Whilst 6 years down the line on a neurosurgery ward you have people shooting a code red where you have to perform CPR and the patient is dying. For me, medical school really changed my perspective and I started to appreciate life more.
Personally, I feel like dental school is quite integrated with their own world of the periodontium and you end up having quite a small perception and so I feel like there should be more medicine incorporation within the dental world.
How was your family life affected with your pathway?
I actually ended up marrying late- unfortunately I spent most of my life single because I was far from my home country and academia had taken up most of my time. Now I cant imagine life without my kids and I am actually grateful because they changed my whole outlook on life- earlier on in my life, I was completely career oriented so even if I had had kids, who knows, maybe they might have been neglected. I just believe that things are just going to end up working out they way they want to.
Now by this point, you had been in the UK for 18 years and you decided to go back and settle in Bahrain, how was this transition back to home?
Bahrain has alwas been my home and I was of that perspective that when I was in the UK my social life was on a hiatus and things would return back to normal once I went home. But I was fortunate enough to keep travelling between Bahrain and the Uk so it wasnt too daunting. Additionally, im still in close contact with my colleagues in the UK and it gives mepride to be able to bridge the gap between bahrain and the Uk in this way.
How was working like a maxillofacial surgeon in Bahrain?
At that point, I was only doubly qualified maxillofacial surgeon. Since the Second World War, you have the dental and the medical directive and because this pathway is too long, in the Middle East, they allow dental qualified oral surgeons to practice as maxillofacial surgeons however their scope of practice is limited so they end up doing oral surgery cases.
Therefore to the public, there is really watered down version of maxillofacial surgeons, its much better in Saudi and Egypt where there is a mandatory double qualification-
But it sincerely took me 6 to 7 years to establish a service that understands the importance of double qualification. I am now in a position where there are ENT rotators that come and train under me as well as the dental and medical trainees.
You can find out more about this on my paper in British Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery, November 2020 publication on the importance of a dual qualification for maxillofacial.
If it was so difficult to place the importance of a double qualification in Bahrain, do you think you would be better off working in the UK?
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No, it would probably take me longer to achieve what I have achieved had I been in the Uk. It was hard but I was the only double qualified surgeon. I proved my practical skills in doing surgeries such as raising flaps, reconstruction of faces and once a few people understood the need for maxillofacial surgeons, I became more noticeable and got my own endorsements.
Do you have any regrets?
We have all done alot of mistakes but even the most horrific ones, I wouldn't change.
What was your biggest life challenge?
Convincing my peers in bahrain from government, sponsorship standpoint that is worth continuing my double qualifications. I was constantly you offered positions where I could become consultant straight out- very tempting offers that were difficult to turn down.
What is your greatest life advice?
It doesn't matter if you're a dentist or surgeon, don't loose your empathy and sympathy because that goes a long way when you treat your patients. You need to know that whatever decision you make, the patient would live with for the rest of their lives.