Portfolio Dentistry Career
Learn how Dr Bilal Hyatt has developed an extremely diverse career ranging from prison dentistry to his role as a clinical tutor.
Biography
A son to hard working first generation immigrants Bilal from a young age was always pushed to work hard and make the most of any opportunity. After passing his 11+ he attended the independent Solihull School where he did his GCSEs. His father had a property background and during this time encouraged him to pursue a career in this field. He did work experience with an architect, structural engineer and surveyors. After completing his GCSEs he moved to another independent school, King Edward School, Birmingham where he studied for his A Levels. Whilst studying Economics and thoroughly enjoying this subject and not wishing to pursue a career in property or real estate Bilal decided on a career in finance.
In the year when he had to send of his UCAS application for university it was at the same time of the global financial crisis and given what occurred in the financial markets Bilal decided to pursue a different career pathway. Also studying a Chemistry and Biology A Level and enjoying these science subjects and having a strength in Art & Design and an older sister in dental school Bilal decided to apply to dental school as he felt a career in dentistry was the perfect mix of his strengths in Art and Science. He received offers from the University of Birmingham and the University of Cardiff. His offer was AAB and he successfully achieved AAA in his A Levels and commenced his studies at the University of Birmingham.
Hi I’m Bilal.
I am an associate dentist with a special interest in Endodontics. I work across four different clinical sites and hold four different dental job roles. These include:
Associate Dentist in mixed NHS and private general dental practice
Associate Dentist with Specialist Interest in Endodontics in a private practice where I limited practice to Endodontics and take private referrals to carry out root canal treatments.
Senior dental officer in the prison dental services
Clinical dental tutor, supervising and teaching undergraduate dental students
In this article I discuss my varied career roles and life as a ‘portfolio career’ dentist.
Education, Training & Career Journey
After completing his undergraduate training at the University of Birmingham Bilal did his dental foundation training year 1 (DF1) in a practice in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. When coming to the end of the year Bilal had a choice of moving in to general dental practice or continue in a training post. Bilal wanted further experience in oral surgery (surgical dental extractions) and so decided to continue in a training pathway and did a dental core training year (DCT1) in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. During these two training years Bilal competed both parts of his Diploma of Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.
After completing his formal training Bilal moved into general dental practice and has worked there for a number of years. During his time in practice Bilal has demonstrated his committed to continuing professional development by completing two further post-graduate qualifications. These being a certificate in post-graduate dental studies from The University of Bristol where he studied Business Management, Full Denture Prosthetics and Endodontics (Root Canal Treatment), he graduated with a distinction and gained 1st position in the Endodontics module. More recently he competed a post graduate certificate in Endodontics from Kings College London again achieving a distinction. He has worked in both private and NHS practice and has worked in a number of emergency access clinics around the West Midlands region a long with working in the prison dental services. More recently he started a post teaching at The University of Birmingham as a clinical dental tutor teaching undergraduate BDS students.
Bilal is committed to the profession and healthcare as a whole and has also completed a leadership course (Edward Jenner Programme) through the NHS Leadership Academy and is also a NHS Clinical Entrepreneur a course aimed at identifying future leaders and those looking bring about positive changes to NHS and healthcare outside of their clinical commitments.
Academic Timeline
Bachelor of Dental Surgery, BDS - University of Birmingham, 2013
Diploma of Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, MFDS RCPSG - Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 2015
Certificate in Dental Postgraduate Studies, CPDS (Distinction) - The University of Bristol, 2017
Certificate in Endodontics, PGCE (Distinction) - Kings College London, 2020
Current Roles
Bilal perfectly optimizes what a modern day portfolio general dental practitioner is. He has a number of varied roles in all aspects of dentistry, his current roles are as follows:
Associate Dentist in mixed NHS and private general dental practice in Leamington Spa
Associate Dentist with Specialist Interest in Endodontics in a private practice in Stratford-Upon-Avon where he has limited his practice to Endodontics and takes on private referrals from other dentists to carry out root canal treatments.
Senior dental officer in the prison dental services
Clinical dental tutor at The University of Birmingham supervising and teaching undergraduate dental students
Outside of dentistry Bilal is also a successful property and stocks & shares investor.
Bilal’s future ambitions are to continue building on his referral practice in Endodontics, taking on more challenging and complicated cases. To further develop his skills and knowledge and continue his commitment to lifelong learning by doing further postgraduate study. To dedicate more time to teaching so that he can train the future dental workforce and give back to the profession that has given him so much.
What Bilal has to say:
“In my time practicing dentistry I have thoroughly enjoyed it and gained so much from my career thus far. I have enjoyed the variety and more importantly the people I have worked with and the patients I have been able to treat and relationships I have developed. A career in dentistry is beneficial in so many ways as it develops so many skills such as leadership, ability to work effectively as a team and an individual, goal setting, monitoring and delivering, being able to critically think and appraise and solve problems. All of these skills are transferable and so can be used in areas outside of dentistry. My advice to anyone thinking of a career in dentistry, it does have its challenges but at the same time is so rewarding and I would highly recommend it.”