RCSEd Dental Ambassadors: Meet Dr Anjana Sagar
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The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has recently appointed a new Dental Specialty Ambassador, welcoming Dr Anjana Sagar, who will represent her dental community in South East England.
Dr Anjana Sagar is a Restorative Dentist and Oral Surgery Senior Officer at Guy's Hospital. A graduate from King's College London, Anjana is now a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and holds a postgraduate Diploma in Primary Dental Care from the University of Kent. Having completed a four-year specialty training programme in Periodontology at Kings College London, she now works in several dental practices as a Specialist Periodontist and is actively involved with the British Society of Periodontology.
We spoke with Anjana and learned more about her Periodontology training and the challenges she has faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What motivated you to choose Periodontology as your specialty?
"I worked in both primary and secondary care in a variety of clinical roles and specialties for several years. Following my exposure to these clinical environments, I was drawn to periodontology as it matched my interest in research and provided an opportunity to develop my clinical and surgical skills."
Can you tell us about your experience with your recent training in Periodontology at Guy’s Hospital? How did the pandemic impact your training?
"My specialty training pathway was part time, over a 4 year period, which enabled me to also work in practice. Training involved consultant clinics to assess new patients, our own clinical sessions performing non-surgical and surgical periodontal treatment, research time for Masters project, and implant clinics. Alongside this we planned our clinical cases, attended seminars and journal clubs, took part in audits, and completed competency training requirements and examinations.
When the first national lockdown was announced in March 2020, we quickly moved to online learning. The consultants arranged online seminars and case discussions, we discussed papers and newly published guidelines, and prepared numerous presentations, whilst collaborating with universities across the world and were also hosted by world renowned periodontists. This time allowed us to consolidate knowledge we gained over training period and helped us to prepare for examinations, which were altered or delayed due to pandemic. "
What advice and tips would you give dental undergraduates and postgraduate dentists looking to pursue specialty training?
"I would encourage them to develop their basic dental skills by addressing procedures for instance which require improvement, and then to read on subject, go on courses, shadow other dentists, until they have mastered those skills. I would also advise them to consider Dental Core Training and to take their time and work in as many different specialties of dentistry as possible, both in primary and secondary care, join dental and specialty organisations and attend conferences and CPD events, so they can make an informed decision of what area of dentistry they are most interested in.
When they have found their specialty of interest, I would recommend researching all the possible training pathways, contact the specialty organisation and speak to previous trainees, as well as visit the institutions where possible to gain an insight into the environment and to plan their application, making sure they fulfil training requirements."
To learn more about our Dental Ambassadors and their mission visit our Ambassadors page .
