Patrica Fairbairn
One day, in Hobart, while playing tennis I was told. Patrica Fairbairn is a dentist. You should talk to her.
Well, I did. I began at the very beginning.
A: Where were you born?
P: I was born in Ayr on the west coast of Scotland. Then we lived in Wales for a wee while and then Edinburgh University where I did dentistry. And qualified from there in 1983.
A: Why did you decide to do dentistry?
P: Funny that. I wanted to be an orthodontist because I had some pretty major orthodontics when I was a child and it really fascinated me. By the time I qualified I got a job in Stoke on Trent. You had to do a couple of years of general dentistry, before you went back, and by the time I had done a couple of years I got the opportunity to work in Zimbabwe.
A: How did you come to work in Zimbabwe?
P: I saw an ad in the British Dental Journal. It said: Do you like sun? I think summer was on a Tuesday afternoon in Scotland that year. Do you play golf and tennis? Yes. Yes. Would you like to work four and a half days a week. I thought that sounds really good and it turns out it was a great practice in the middle of Harare.
A: Your husband Tony where and when did you meet him?
P: So, I meet him about nine months later because he was coming out on holiday to visit his parents who lived in Harare and I happened to meet his parents playing golf and they said you must come around to play tennis. Every second house in Harare has a tennis court. So, I went around there to play tennis and that was that.
P: Tony was on holiday. He was working in Sydney at the time.
P: He then got a job with Rank Xerox in Africa in Harare.
A: Were you married in Zimbabwe?
P: Yes. We were. In Harare Cathedral. I worked in the general practice for four years there.
A: What sort of work were you doing in the general practice?
P: Everything.
A: Was it similar to general practice here?
P: Yes and no. You got to do a lot more oral surgery. Because there were no surgeons. You did a bit of everything really. Minor lesions. The local doctors used to run a GA practice in one of the dental rooms.
A: Where most of the dentists from Britain?
P: No. Three were Zimbabweans who trained at Wits. Two from Edinburgh and one Irish guy.
P: Zimbabwe was a great place to have and bring up children. Then two years in Malawi. Bit of dentistry on a sugar estate.
P: And then we went to Kenya. I didn’t work at all in Kenya.
P: And then we came to Botswana for four years. In a private practice part time.
A: So eventually with your children getting older you start to think of their future.
P: In 2002 we came to Adelaide.
A: What work did you do in Adelaide?
P: In Adelaide I wanted to get my dental technique a bit more to the modern 21st century standard. In Africa I hadn’t done any updating my skills for a while so I thought joining the dental school would help that. Because I could go back to the labs and look at all the new materials and I’d heard about Graham Mount.
A: Did you do much work there?
P: When I first started, I was with the South Australian Dental Service. I was employed to teach final years dental students. To supervise them in clinical practice and general practice. So, it was great fun.
A: When you were teaching the final year students could you tell the ones who were going well. That were going to be really good. That had a good attitude or the ones that maybe didn’t.
P: Well, I did have a few instances. Well once I suggested to one student two weeks from graduating that she might like to rethink her profession. I think a lot of it was her clinical skills were alright but dentistry is more than clinical skills. You had to be a people person.
A: You have to do what is best for the person.
P: Yes exactly.
A: And the best way to find out is to ask them or listen to them.
P: Listen to the family history. Don’t give them a hugh program if they have ten children.
A: Social history is critical.
This conversation continues…
Well, I did. I began at the very beginning.
A: Where were you born?
P: I was born in Ayr on the west coast of Scotland. Then we lived in Wales for a wee while and then Edinburgh University where I did dentistry. And qualified from there in 1983.
A: Why did you decide to do dentistry?
P: Funny that. I wanted to be an orthodontist because I had some pretty major orthodontics when I was a child and it really fascinated me. By the time I qualified I got a job in Stoke on Trent. You had to do a couple of years of general dentistry, before you went back, and by the time I had done a couple of years I got the opportunity to work in Zimbabwe.
A: How did you come to work in Zimbabwe?
P: I saw an ad in the British Dental Journal. It said: Do you like sun? I think summer was on a Tuesday afternoon in Scotland that year. Do you play golf and tennis? Yes. Yes. Would you like to work four and a half days a week. I thought that sounds really good and it turns out it was a great practice in the middle of Harare.
A: Your husband Tony where and when did you meet him?
P: So, I meet him about nine months later because he was coming out on holiday to visit his parents who lived in Harare and I happened to meet his parents playing golf and they said you must come around to play tennis. Every second house in Harare has a tennis court. So, I went around there to play tennis and that was that.
P: Tony was on holiday. He was working in Sydney at the time.
P: He then got a job with Rank Xerox in Africa in Harare.
A: Were you married in Zimbabwe?
P: Yes. We were. In Harare Cathedral. I worked in the general practice for four years there.
A: What sort of work were you doing in the general practice?
P: Everything.
A: Was it similar to general practice here?
P: Yes and no. You got to do a lot more oral surgery. Because there were no surgeons. You did a bit of everything really. Minor lesions. The local doctors used to run a GA practice in one of the dental rooms.
A: Where most of the dentists from Britain?
P: No. Three were Zimbabweans who trained at Wits. Two from Edinburgh and one Irish guy.
P: Zimbabwe was a great place to have and bring up children. Then two years in Malawi. Bit of dentistry on a sugar estate.
P: And then we went to Kenya. I didn’t work at all in Kenya.
P: And then we came to Botswana for four years. In a private practice part time.
A: So eventually with your children getting older you start to think of their future.
P: In 2002 we came to Adelaide.
A: What work did you do in Adelaide?
P: In Adelaide I wanted to get my dental technique a bit more to the modern 21st century standard. In Africa I hadn’t done any updating my skills for a while so I thought joining the dental school would help that. Because I could go back to the labs and look at all the new materials and I’d heard about Graham Mount.
A: Did you do much work there?
P: When I first started, I was with the South Australian Dental Service. I was employed to teach final years dental students. To supervise them in clinical practice and general practice. So, it was great fun.
A: When you were teaching the final year students could you tell the ones who were going well. That were going to be really good. That had a good attitude or the ones that maybe didn’t.
P: Well, I did have a few instances. Well once I suggested to one student two weeks from graduating that she might like to rethink her profession. I think a lot of it was her clinical skills were alright but dentistry is more than clinical skills. You had to be a people person.
A: You have to do what is best for the person.
P: Yes exactly.
A: And the best way to find out is to ask them or listen to them.
P: Listen to the family history. Don’t give them a hugh program if they have ten children.
A: Social history is critical.
This conversation continues…