GP receptionist vs dental nursing

[unicornbubbles]

I've seen both jobs advertised quite frequently lately and I'm considering applying for both.

Which would you say is the better career? Looks like they both start on minimum wage though 😞

You will need to sit an exam for dental nursing if your not qualified so you may start off on apprentice wages which is low

Oh really? Would it not even be minimum wage?

Dental nursing possibly offer more opportunities. Lots of practices offer minimum wage jobs to train you up and let you do one of the recognised courses part time. Entry requirements for dental nursing courses are low (2 GCSEs).

You can go on to do a hygienist, dental therapist or sedationist with further training (degree). Your dental nursing qualification can help you access these courses if you don't have school level qualifications.

GP receptionsists don't typically cross over into clinical careers but stay on the admin side - becoming medical secretaries, practice managers and sometimes moving into commissioning.

I guess it comes down whether you want clinical patient contact or just people contact?

I went to the hygienist (private) yesterday and paid £98 for a 30 min appt. It got me googling. A central london hygienist can common a salaried job in excess of £75k.

That's more than the registrars (medically qualified, 7+ years postgraduate experience with postgraduate exams) earn. It's less than I currently earn (NHS Consultant 10+ yrs experience) but the responsibility levels won't be remotely comparable.

I'm totally hacked off with clinical life at the moment and it really made me stop and think about what I want to do for the next 15 years.

To put into context it is way more than I have ever earned as a very experienced dentist in mostly private practice with additional training and inspection roles.

Dental nurses are leaving in droves , the pay is not commensurate with the responsibility involved (registration with GDC and CPD requirements) and dental practice is a very high pressure environment. Interestingly one of my friends , a very highly qualified dental nurse has just changed to gp receptionist and is enjoying it so far.

If you do go in for dental nursing you are very likely to be taken on as an apprentice with resulting low wages . However you will never be out of a job , particularly if you can drive .

Remember you get the NHS pension when I interviewed for a couple of GP Receptionist roles previously, (this is what I was told) and I'm sure if memory serves me right, one surgery even said you can get a pay rise of so many months doing well in the role.

I recently worked for a call centre with a medical/clinical service to it and most of the people who were on training were ex. GP receptionists more than dental.

An NHS trust near me is having two open days over the next month where you can come away with offers on the day for Receptionists. Might be worth looking into to see if your nhs trust is doing the same or attending job fairs etc.

Thanks everyone, I think I might apply for a few and see what they both have to offer. I want to go for one that's going to have the most opportunities in the long run x

I'm a GP receptionist and just popped on to say that although the pay is crap, it's an interesting and varied job, and shifts whizz by because it's busy.
At our surgery a typical shift will be broken down into various tasks - say a couple of hours of answering the phone and dealing with face to face inquiries, an hour of putting prescriptions through to the GPs, an hour of doing new patient registrations, and half an hour of ringing patients to see why they missed an appointment and sending them a warning letter unless there was a good reason for it.
It can be frustrating too because there are never enough appointments, but when you've gone out of your way to help someone and they're genuinely grateful, it's a great feeling.