Practice profile
makes perfect Old practice
Hazel (centre) with her nurse Stephanie (left) and practice manager Lorraine H
azel Hiram fully admits that she plans her life with almost military precision. From
her decision to fit the birth of her second child around her training commitments, to her attention to detail to her new practice, she is the image of a single-minded woman. But, rather than a hard-
nosed businesswoman who just happens to be a dentist, it is quite clear that dentistry is her vocation and not just her job. Having decided at the tender
age of seven that she wanted to be a dentist, Hazel set her sights on dental school and gradu- ated from Glasgow in 2002. She even managed to have her first child during the summer
holidays after her second year, not missing a single day of classes, before graduating with a commendation. Her VT year was spent in Whitburn, West Lothian, and she relished the opportunities that working in a deprived area presented. However, Hazel left her VT
year without a job as she was due to give birth to her second child a few months after her training finished. She explained: “I knew I
wanted a second child and I didn’t want it to interrupt my VT year. I also didn’t want to start with a practice only to leave on maternity a short while later. I didn’t want to disrupt my career in that way. “So I planned on getting pregnant during my VT year
so I could finish that, give birth and then take maternity leave before looking for my first job.” Four months after the
birth of her second child she started at a brand new two-surgery NHS practice in Kirkintilloch, in February 2004, alongside another asso- ciate. Hazel quickly built up her patient numbers from scratch and, within a couple of years, she had established a stable and loyal base of more than 2,000 patients. However, in August 20ı2,
the practice relocated to new premises just down the road and, for the first time, Hazel started thinking about starting out on her own. Her husband, who owns a barbershop and a beauty salon in Oban,
encouraged her to take over the old premises but Hazel said she didn’t feel it was the right time. As time went on, however,
Hazel missed the old practice building and the surgery she had inhabited for nearly a decade and she started to come round to the idea of setting up her own business. “I dreamed about it for
a while and then, with my husband’s encouragement, I decided to go for it,” she said. In October last year, Hazel
contacted the landlord of the old practice – which had been lying empty since the reloca- tion – and started going about the process of securing finance. When that was in place, the refurbishing work started,
Scottish Dental magazine 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92