Help, Assistantship - The Guide

The exam is over, the licensing ceremony has taken place and now what? As a rule, you now complete your two-year preparation period (assistant period) in a dentist's office in order to then obtain health insurance approval.

In this guide, we will give you helpful tips to help you find your way around your new job as a preparation assistant and, at the end, show you a few alternatives to working as a preparation assistant.

Formalities - How does the assistantship work

The assistantship serves as preparation for health insurance approval. It can last between two and four years. It should be noted that the various dental associations interpret the word "full-time" differently. Working hours between 30 and 40 hours can be considered full-time. It is worth researching this on the website of the relevant state dental association. Hours that fall below this are considered "part-time".

This time can be completed in various ways. The most common form is preparatory assistance, where you are employed in a practice of a dentist with health insurance approval for this period. However, preparatory assistance can also be completed at university hospitals, military hospitals, in the public sector or in other European countries if you have previously worked for a contract dentist for at least 3 to 6 months. The responsible state dental association should be consulted for the time structure, as this is handled differently.

The preparatory assistant period can be shortened to one year if this is followed by three years of further training to become a specialist. During this time, your job title is "further training assistant".

Employment as a "relief assistant" or as a substitute for a contract dentist is also possible after one year of working as a preparatory assistant in a dental practice. A period of up to six months can be credited here.

All work with contracted dentists that lasts at least three to six weeks is eligible. For exact information, it is always advisable to contact the dental association, as the regulations can vary from chamber to chamber.

After completing the assistantship, approval for statutory health insurance coverage can be applied for at the responsible statutory health insurance dentists’ association.

Process and tasks

In the last two to three years of your studies, you were able to prepare yourself for your new job. You learned how to prepare teeth, make dentures, take precision impressions and much more. Nevertheless, the course is more like driving school. You learn the basic tools, but the routine comes with daily practice.

In addition, there are many new tasks and challenges that you did not have to deal with before during your studies.

During the two-year assistantship, you will learn above all to take responsibility for yourself and to make treatment decisions. Ultimately, the preparatory assistantship will also serve to train you to become an independent practitioner.

The structure of the assistant period can vary greatly depending on the practice or the location. In some practices, you only spend the first few months accompanying the practice to get to know the day-to-day running of the practice and how things work. In other practices, you can start working in dentistry yourself quite quickly.

In most smaller dental practices, you will also come into contact with billing. Be it just ensuring the correct documentation so that the billing clerk can bill all BEMA and GOZ services, or even the billing itself. Therefore, during your assistantship, you should familiarize yourself with the German billing system and learn business management skills.

You can also gain valuable experience in personnel and practice management if you want to open your own practice in the future.

Your specific areas of responsibility should be clearly defined in your employment contract. If in doubt, you can read here what your area of ​​responsibility is and which work you would rather leave to your boss. If you feel under- or overwhelmed, don't be afraid to speak to your boss about it. It's usually been a few years since you were an assistant to them, and it's difficult to put yourself back in that situation. Feedback on both sides is therefore very important, so that you can meet on an equal footing and you can feel safe as a therapist. If you are still dissatisfied and the situation doesn't improve, you have the option of changing employers.

Registration as preparation assistant

In order to be allowed to work as a preparation assistant, you have to take a few things into account. The actual registration itself is done by your employer, but you have to submit a few specific documents. It is best to ask your employer beforehand which documents you specifically have to submit. For initial orientation, you can find a summary here (the first three points are particularly important; you can ask your employer again about points 4 and 5):

1. Apply for dental license as early as possible
2. Apply for a certificate of expertise in radiation protection
3. Registration with the relevant dental association
4. A police clearance certificate is often required
5. A health certificate and proof of a hepatitis B titre are also often requested

You should also find out about the pension fund for dentists in your federal state and consider whether you would prefer to pay pension contributions into the pension fund or continue to pay into the German pension insurance system.

Alternatives- It doesn’t always have to be working on the patient

An assistantship is not always necessary, but it is usually the most sensible option if you want to work as a dentist in Germany. However, an assistantship is not necessary for opening a private practice.

If you are not sure whether you really want to work with patients, it is worth thinking outside the box. Other jobs that could be interesting for dentists include jobs with insurance companies, as an assessor and at dental companies. The path of a vocational school teacher is also possible.

Sources

Bavarian State Chamber of Dentists, preparatory assistant, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.blzk-compact.de

Bavarian State Chamber of Dentists, winter semester 18/19, “The dental profession from assistant dentist to practice founder”, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.blzk.de

Dr. Buchholtz, S., 11.11.2020, “Assistant and representative guidelines (valid from 01.01.2021)”, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.zahnaerzte-hh.de

Hoppe, P., 13.07.2016, “Are there professional alternatives for dentists?”, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.zwp-online.info

LH, 26.06.2017, “Changing careers as a dentist”, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.zm-online.de

LZKTH, “Employment contract_preparation assistants”, last accessed on 10.10.2021 from www.lzkth.de