Case Study - Dentist

Background

Martin Galbraith holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from Queen's University, Belfast, and now runs his own National Health Service (NHS) dental practice at Strandtown in east Belfast. Here he explains how he decided on dentistry as a career.

"Becoming a dentist wasn't a career I was set on at school. I was good at science and maths at school and looked at a couple of career options, including medicine and dentistry, in my final year. I decided on dentistry largely because I didn't want to be a doctor. Dentistry appeared to be a profession with good and well paid career prospects. Virtually everybody has dental problems at some time, and dentists, therefore, are always likely to be in demand."

"I decided to apply for Dentistry degree at Queen's University (QUB). I had A grades at GCE in chemistry, maths and biology. The current entry requirement at QUB is three GCE As in subjects such as biology, chemistry and maths. It's a five-year course leading to the Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree. The course is a very practical one that covers every aspect of dentistry as required by patients."

"I then started work as an assistant dentist in a surgery in Larne immediately after graduating. Getting a job wasn't difficult because there are lots of opportunities throughout Northern Ireland for qualified dentists."

"After nine months there, I moved on to a dental surgery on Belfast's Castlereagh Road. This practice also had a surgery at Strandtown and I was subsequently offered an opportunity to buy this particular business. I jumped at the chance of becoming my own boss in an established and successful dental practice. It meant I had a chance to develop further a business that I had spent some considerable time in building up."

DENTIST