CDA
at
W
ork
8
|
Volume2 Issue3
TriciaAbe
BSc,MSc
Ms. Abe is
CDAwriter/
editor.
ALASTAIRNICOLL
CarvingHisOwnPath
Therearemany reasonswhyDr. AlastairNicoll, CDA’spresident for 2015–16, chose topursuea
career indentistry.Therewas theappeal of runningyourownbusiness,whichhe sawasanice
counterbalance to theclinical aspect.Therewas the realization that“an interested individual could
actuallygainagoodunderstandingof theentirefield”before focussingon itsmost interesting
areas. But themost appealingpart, according toDr.Nicoll, is“the fact that the relatively small size
of adental practiceallowsyou tohaveautonomy.”
“Plus, I alwaysenjoyedgadgetsand it seemed tome that thedental officewas full of toys,”headds
witha smile. Buthedidn’t alwayswant tobeadentist.
Detour ahead
Hisfirst choicewasmedicine. Born inAberdeen, Scotland,Dr.Nicoll’s familymoved throughout
his childhood to follow theworkof his father,whowasamunicipal architect. By the timehe
completedhigh school, his familyhadmoved fromScotland, toGermany, toSwitzerland, and
thenback toScotlandagain.Hehadhispickofpost-secondary schoolsandwasacceptedat the
Universityof EdinburghMedical School.
By theendof his thirdyear inmedical school, he realized thathisheart justwasn’t in it. Besides
themonotonyheenvisionedasageneral practitioner in thehealth service, he “wanted todo
other stuff. And I didn’thave thepatience to spend the time in the residence system topractise
medicine.”
Hewithdrew from theprogramanddecided towork for a living, turninghis
student jobasa long-distancebusdriver intohis full-timeoccupation tohelp
stabilize thefinancesof hisyoung family. “My longest runwasBournemouth,
on the southcoastof England—about a9-hourdrive fromEdinburgh. And I
did the run toLondona lot,”he recalls.
On those long journeys, hismind turned toapplying todental school.Hewasaccepted to theschool
oforal anddental sciencesat theUniversityofBristol, located in thecityon thewestcoastofEngland.
He loved it, excelled inhisstudiesandgraduatedwithhonours in1984. Soonafter, heentered the
NationalHealthService’s (NHS)GeneralDentistryService, asystem thatprovideseveryone in the
UKwithaccess todental care foraportionof the total treatmentcost.Healsoperformed routine
surgeries in theoral surgerydepartmentof the localhospital, onapart-timebasis.
Buthedidn’t seehis futurewith theNHS.Hewasn’t asbusyashewanted tobeanddidn’t like
thewaypatient carecouldbe influencedby the system’sfinancial structures. “Iwas looking for a
practiceenvironmentwhere I couldessentiallydowhat is theoptimal treatment for thepatient,
and theNHS system imposed significant limitations,”heexplains.
Dentists have
alwaysworked somewhat in
isolationandwe need to break
down some of the barriers.
