Can Your Dental Team Pass “The Knowledge” Test?

It has been called the hardest test in the world. It is actually a series of written and oral exams and conquering it is a process that takes an average of four years for those who succeed (and many don't). It's not a bar exam or an advanced medical certification. It's called "The Knowledge" and it is the test you must pass to become a London cab driver.

The people who pass this test are expected to not only know every street in the notoriously convoluted tangle of boulevards, avenues and alleys that make up London, but they are expected to know every hotel, every theater, every pub and restaurant, every landmark. They are expected to know not only where those places are but the best route to get there at a particular time of day, and where construction delays might be occurring. They are expected to know which plays are playing at which theaters, so a customer only needs to give them the title of the show they are seeing to be delivered to the correct venue.

Anyone who has taken cabs in cities around America and around the world can see that London cabbies are a breed apart. Anywhere else, you may get a good driver, or a not-so-good driver, but the fact remains that in most places driving a cab is a job with a low barrier to entry. In London, the standards are simply higher—much higher—and that is often reflected in the customer experience. I'm not saying that every cabbie in London will provide you with an exceptional experience, but you can be assured that they know their city.

Your Dental Team and The Knowledge Test

This brings me to how practices can approach dental team training. The tendency in most practices is to hire and train people for specific compartmentalized jobs. In the best practices, by contrast, people are hired and trained to contribute toward a higher purpose. There is a big difference, and again it is reflected in the customer experience.

This is why it is so important that every dental team member, no matter what their role, be thoroughly familiar with all facets of the patient experience. They don't all have to know the details of delivering complex clinical procedures, obviously, but any dental team member in the practice—whether assistant, hygienist, office manager, or front desk person—should know the benefits of each procedure the dentist does. They should know about the equipment and technology that is used in the practice, and be able to explain what each one means to a patient. They should remember specifics about patients' fears, preferences and long-term goals and share that information with their colleagues on the dental team. They should be able to synthesize all the information that comes their way every day and use that data to provide the best possible patient experience.

You can always get by, of course, with a dental team of individuals who are each competent in their own specific job tasks. The point is, if you want to provide an experience at the highest level, everyone needs to be fully engaged with the higher purpose of patient care, and that takes training and commitment. For that to occur, every person who represents the practice has to proudly pass your version of "The Knowledge" test.




Ready to put together an agenda of "Knowledge" training for your team? Take a look at our Staff Training video lessons in the Spear Course Library. Not yet a member of Digital Suite? Click here to learn more.