Thank you for the article in the autumn issue of Vital, ‘Maintain an open dialogue with your team’ (page 13), about how dental nurses can become practice managers. That is exactly what I have done working for Meltham Dental Care near Huddersfield. I trained as a dental nurse and have always been lucky to work for principals who have encouraged continuing professional development for their team as they realise a well trained team is the key to a successful practice.

As with many dental nurses I slowly took on extra responsibility and began to see areas where improvements could be made and acted upon them. This led to me job-sharing the role of practice manager at Meltham Dental Care. In 2006 the practice was sold and the new principal asked me to develop my skills further by taking a formal qualification in the role. I decided to go for it and opted for the ILM level 7 Management Diploma which has been rewarding and has really helped me to improve and gain essential management skills. As practice manager of Meltham Dental Care I also increase my knowledge by attending BDPMA seminars, which have the added benefit of meeting other practice managers. I am looking forward to attending the marketing seminar in November.

I hope by reading this other practice managers will see the benefits of developing their team and dental nurses will see a career pathway they can take.

Vital is read by the whole team at Meltham Dental Care and is full of relevant, current and informative articles which help our team develop.

Joanne wins Beverly Hills Formula goodies worth £100.