Letters to the Editor

The recent guest editorial entitled, ‘Work Experience – Why should we bother?’ (Dent Update 2020; 47: 183-185) exemplifies the difficulties, of the not-so-distant past, that I encountered in securing work experience as a sixth form student. I can recall contacting numerous NHS and mixed dental practices, in addition to dental laboratories, hospitals, care homes and hospices, in the hope to shadow clinicians, technicians and to volunteer in helping those most in need of care. The list of perceived barriers were all very familiar responses that I received, often unsupported by an explanation, even on request. I thank Dr Joanna Batt for myth-busting these common misconceptions and hope this message will reach a number of dental practitioners, hesitant to facilitate potentially ‘life changing’ opportunities for students. To extrapolate my personal experiences, I speculate that the acceptance rate for work experience applications from students to dental practices is seemingly low. Work experience is often the most preliminary exposure students will have with the profession. The inability of practitioners to offer these opportunities risk discouraging future cohorts to pursue careers in dentistry.