
finals, Prosthodontics masters
programmes and IQE (GDC)
Where did you qualify from?
Guy's Dental Hospital in 1981
How would you sum yourself up in just
three words? Ambitious for my student
colleagues, level-headed and
passionate about what I do.

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60

WINTER 2017 // dentaltownuk.com

How do you travel to work?
By train. This is the most frustrating part
of my job, with Southern Rail disputes, often
at least three changes, and the train stops at
more than 24 stations.
What are your favourite areas of dentistry
and what do you find most challenging?
I've always been a forward-thinking
educator and have dedicated my career to
supporting students, ensuring they understand
what they're doing clinically and making
it happen for them on that particular day.
Has any specific patient stood out
for you during your career?
A medical lab technician had a resection
for an adenocarcinoma. He had a very large
resection and therefore a very large obturator.
Through the time I was caring for him-not
only prosthetic dental needs but also the
restorative clinical care-he taught me the
importance of working with patients.
Do you have any interest in business?
Do you think there's enough in the dental
curriculum about the business side of
running a dental practice?
I have about as much interest and acumen
in business as most of my student colleagues
have in their little finger. With all education,
I believe it's important to have it close to
where it's put into real practice.
A hands-on, clinical skills laboratorybased endodontic course sometimes has to

be followed up with clinical assessments
of those patients who require endodontic
therapy. This is sometimes not the case in
dental school, and I believe that of course in
Year 4 partially, more importantly in Year 5,
that the economics of dental care should be
introduced. That is where the unique nature of
the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy
is fortuitous; it relies on a live NHS PDS
contract, so students have to understand the
rules concerning the contract, the limitations
of the current contact, and how to relate to
the Business Services Authority via a live
computerised clinical records package.
What are your longer-term ambitions?
The continued development of UPDA-
not just in terms of the educational progression
we've published in the British Dental
Journal about including belongingness and
empowerment in dental education, but also
the impact that the academy has through the
students' care in the community is having
on the underserved. For example, there's an
exciting collaboration with the school of
pharmacy that performs health screenings
for the homeless in the city, with the help
of final-year dental, hygiene therapyand
pharmacy students-true interprofessional
education in the delivery of care!
What are the major challenges that the
future of dentistry has in store for us?
As pressures on the public sector continue
to be stretched, it will be the need for patients
to appreciate that dentistry costs money.
Patients currently think private dentistry
is expensive, and perhaps do not appreciate
where the costs lie. Both NHS and private
practices have to pay the cleaners, for the
maintenance of equipment, and the reception
and management staff to ensure there's good
care provision. They also have to ensure the
practice is fully compliant with the Care
Quality Commission-and that all costs
money! ■
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK Winter 2017
