---
title: "What Is Coaching? Dental Practice Glossary | Copeland Consulting Services"
description: "A process in which a coach guides a person toward better performance, using questions, rapport and agreed actions, as defined in research on coaching in medical..."
url: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/coaching
publisher: Copeland Consulting Services
email: drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com
contact: https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact
---

Leadership and communication

# Coaching

A process in which a coach guides a person toward better performance, using questions, rapport and agreed actions, as defined in research on coaching in medical education.

Coaching is a process that helps a person improve their performance. In a paper that proposes a definition for medical education, the authors write that coaching is a process that guides a learner towards performance improvement. It depends on rapport between the coach and the learner.

Coaching differs from [mentorship](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/mentorship), which is a longer relationship with an experienced guide. It often uses [feedback](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/feedback) and focuses on set goals. In dentistry, team leads, owners and outside professionals may coach.

The definition above comes from medical education. Other fields define coaching differently, and professional coaching bodies set their own standards. This entry is a general definition and describes no service.

[Next stepPractice consulting with Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact?topic=consulting)

## Related terms

-   [Mentorship](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/mentorship)
-   [Feedback](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/feedback)
-   [Performance review](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/performance-review)
-   [Leadership](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/glossary/leadership)

## Sources

1.  [PMC, A definition for coaching in medical education](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6892322/)

## Talk with Dr. Copeland

[Contact Dr. Copeland](https://joncopeland.multisites.ai/contact)[Email](mailto:drcopeland@joncopelanddds.com)