I have never been in a better headspace in my life
Dr Brett Burris has practised general dentistry in the United States for 16 years. Brett holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree and does implant surgery. He is 40 years old.
Brett’s Challenges
Brett wanted to take his quality of work from average to exceptional. He wanted to be able to produce the type of work he saw on the RipeGlobal Facebook page.
Brett wanted to decrease the stress that he felt in everyday practice - especially when things didn't go as planned or was running short on time.
He was doing the same procedures over and over and wanted to do more. “I was at a very motivated place in my life to be better and needed real learning - not just theoretical idea - to make the moves I wanted,” he said.
Brett thought that the full 4 modules of the Fellowship would be an excellent stepping stone to becoming a comprehensive clinical dentist. “If it did as it promised, then by the end of the two years I would be a Swiss army knife, clinically capable of doing many different things and at a very high level of quality.
Brett has only done 2 veneer cases in his career and has never been trained properly in the ways of doing veneers. He wanted to learn from the start how to do these well.
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Brett enrolled in Ripeglobal’s Fellowship in Restorative Dentistry course 2021/22.
How the fellowship helped Brett achieve his goals
“The largest single factor that has increased my clinical quality has come from introducing high-level photography. The camera is my own worst critic, and also the tool I use to share and learn with others, which makes my work improve. Another great learning tool has been posting on the RipeGlobal Facebook page. If I wasn't a part of the FRD and encouraged to post my very first assessment on the page I would have never taken that leap. This is a blessing that keeps on giving.
Gaining the confidence to add the rubber dam to almost all of my procedures has reduced my stress in the clinic the most. I viewed a rubber dam as a hindrance before doing the Fellowship, and now it is one of my greatest tools. I take patient management out of the equation with the rubber dam.
Meeting and interacting with the educators was such a wonderful surprise. The people I had put on a pedestal were real people after all. They were still master level clinicians and teachers, but they were also so generous and kind.
My fellow Fellowship family - the other attendees - is the greatest gift of this course. Together we help each other solve any challenge and learn collectively together. This has created a true multiplier to our learning.
The amount of growth I have seen in my skills is breathtaking to me. If I see that kind of growth in the next two modules I will become the renaissance dentist I envisioned."
How Brett’s practice has changed after studying The Fellowship
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An increase in Brett’s quality of work has led to a significant increase in his confidence. “My patients feel it when I speak with them about their care. My team knows without question that we are providing the best care. My treatment acceptance is going through the roof.”
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Brett no longer looks at the daily schedule and feels impending doom. He feels quietly confident because he has the knowledge to do what needs to be done, and the courage to never push further than what is reasonable. Equipped with more knowledge, Brett gives himself permission to not finish everything in one day. Instead, he can come back and impress, polish, prep or fill the others.
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Brett no longer doubts his decisions. “Even when everything falls apart - because it will - I no longer feel reactive or upset.”
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Brett feels certain that he is transforming into a better dentist because of the FRD. “This course is not theory learning - quite the opposite. It is drinking through a firehose of clinical education. It comes at us hard and fast with definite skills to learn and forces us to jump into the deep end with both feet. I NEVER would have made one-tenth of the progress that I have made compared to self-learning or taking other hands-on courses.”
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Brett has become confident and competent in the skills he has learned. His skills and confidence set him apart from other clinicians in his area. “As I grow I will become less and less in competition with anyone else but myself.”
After
Perspective
“My attitude toward dentistry and practice has never been better. I am legitimately enjoying every day I practice now. It is strange but I feel a calling to be a better and better dentist every day thanks to the FRD.
I want to share and help my fellow students. I want to really dig deep and see what type of care my patients need in order to achieve their goals and be able to do it every time, predictability and comfortably.
I want to be the best dentist I can be, and then get better than that. Above all that, I feel a renewed drive to just be a better person. By doing good and being a blessing to others helping and healing them I am driven to be more influential and generous to the world everywhere as I interact with it.”
Practice
- Brett has more freedom from financial stress due to his increased financial success.
- He is able to provide the best environment and help his team grow and become better.
- Brett gained self-confidence through interacting with dentists like him who shared not only their successes but also their insecurities.
- “I have never been in a better headspace in my life,” Brett said. “There are so many different variables at play here but it all adds up to a happier life. Doing better work and helping more people is part.”
Managing a busy dental practice with course demands
"The Fellowship requires a serious time commitment. To be able to achieve the goals of the program it would have to be. I believe that Lincoln says 4 hours a week, and I 100% believe it. I was concerned when I signed up about the time commitment on top of all of the other things in my life I have to juggle.
What I have found is that the design of the Fellowship allows me to fit it very neatly into my life. What has been very important to me is how far in advance we are given the lecture times, assessment due dates, and scheduled dates for hands-on training. The advance notice allows me to process and prepare in a way that doesn't disrupt my practice at all.
There is also great flexibility built into the program but also shown by the educators:
- If I cannot attend a lecture I can watch it on the portal at my own time.
- If I cannot get an assessment done on time I can file an extension and have no penalty for the delay.
- If I cannot attend the hands-on for my region then I am able to attend the other time for the Australian/Asian group.
This means that even though this is a very high priority for me, I do not have to make everything take a back seat to the schedule put out by the FRD team.”
Highlights of FRD
"I have no doubt that the trajectory of my career, as well as the trajectory of my life as a whole, has already been greatly changed for the better because of my participation in the FRD.
I am a better practitioner for my patients.
I am a better father and husband for my family.
I am just overall a better person than I was a year ago.
I know this is due to a lot of time and work put in by me, but there is absolutely an inflection point visible where I became an attendee in the Fellowship.
I will be forever grateful for the opportunity and will absolutely have relationships from this course for the rest of my life."
“My fellow students are the greatest gift of this course”
Click here for more information on the Fellowship in Restorative Dentistry!
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