How Did Dental School Prepare You (and Not Prepare You) for Owning a Dental Practice?

With every blog post I write or every podcast episode I host, I hope to enrich your time and life. And while money can certainly come with the advice I offer (or whatever Nifty Deals I can hook the Nifty Thrifty tribe up with), my true aim is to help my readers achieve the lifestyle they both desire and deserve (we’ll touch on this in a bit).

 

I’ve made many mistakes—many of which, unfortunately, can’t be pinned on a lack of dental school preparation for practice ownership. Sometimes, I wanna put my face in my palms and forget they ever happened. But that’s the name of the game when it comes to being an entrepreneur. No matter what, every entrepreneur is going to stumble a few times before finding their own, unique groove. For some, just the thought of starting, running, and owning a dental practice of their own is daunting. So, kudos on the ambition you have. You’ll go far, kid!

 

Anyway, let’s get to the meat of it. How did dental school prepare you (and not prepare you) for owning a dental practice?

The truth is, professors are professors—they’re not business leaders.

Dental school—however tough it may be—is a real blessing. It gives us four years to soak up all the information we can and give ourselves a head start before hitting the “real world.”

 

That said, dental school simply doesn’t prepare us to be business savvy, and understanding what dental school misses about owning a practice is crucial for success. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. This might sound harsh, but do you want people who teach classes to theorize about how you ought to run your business?

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some professors with awesome insight on running a dental practice. You can learn so much from your teachers, and most of them have performed optimally in a clinical setting. But you’re reading this blog for a reason, after all. You want some radio chatter from the front line; in other words, you want real-world skills for dental practice owners.

Money isn’t the most important thing in the world—but it’s important.

Anyway, I want to take a moment to dive into the stuff I had to learn the “hard way.” I’m going to give you a glimpse into what I didn’t learn in dental school but eventually learned in the “real world.” 

 

Regarding dental school preparation for practice ownership, money is a touchy topic. Speaking of dental professors, I’ve been advised about going for “the bag.” In other words, the young Glenn got loads of insight on which path makes the most money and which path could set my career up for “success.” 

 

However, I’ve always had a different definition of success than some of my best professors did. Money wasn’t my primary motivation and, chances are, it’s only a part of your equation, too. While I love the ability to put a roof over my head, food on my table, and clothes on my kids’ backs, I’d be miserable if I went for the fancy house and car and focused on nothing else.

 

So, when choosing a career, make sure it excites you—don’t merely hone in on what does (or doesn’t) pay you well. Maybe you want to be a general practitioner, or maybe you want to go into endodontics or periodontics. Make that choice based on whether you’re passionate about it because you’ll pursue it with all your might. 

Specializing will get you farther, but trying to wear too many hats will bite you in the butt.

When considering specialization, understanding what dental school misses about owning a practice becomes particularly important. Please keep your options open as much as you can, but choosing a specialization is something I believe to be of great service to any aspiring practice owner. It will make it easier to figure out the minutiae, flatten your learning curve, and stay two steps ahead. Even those of you who want to be GPs will get so much ahead if you specialize in something. You will only run into a few of the pitfalls others will run into. It’s as simple as that.

 

Anyway—specialization or not—don’t charge into the thick of it thinking you can wear all the hats. Dental school may have taught us a thing or two about stress management, and graduating takes a high-performing person, but we’re all human. You’ll find yourself burning out really fast if you try to make all the money under the sun. 

 

Again, pursue a lifestyle where you’re practicing what you want to practice. As time passes and you gain your sea legs, you’ll be able to start wearing more hats. At the start, however, you don’t want to dive into the deep end only to realize you need a floating device or two. Needless to say, that’s how you end up drowning in deep waters.

Dental school only teaches us the tip of the iceberg: Dive deeper through continuing education (CE), reading books, and listening to podcasts. 

We all need to do CE to retain licensure, but CE will provide you with much more than that. CE is where you can develop business acumen and apply lessons you never learned in dental school. 

 

There are so many courses where you dive into practice management, business tactics, and all the puzzle pieces that’ll serve you long-term. That’s not to mention the clinical know-how you’ll soak up.

 

On that note, reading books and listening to podcasts is a great way to diversify information. Self-growth books can help you connect ideas, even if they have nothing to do with dentistry. It’s much better than twiddling your thumbs and playing video games after work, to say the least.

 

I’m also a big fan of joining masterminds, especially those you pay for. Free masterminds consist of folks who just don’t have as much urgency as those who are putting their hard-earned money into it.

Never stop learning!

You’re reading this blog post, so I know you’re somebody who already understands the importance of pushing the envelope, sharpening your mind, and taking action. Any dentist who becomes complacent is putting obstacles in the way of achieving their greatness. 

 

You’re already on the right path, so don’t plan on stopping here! I run a community full of dental professionals who can teach you things you never learned in dental school. So, join the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook group and reach out! People from all across the globe will be happy to let you in on their two cents.