Page 69 - RADC 2020

responsible for ensuring they display the high standards required in a Phase 2 training establishment.
Cpl Chance
This opportunity didn’t happen by “Chance”, pardon the pun. After missing out on my Phase 1 posting as a section commander due to Achilles surgery, I Intentionally
put myself forward for all opportunities beyond the daily grind! I volunteered for a 6-month trawl into the Training Management Division (TMD) in Defence Medical Services (Whittington) as a temporary augmentee. I was drafted in to assist with the fluctuating number of medical trainees held within TMD, all awaiting input onto their bespoke medical courses. I used this opportunity to deliver oral health presentations, Six Section Battle drills and operational experience from my infantry years, emphasising the crucial link between operational effectiveness and dental fitness. This opportunity led to my current role as a Phase 2 Instructor.
Operating in a tri-service environment broadened my scope of the variations
in training delivery and opened my eyes considerably to the “Modus Operandi” of
the other medical cap badges in particular “Medics” and trust me we’re better, fact! Lol.
After Herrick 10 and the Royal Wedding, being a Phase 2 Instructor is amongst
the most impacting assignments I’ve undertaken, as your training and influence have the potential to span a full career. It is a very rewarding role!
Cpl Cooling
Having gone through Basic Dental Nurse training at the then DDATE Aldershot
(all hail portacabin and Duchess of Kent accommodation block), I am not only
filled with a sense of nostalgia but also an immense pride for my profession and the roads traversed to get here. I believe it is both a privilege and an honour to ensure that dental nurse students, who arrive with a lot of uncertainty but with zeal to learn, have their thirst for knowledge quenched and are guided towards their full development.
From my very first assignment at DC Colchester, I was entrusted with providing some aspects of training for individuals going through the Clinical Acquaintance Module phase of dental nurse training. Over time I have continued to provide information, advice and guidance to my colleagues, in addition to assuming formal trainer roles.
As I look back in time, I believe it was the instructors who taught me in Phase 2, which instilled a reverence for learning in me and inspired me to be a trainer. My potential for instructing was identified by my chain of command in the various locations I have been assigned and this was highlighted in my reports.
During my time at DMA(W), I had the honour to apply for and become a National
Examining Board for Dental Nurses (NEBDN) Examiner, thus expanding my role as an instructor. This role enabled me to give something back to the Dental Training School by ensuring that our Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are in line with national best practice. This helped the dental training team run OSCE workshops that had a hundred percent pass rate.
Alongside Phase 2 and Joint Dental Practice Managers’ course delivery training, I have also been able to complete the NEBDN Oral Health Advisor’s course, run by DPHC Dental Northern Region. This additional training has only enhanced my contribution to DMA(W) by enabling me to carry out wider community activity. Becoming a Defence Trainer Supervisor has also meant
I am able to provide comprehensive tri- service instructor support.
Whilst at DMA(W) I’ve also become involved in Armed Forces extracurricular activities. I was lucky enough to have been a flag bearer for Wayne Rooney’s final match against the United States of America alongside other Tri-service counterparts. I have been able to play discus and throw javelin for the Team DMA (W) at a regional sports meet. I even made my netball debut as part of the DMA (W) Team that ultimately attained third place out of seventeen AMS netball teams.
The Dental Nurse Instructor role has
not only been fulfilling professionally but
has given me a profound sense of pride produced by the ability to witness the student dental nurses’ journey through
to what I sincerely hope will be a most rewarding profession for all that I have
had the courtesy to instruct. It underlined just how vital mine, and every other dental healthcare professional’s role in the tri- services, is to ensure we are ready for whatever the world throws at us. But above all, I value the people I have met throughout my service. That is particularly true now that I get to meet individuals who are just at the start of their careers. Working with so many amazing people, I have learnt that there is creativity in every individual and the potential to achieve great things, which we in the
tri-service are best placed to unleash. And that is why I am so committed to being an Instructor.
Phase 3 Promotions Instructor
Sgt Willis
As promotions instructor my role involves: • Delivering training for Army
Leadership Development Programme (ALDP) covering all areas from classroom to field.
• Conducting Defence Workplace Training on CMT1 course.
• Teaching Cross Infection Control on the CMT class 3 reserve course.
• Instructing on the Joint Practice Managers Course.
• Ensuring safety, discipline and welfare of all course trainees during a course either as course manager SMQC/JMCQ or section commander.
• Carrying out SNCO duties, assisting the orderly officer to ensure the welfare and discipline of all trainees within DCHET during silent hours.
• Reviewing training objectives and give updated feedback to ALDP.
• Being an under 18 mentor.
• Being Defence Training lead for my
“Looks like I’ve gained another one in my section... Prepare to mooooooove!”.
RADC BULLETIN 2020 67