Dentistry @ Manchester Blog

Welcome back to the five minute coffee time interview, for you to get to know the staff you work with better. Next up on the podium is our very own Martin Ashley ….interviewed by the filler, read on……… 

thefiller: Which dental school did you qualify from?

MA:   Liverpool. I managed to avoid getting the accent !  

thefiller: Which year was that (careful now, I can access the dental register!)?

MA:  1993 – The last year of the old curriculum, so we got it all done in four years and one term. That was some Christmas holiday..!

thefiller: What was your first job?

MA:  I stayed in Liverpool as a House Officer for 12 months. It was a great job to have, I learnt so much dentistry and lived pretty much the student life, with a salary (all £11,000…) I think it was a big mistake to change the system and get rid of the House Officer grade. Lots of really talented dentists don’t come back into the hospital after they have tasted life as a VDP. We are definitely worse off in the ranks of young clinical teachers, researchers  and hospital-based specialists. 

thefiller: Where else have you worked other than Manchester?

MA:  I stayed another year in Liverpool as a Senior House Officer and then moved to Sheffield in 1996, for five years, training to be a consultant. I also spent a day a week in Leicester, as part of the training rotation. 

thefiller: Why did you become a hospital dentist?

MA:  Lots of reasons. I always liked the hospital system, with so many clinical specialties. Being a student dentist was just a taster and there was a strong pull towards becoming better at what I already had been taught. I never felt the need to “get out of here as soon as possible” and didn’t have the urge to run an empire as some of my colleagues have.

Lots of my close friends were also staying on, or had started the hospital career in recent years, so that was an easy decision for me.

I’ve never regretted it. So many friends from those days have struggled to cope with the business or have got disillusioned by the “same old, same old, routine” whereas my job gives my new challenges every day. 

thefiller: Which member(s) of staff inspired you at dental school and why?

MA:   There were plenty who influenced me and several others who I hope I have nothing in common with now!  I should say Craig Barclay, as he is a colleague here but used to teach me in Clinical Skills in my second year. But I’d be lying ! Mr John Cunningham was a true gentleman, an NHS Consultant in Restorative Dentistry. Dr Leslie Longman seemed to know so much and was a real support when I needed advice. Dr Keith Last and Dr Tom Heaney were very influential in my perio training. 

thefiller: What is your clinical specialty?

MA:  I’m an NHS  Consultant in Restorative Dentistry, with special interests in perio, cleft lip and palate, implants and hypodontia. I am a specialist in Restorative Dentistry, Periodontics, Prosthodontics and Endodontics. Easy when I speak quickly ! 

thefiller: Why did you choose to do this specialty?

MA:  Process of elimination ! The early years as a House Officer and SHO let me see every specialty in close quarters. In Restorative Dentistry, there are so many avenues to explore. I get to do plenty of wet-fingered dentistry and work closely with colleague in all other specialties.

thefiller: What did your training involve and how long did it take?

MA:  1993 BDS, 1996 FDS, 2002 Consultant. Eight years from qualifying to consultant. As some old sage once said “the day you stop learning, you should retire”, so I guess the training has continued ever since I started.

thefiller: What do you like most about your job?

MA:   Variety and working alongside lots of other people. 

thefiller: What do you least like about your job?

MA:  Very little. You can either see this as a job or as a vocation. I’d love to prove myself academically, with a PhD and to have time to do more teaching. 

thefiller: What else do you get up to outside of work?

MA:  Is there such a thing ? Family life fills up the hours. We have a holiday home in Anglesey. The essence of pleasure is snowboarding or wakeboarding.

 thefiller: Tell us about your family.

MA:  Kate is a midwife. Marrying her was the best thing I ever did. I hope she agrees ! 10 years of wedded bliss (not blisters). Elizabeth (8) William (5) and Lucy (3). Elizabeth pulled her best friend’s loose tooth out in the playground, when she was 6..! Guess what she wants to be. 

thefiller: Which football team do you support? [as if we didn't know!]

MA:  It’s a bit like religion. Dad was a United fan, so I am as well. I loved being in Liverpool when Eric Cantona was in his prime. Dad and I and my brother James have had season tickets at Old Trafford since I was about 7. 

thefiller: What newspaper(s) do you read?

MA:   None. I get “The Week” on Fridays, a summary of the week’s news, but I can’t remember the last time I bought or read a paper. There is too much celebrity nonsense and bad news out there. I don’t want to be part of it.  (Surely, you mean the globally renowned “Weekly Update” by the good-looking Head of School????). 

thefiller: What’s playing on your iPod at the moment?

MA:  Absolutely nothing, because my all singing, all dancing iPhone won’t do either. There is nothing I find more frustrating that iPhone. Second one is four months, FIVE factory resets and reloads. Currently, when I try to upload my iTunes list, I am told ‘the phone is not compatible’. How can that be ? (not sure Martin, but I’d get a Blackberry).

thefiller: What are some of your all-time favourite songs?

MA:  I’m a child of my time, U2, Queen, Dire Straits are all in there somewhere. But generally, a very varied selection.

thefiller: What are some of your all-time favourite albums?

MA:   I should quote you and the cutter, some random Pink Floyd LP, but I can’t. A few of the greatest hits compilations always go down well. 

thefiller: Thanks to Martin for taking time out in his busy schedule to take part in the interview.

MA:  I’m not busy, I don’t like the word at all. My days are usually full but I’d hate to think I was too busy to give anybody 5 minutes of my time. (thanks Martin – we have appreciated it).