Manrina’s Mentorship Podcast | Ep18 | From Valencia to Veneers: Dr. Nieves Ros on Building a Life and Career in the UK

In this episode of Manrina's Mentorship Podcast, I'm joined by Dr. Nieves Ros, a Spanish-trained dentist, practice co-owner, and now principal at Smmmile, to talk about her journey from Valencia to the UK dental world. Nieves shares what it was really like moving countries to practise dentistry: the paperwork, the language barrier, and the moment she turned up to her first UK job only to be mistaken for a dental nurse. We talk about building a life abroad while staying close to family in Spain, meeting her husband through her brother, and stepping into practice ownership almost by accident. We also go deep on one of the hardest moments of her career: a medical emergency in the dental chair during the COVID emergency hub period, and how therapy helped her process it. Nieves closes with honest advice on why comparing yourself to other clinicians on social media is holding you back. In this episode we cover:

- Growing up in Valencia and her (surprising) synchronised swimming background

- Why she chose dentistry over pure biology

- Studying dentistry in Spain and an Erasmus year in Poland

- Arriving for her first UK dentist job, and being told there was no dentist position

- Learning English on the job, patients, and strong regional accents - Becoming co-owner/principal at Smmmile

- Training in veneers on the Designing Smiles course and joining the mentorship programme

- The hardest day of her career: a cardiac emergency in the dental chair - Going to therapy, and why it was one of the best decisions she's made

- Her advice on comparison culture in dentistry and social media

Connect:

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Want to learn from the best? Download Manrina's free eBook for dentists - practical insight on building a career in cosmetic dentistry: https://www.drmr.academy/free-ebook

Ready to take the next step? Explore Manrina's courses and mentorship programme: https://www.drmrlondon.co.uk/dental-courses-london/

Or get in touch directly: academy@drmr.co.uk