In September we caught up with Dr Humnah Javid, a newly qualified associate dentist at mydentist Glossop, who was about to embark on an exciting trip to Uganda alongside Dentaid, a charity that provides essential dental care to communities both here in the UK and overseas. Now that Humnah is home, we visited Glossop for an update on the trip – including some insight into what she learnt during her time abroad and her plans for the future.
It's good to see you again Humnah, for those who didn't see our last blog, can you introduce yourself?
“Hi everyone, my name's Humnah, I'm a self-employed associate dentist practising at mydentist Glossop. I qualified from the University of Sheffield in 2022, did my foundation training in Greater Manchester and have been with mydentist since I finished my foundation training.”
What do you like to do outside of work?
“I've got a really big family, so outside of work, I enjoy spending time with them, having people over and cooking for my loved ones. We're currently renovating our house, and we're doing a lot of painting and decorating – so that consumes all my spare time.”
Why did you choose a career in dentistry?
“I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare to give back to my patients and help people in my day-to-day life. Dentistry is a really rewarding career. The reason I love doing what I do is because I really enjoy helping people - I really enjoy doing community or charity work outside of work.”
We recently caught up ahead of your trip to Uganda with the charity Dentaid, now that your back, how was your trip?
“I'm so glad I did it - it's one of the best things I've ever done. I felt really nervous as a newly-qualified dentist – I didn't know if I had the skills to perform in Uganda. A lot of what we were doing was going to be extractions and as a newly qualified dentist, I didn't have loads of experience in that.
But another dentist that was on the trip with me who has years of experience. She was so kind and more than happy to help. I felt supported while I was there, especially with the team of really amazing Ugandan dentists who helped us as well.”
Can you give us a little more information on the background of the trip, for those who haven't seen our last blog?
“So, Dentaid is a charity that travels to lots of different countries providing dental aid and emergency care. The setup of this trip was essentially going out to rural communities, setting up clinics and helping the communities and anybody who needs support with their oral health. I wanted to get involved because I've been thinking about doing something like this for years and now that I've done it once, I'd love to do it again.
On our trip we were in the South of Uganda and visited a few of the rural communities in that area. We spent a couple of nights in each area visiting schools, orphanages, community practices and churches, and setting up clinics so that we could get started with the day.
Being away from home for 2 and a half weeks and then constantly travelling, spending every second with the team, you have to get along with each other and get to know each other quite quickly. I felt we all worked well together - everyone got on, everyone was helping each other. It was a really nice experience.”
What was the most memorable part of the trip?
“One of the most memorable experiences for me is the final day of clinics. We visited a school where the children were aged from about 3 to about 16 years old. The welcome that we received when we got to school was amazing. They got us all up on stage, we all had a bit of a dance, and we introduced ourselves. The atmosphere was brilliant, and the kids were all lovely.
Was there anything challenging about that day?
“It was a challenging day, treating children who are younger, between four or five years old, where trying to communicate was difficult. We travelled with some Ugandan dentists, but in certain the villages that we visited, they couldn't speak the same language as them because in Uganda the language varies according to the part of the region that you're in.
We did travel with some translators, but the English was quite limited. Sometimes we'd be trying to communicate something to the translator, to then communicate to the child, it created a three or even four-way conversation - which was difficult.
A lot of the children at the school had teeth that needed wobbling out and trying to communicate that and do that in a busy clinic with lots of other children, it was emotional and stressful at points. Even though there were times when I needed help and support, it was also really rewarding, and I was able to rely on the other clinicians on the trip.”
Did you learn anything on the trip that you can bring to your practice back home?
“One unexpected benefit of the trip is that my extractions skills have gone way up. Your clinical skills just get better. But also, just learning new ways to communicate, due to the language barrier, you kind of learn the skills to handle that as you go.
You can then adapt to those challenges and being some of those skills home. There are obviously patients at home that do have communication difficulties or might need to be communicated within a different way. One of the biggest things I learned was probably how to adapt to new situations.
On the trip, you're trying to set up a clinic out of an empty room, adapting to new situations and figuring out ways to work every day. It was nothing like working here. But you still get the job done and it just makes you realise how much we have here and how much you can adapt your practise.”
What advice can you offer to those who want to go on similar trips or perform similar charity work here in the UK?
“After my trip with Dentaid, I've realised I want to do more charity work. it's really rewarding coming to work every day and helping patients, I'd love to do more work with people who aren't as fortunate and those who aren't able to access a dentist.
There are charities, like Dentaid, that work with homeless people, they work with refugees, they work with loads of different communities and basically give people who can't access a dentist in the traditional way a chance to sort of get back on track, get out of pain if they're in pain, and start to address issues that they might have had for years.
If you're interested in doing community work, I'd say get involved. Since I got back, I've been recommending it to everybody. It's one of the best things I've ever done and it's such a once in a lifetime experience. It changes the way you view things - it even changes the way you practise when you get back home.”
What are your plans for the future – are there any other trips in the pipeline?
“After the Uganda trip, I'd love to do something similar again. I know that there are charities that also go to places like Malawi and Cambodia – I'd love to do those trips. For now, I'm focusing on working at home, to improve my skills and spend time with my patients here.”
Just a short walk away from Glossop train station, mydentist Glossop is a 3-surgery practice offering a range of both NHS and private treatment options. For additional information or to schedule an appointment, you can contact the team on 01457 865 241 or visit their practice page for more information. You can also browse our comprehensive treatment offering online or find your local mydentist practice today.