Challenges of staff development in the field of private dentistry

Introduction. The importance of staff development cannot be overemphasized. This process plays a crucial role in the personal and career growth of individuals and the overall success of organizations. Consequently, one of the most important factors in modern organizations is continuous professional training and development of specialists, and there is a need to develop not only specific employees, but also the entire team. This is fully characteristic for the sphere of medicine and for dentistry. A significant competitive advantage for any dental clinic is a highly qualified and systematically developing staff. Changing patient behavior and increased expectations, the emergence of new medical technologies, equipment and treatment methods on the market require more and more developed professional and supraprofessional competencies of medical staff. The aim of the study is to identify problem areas for further development of a program to improve the personnel development system of private dental clinics. Materials and methods. The object of the study was private dental clinics in Saint-Petersburg (four network brands in the form of limited liability companies). The research methodology consists of a set of methods of sociological analysis, including interviewing, questionnaires, direct observation, as well as special methods: Porter’s five forces analysis, expert focus groups, ranking by the method of pairwise comparisons. The research was conducted in the period from January 2023 to May 2024. Results. The research revealed key HR-trends in the dental services market: growing competition not only for talented doctors and paramedical staff, but also for non-medical staff, demand for well-coordinated teams/ shifts with complementary competencies, attention of clinic owners and managers to the creation of a favorable internal environment of the clinic, and the need for professional clinic managers. The typologization of dental clinic staff by their readiness for development is proposed, and two risk groups among the staff are identified. Dental clinics were analyzed according to Porters five forces model, as a result of which the weightiest «forces» — pressure of suppliers and pressure of competitors — were identified. The results of interviewing chief physicians and surveying the staff of dental clinics were obtained. All the above formed the basis for the formed catalog of problems typical for private dental clinics in the current period. Conclusion. The results of the conducted research necessitated the development of a model project of personnel development in the field of private dentistry, which will be presented by the authors in subsequent publications. The authors assume that the development of such a project will not only allow to create an effective integrated system of personnel development but will also become a precedent for the introduction of the project approach in private dental clinics in St. Petersburg, and in the future — in clinics in the regions of Russia.