I am a Dentist, still working in Practice but the vast majority of my time is spent in my role as Clinical Lead for the Exeter Dental Education Facility.
In that role I am responsible for overseeing all clinical activity at the site, helping to guide the students, supervisors and clinicians about how the clinics should be run and how individual patients should have their treatment planned and delivered. I am part of a big team that helps to achieve this at Exeter as well as at the sister sites in Plymouth and Truro.
Prior to this role I have worked for the University as a Clinical Supervisor, a SDLE (Simulated Dental Learning Environment) Educator and also an EBL (Enquiry Based Learning) Facilitator. This means I have a broad experience of most parts of the undergraduate dental student journey.
Please see my personal section for more details about my ethos as an educator and leader.
Qualifications
BDS (Bristol 2009)
AFHEA (Plymouth 2020)
Personal
Additional information
User manual for working with Chris Harper
I have created this simple summary about me with the aim being to help you get the most from me. It is a collection of my own thoughts as well as advice that previous students have wanted me to pass on.
Think of it as a one page user manual to help speed up the process of getting over the initial period of uncertainty that naturally accompanies working with someone new.
What are my strengths?
- Listening to others and asking good questions to help them to really think for themselves.
- Encouraging better self-reflection to maximise the learning potential from situations.The main way I do this is by thinking of my role as that of a coach/thinking partner rather than as a teacher. Previous students have regularly commented that this style is quite different to what they have experienced so far.
What are some of my weaknesses?
- Research rabbit holes. My wife often complains that when a new idea grabs me I can spend far too long looking into it and sometimes these rabbit holes are for very trivial things.
- Over-committing and then decision fatigue. The idea of decision hygiene discussed by Daniel Kahneman is in my opinion often significantly overlooked in many dental and educational settings.
I am actively trying to improve myself in these areas. I think it is very important to not only build on your strengths but also on your weaknesses and working out what they are is the first step in that process.
How others can get the best work out of me?
- Adopt a GROWTH MINDSET. Try to see the learning opportunity in all situations. Seek out feedback to help you progress.
- COME PREPARED for the session. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
- AVOID BLAGGING. If you don’t know how to do something then say so and I will love having the opportunity to help if I can.
- GIVE ME FEEDBACK. Whether it is positive because I have helped you figure something out but I especially want the negative feedback if I am doing something that you feel has hindered your learning.
3 facts about me:
- I really enjoy growing fruit and veg. I aim to eat at least one thing everyday that I have grown and for some produce I am almost self sufficient meaning I can grow everything my family needs of that item for most of the year.
- I am very intentional about diet to improve health and lifespan. I avoid all refined sugar, eat meat only once or twice per week and almost everything I eat is organic.
- Married with 3 children and love going on long dog walks, playing board games and rock climbing which is where you will find me most mornings before coming to work at the DEF.
Links
My approach to email
Email can be a great tool for communication but I also find it can cause a huge drag on the work day, potentially getting in the way of actually doing much more impactful work.
Over the years I have tried to fine tune a system to minimise this disruption and I would encourage others to explore some of the concepts in books such as Deep Work and How to be a productivity ninja. If you ever feel email overwhelm these will really help. If you want a taster have a look at this video starting at 11 minutes: https://youtu.be/hvcSZ6MBSwg?si=fofQZifOSZXjmobJ
Many issues can be better addressed by an in person conversation rather than by email. But if this isn’t convenient I would encourage you to consider adopting some simple email practices that will make your life easier as well as others you contact by email:
Over the years I have tried to fine tune a system to minimise this disruption and I would encourage others to explore some of the concepts in books such as Deep Work and How to be a productivity ninja. If you ever feel email overwhelm these will really help. If you want a taster have a look at this video starting at 11 minutes: https://youtu.be/hvcSZ6MBSwg?si=fofQZifOSZXjmobJ
Many issues can be better addressed by an in person conversation rather than by email. But if this isn’t convenient I would encourage you to consider adopting some simple email practices that will make your life easier as well as others you contact by email:
- If you are requesting an in person meeting or telephone call, put some suggestions for days and times that might be convenient for you rather than just asking for a meeting and waiting for them to offer what works for them. The times you suggested may not work, but if they do then the recipient can just confirm that one rather then having multiple back and forth messages.
- If you are emailing to request help with a complex problem, I find it can be really helpful to explain what you have already tried and why that hasn’t worked. That means the recipient can give you alternatives rather than taking time to suggest things you have already tried. Also the act of writing out what you have tried often sparks more ideas that might mean you can solve your own problem anyway!
- Don’t feel the need to reply to every email. Especially if it is from me and it is obvious I am not asking for a reply. I would far prefer you to spend 60 seconds doing more meaningful work and save me 10 seconds from reading your email and archiving it.
- If you are replying to an email that has gone to many people please make sure you know the difference between the “Reply” and the “Reply All” buttons. IT networks have been brought down because of this in the past but actually much more importantly you are saving potentially hundreds of people from having to process your email that gives them no useful information.
If you encounter others who might need reminding of some of these tips feel free to point them in the direction of this page. Hopefully we can make the workplace just that little bit calmer one less email at a time!
If this has in anyway been helpful or if you have any other ideas that you think I should add to this list please let me know. That is an email I would be happy to receive.
If this has in anyway been helpful or if you have any other ideas that you think I should add to this list please let me know. That is an email I would be happy to receive.
Have a great day.
Chris