Show Notes
When you walk through the door after work, are you actually present or are you still running the day’s to-do list in your head? Is there ever a “good” time to have a baby in the middle of specialist training and how do you fund it? How do the best dentist-parents you know protect time with their kids without their careers stalling? And can technology actually give you hours back — or is that just another thing to feel guilty about? This is one for the dads. In this Interference Cast episode, Jaz sits down with Dr Sunny Marwaha — a dentist completing part-time specialist training in prosthodontics at Guy’s, who became a father right in the middle of it. It’s not a clinical episode. It’s an honest conversation about doing the hardest career stretch (training, buying practices, building a name) at the exact same time you’re raising young children — the sleep, the money, the guilt, and the strategies that actually help. Two dentist dads, comparing notes.
What You’ll Take From This Episode
Priority management, not time management — Decide what this season of life is for, and protect it; priorities shift as the kids grow. Leave the day at the door — both directions — The driveway is dad mode, the clinic is showtime; you can’t take work home or home to work. Run the family like a small business — Regular family meetings and a “mind like water” system can help carry the load without living in your head. Use AI to buy back time — Make use of dictated notes, auto-drafted letters, and turning papers into audio for the commute. This is leverage, not cheating. Specialise or self-direct? — An honest filter for whether a structured training pathway or private courses and mentorship suits you better.
Highlights of This Episode
00:00 Teaser 00:42 Daddy Dentist: Balancing Fatherhood and Dentistry 03:42 Should You Specialise or Learn Through Private Courses? 10:12 How to Time Having Kids Around Specialist Training 13:32 Paternity Leave for Dentists: What's Realistic? 16:42 Funding Specialist Training With a Young Family 20:02 Why Family Support Is a Privilege, Not a Given 22:57 Time Management vs Priority Management 23:42 The Two Moments With Your Kids That Matter Most 29:12 Protecting Sleep, Fitness and Your Mental Health 30:13 Midroll 39:03 Top Tips for Dentist Dads 41:53 Using AI to Buy Back Time for Your Family 45:53 Run Your Family Like a Small Business 53:33 How to Cut Kids' Screen Time (and Make It Stick) 59:23 Life After Specialist Training: A Shorter Week 59:57 Outro
From the Guest
Dr Sunny Marwaha is a dentist completing part-time specialist training in prosthodontics at Guy’s (King’s College London). He’s passed the MProst (Royal College of Surgeons), with his final MClinDent and GDC specialist listing still ahead. He became a dad to son Kabir midway through training; his wife Amrit is also a dentist. 👉 Follow Sunny on Instagram: @dr_marwaha
References & Further Reading
Listed for reference (mentions, not endorsements): NotebookLM — Google’s AI research tool; can turn a source document (e.g. a paper) into an audio, podcast-style discussion for the commute.
Trello, Inkpad Notepad, and Google Calendar — The “mind like water” offload system.
Loom — screen/video-message tool, mentioned as an alternative to written tooth-by-tooth reports.
Want more?
If you enjoyed this episode, check out: [Screen Times and SmartPhones for Children – Best Practices – IC061]. The screen-time reset comes up near the end of this chat; that episode goes deeper.
Tags
#InterferenceCast #CareerDevelopment #BeyondDentistry
Listen, Subscribe, Earn CPD
Listen: Subscribe to the Protrusive Dental Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. This episode is eligible for 1.0 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. This episode meets GDC Outcome B. AGD Subject Code: 770 Self-Improvement.
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