Dentists urged to improve efficiency

LAHORE

Speakers at an international dental conference here Friday said dentists must change with the times in order to operate the practice as a business. They must envision practice success in the future and lead the practice there.

The three-day “Dentrepreneur Conference” is being organised by Oral Pathology Department of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) in collaboration with Institute of Advanced Dental Sciences and Research (IADSR). The theme of the conference is “Dental practice essentials: strategies for success”.

UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Junaid Sarfraz Khan while speaking at the inaugural session of the conference said many of the practitioners were now converting their private practices into an enterprise. He said success in private practice could not be pointed out to one reason, but its failure would have multiple reasons.

“There are various factors which must be considered for successful conversion of a private practice into an enterprise such as understanding the need of the society, mastering the treatment skills, communication skills, updating knowledge and new trends, patient satisfaction, mouth publicity, management of support staff, maintaining professional and ethical standards, and financial viability”, the UHS VC elaborated.

Prof Junaid emphasised the ethical aspect of the practice and said dental profession held a special position of trust within society.

As a consequence, society afforded the profession certain privileges that were not available to people. “In return, the profession makes a commitment to society that its members will adhere to high ethical standards of conduct which must not be undermined in private practice,” he added. 

Punjab Skills Development Fund’s (PSDF) Director, Almas Hyder, said dental patients wanted more value today than ever before.

Their financial situation was often challenging and uncertain, so they wanted the best value they could get every time they spent their money. 

National Coordinator of IADSR, Prof Dr Ayyaz Ali Khan said innovation must be the central driving force for any business that wanted to grow and succeed in both the short and long-terms.

Management and marketing innovations have become critical factors in practice success and should therefore be addressed forthrightly by practice owners.

“Just as clinical techniques evolve to improve patient care, management and marketing protocols must also change or the practice will stagnate”, he emphasised.

Chief Executive of Dental Professionals, Lahore, Dr Amjed Ali Khan gave a presentation on the parameters of a successful private practice focusing on the financial, service and technical aspects of developing and managing a successful practice.

The focal person of the conference, Dr Saima Chaudhry, said basic objective of the conference was to help the dental practitioners to understand the concept of embarking upon the dental enterprise, integrating latest management and digital marketing strategies, tools and trends for improving efficiency for their success.

Training programme: A four-day directors training programme organised by Punjab Commission on the Status of Women under the Women in Leadership project in collaboration with Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) has started at PCSW.

The programme is aimed at enhancing the skills of professional women and enabling their certification for the seats on boards. 

Introduction to corporate governance, board responsibility, reporting and communication, ethical obligations and risk management are the major modules. The programme has been approved by Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), and all participants would get SECP certification at the end of the training.

PCSW Chairperson Fauzia Viqar is also participating in the training.

cultural tourism: Pakistan can benefit from its cultural diversity to attract international community as well as change its prevailing global perceptions through cultural tourism.

This was stated by an expert from Australia, Peter Mousaferiadis, who was the keynote speaker at a seminar “Cultural Tourism for Sustainable Development” organised by the Punjab University’s College of Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) in collaboration with Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP). Peter Mousaferiadis focused Pakistan’s cultural tourism potential, saying the country was historically a land of cultural diversity. CEES Principal Prof Dr Sajid Rashid Ahmad, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.