I've been meaning to sneak one last post in this year of 2016. Mostly because one of my earliest entries into this musty old tome was titled 2016.
Looking back on this post, I focused on how I felt too old to be hanging out with undergraduate students simply due to lack of relatability. I had outgrown the 'college lifestyle' faster than most and was tired of binge drinking and killing my eardrums at house parties. Looking ahead, I was worried that I would be too young for dental school, like I wouldn't be able to relate with the older age group.
Now that I think about it, I actually got along best with my classmates that were a few years older than me. I guess I'm old at heart.
I also remarked on how old I was gonna be come 2016. 32 years, now half-way to 33...gulp. I can also note that I'm actually quite pleased Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics. Living here these past 10 years has made it abundantly clear that money management is not exactly a strong suite to this city or the state in general. We have had no budget for 1.5 years and the trickledown effect is bleh. For example. The good ol' PPO insurance Delta Dental of Illinois has not paid our office in 1.5 years. Thousands of dollars owed and we apparently still must treat the patient per the contract. Definitely an insurance I will avoid when I get my own gig. But I digress, living here with the Olympics would have been an absolute cluster fuck and I'm happy it didn't happen.
2016 itself was a fairly mundane year. An absurd and embarrassing election cycle has concluded with the leader of the free world as Donald Trump. Read that again. I'm not a very political person and the other option was more of the same so I'm not as polarized as many. The debates were awful...just mudslinging with no discussion on tackling problems. I digress again. but this is 2016.
The only real positive life change is the baby on the way. She still may arrive before the new year which would be great for tax deductions! More great though because my wife is miserable and tired of having a parasite steal all her resources. We shall see!
So let's look forward. My 2016 post was in 2007. So nine years! 2025. I will be turning 41 that year. I really wonder what the world will be like?
Will the White Sox have won another WS by then? Probably not. Will the Cubs have won another five? Probably. Life may not be worth it by this point. I keed I keed.
What will my child be like? Will we have a second child? A third?
Where will I be working? Will I enjoy ownership? Will I actually be an owner? If not then I hopefully am not a dentist anymore either because this current professional track has definitely run its course. I've been in the same routine for 4 years now. Definitely time to switch it up.
Hopefully my associate years will be a distant memory by 2025. Hopefully I'll actually put some useful posts up again. I do enjoy writing in general, so maybe that is another area of life to explore.
I've been suffering chronic upper back pain for the past month. It is not worsening...but it is not improving. My crap med insurance isn't making me want to get an MRI or see a specialist but probably no choice. Reminder to all new grads. GET DISABILITY INSURANCE BEFORE YOU GRADUATE. It provides such peace of mind. I'm jumping the gun in saying I'll need to use mine..but knowing it is there really takes some of the stress off my mind.
So merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year all rolled into one.
I will leave you all with a quote from the immortal Ferris Bueller:
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."
Monday, December 26, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
In Like Indiana Jones Under the Door
Holy Hell I cannot fathom that it has been nearly 2 years since I posted on this here thing.
Let me post a brief update:
1) I still sadly work in the same places I did when last I posted. Reading back on my ambitions to get off on my own makes me depressed.
2) Baby on the way (which is why I stopped looking into practice ownership temporarily). Time to focus on something besides dentistry...ie not being a shitty dad.
3) Still in Chicago, planning to get a house in the burbs by next summer. Ahhh suburban life. I will miss the awesomeness of the city...but I will not miss the cramped quarters and overall dirtiness
So let me lay it out like a do a treatment plan.
Phase 1: Hopefully have healthy baby in next few months, learn how to do the early parenting schtick.
Phase 2: Get out of the city (acquire home to raise said baby)
Phase 3: Contact broker and get on the horse to buy a practice.
Phase 4: Review this post next year and kick myself if I haven't accomplished 1-3.
I do hope to chronical the practice purchasing process (much like planned to chronical starting from scratch). I do plan to chronical a lot things that don't end up getting chronicalled (not even a word?).
Ahhh such is the adult life. Just like a home improvement project that gets tabled for months..I'm doing the same thing here.
The meat of this blog was the dental school experience itself, I still have fun re-reading and remembering stuff I had already forgotten about. Just had our 5 year anniversary last May. Time certainly has a way of ramping up every year.
I can't believe people still read this thing. I hope my old posts are still useful to the next generation. Maybe..just maybe I will be able to contribute to the young graduates again. No promises. But I'll try to try!
Adieu.
Let me post a brief update:
1) I still sadly work in the same places I did when last I posted. Reading back on my ambitions to get off on my own makes me depressed.
2) Baby on the way (which is why I stopped looking into practice ownership temporarily). Time to focus on something besides dentistry...ie not being a shitty dad.
3) Still in Chicago, planning to get a house in the burbs by next summer. Ahhh suburban life. I will miss the awesomeness of the city...but I will not miss the cramped quarters and overall dirtiness
So let me lay it out like a do a treatment plan.
Phase 1: Hopefully have healthy baby in next few months, learn how to do the early parenting schtick.
Phase 2: Get out of the city (acquire home to raise said baby)
Phase 3: Contact broker and get on the horse to buy a practice.
Phase 4: Review this post next year and kick myself if I haven't accomplished 1-3.
I do hope to chronical the practice purchasing process (much like planned to chronical starting from scratch). I do plan to chronical a lot things that don't end up getting chronicalled (not even a word?).
Ahhh such is the adult life. Just like a home improvement project that gets tabled for months..I'm doing the same thing here.
The meat of this blog was the dental school experience itself, I still have fun re-reading and remembering stuff I had already forgotten about. Just had our 5 year anniversary last May. Time certainly has a way of ramping up every year.
I can't believe people still read this thing. I hope my old posts are still useful to the next generation. Maybe..just maybe I will be able to contribute to the young graduates again. No promises. But I'll try to try!
Adieu.
Friday, September 19, 2014
PSA - 1
OKOK,
I know I have, once again, fallen off from the blogosphere. As per the status quo, I have no legitimate excuses outside of general malaise. Life is busy, sure - but I have time.
Right now is actually a very unlikely time to be returning for a post with a bit of substance. For I am at work. That's right, at work and able to blog. I've become like any other corporate drone, milking the clock and putzing around on the internet. The only difference is that there is no clock to milk except my own. You see, I do not get paid at this office for sitting on my ass, I get paid to do dentistry. First patient of the day failed their NP exam. Young males are the worst at keeping appointments. How bout' a phone call at least? Nope, not even that. I may be a millennial, but I have the demeanor of an old man when it comes to punctuality and doing what you say you are going do or being where you say you are going to be. Call me old fashioned, but that is just me.
But enough of this pittling about, for I have a public service announcement.
Wash your freaking hands please. When you use the restroom and are touching toilet flushers/doors/faucets/yourself...particularly a scummy public restroom..WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS.
We have a general washroom at this office building and I can't tell you how many adult professionals (lawyers,CPAs, etc) will take a dump and just walk on out the door. I've become so disgusted that I won't touch the doorknob without a paper towel in hand.
My favorite is the courtesy washer...you know, the people that let the water run for about 5 seconds and then grab some towels to make you THINK they actually washed their hands. What are you? A Five year old? Maybe this will speak to you. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!
Jesus. So much sickness could be avoided if people actually washed their freaking hands!!!
YEARGHGHGHH!!!
Yet another reason why I want my own office....a private bathroom (or at least staff only).
This concludes your angry PSA for the day.
I know I have, once again, fallen off from the blogosphere. As per the status quo, I have no legitimate excuses outside of general malaise. Life is busy, sure - but I have time.
Right now is actually a very unlikely time to be returning for a post with a bit of substance. For I am at work. That's right, at work and able to blog. I've become like any other corporate drone, milking the clock and putzing around on the internet. The only difference is that there is no clock to milk except my own. You see, I do not get paid at this office for sitting on my ass, I get paid to do dentistry. First patient of the day failed their NP exam. Young males are the worst at keeping appointments. How bout' a phone call at least? Nope, not even that. I may be a millennial, but I have the demeanor of an old man when it comes to punctuality and doing what you say you are going do or being where you say you are going to be. Call me old fashioned, but that is just me.
But enough of this pittling about, for I have a public service announcement.
Wash your freaking hands please. When you use the restroom and are touching toilet flushers/doors/faucets/yourself...particularly a scummy public restroom..WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS.
We have a general washroom at this office building and I can't tell you how many adult professionals (lawyers,CPAs, etc) will take a dump and just walk on out the door. I've become so disgusted that I won't touch the doorknob without a paper towel in hand.
My favorite is the courtesy washer...you know, the people that let the water run for about 5 seconds and then grab some towels to make you THINK they actually washed their hands. What are you? A Five year old? Maybe this will speak to you. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!
Jesus. So much sickness could be avoided if people actually washed their freaking hands!!!
YEARGHGHGHH!!!
Yet another reason why I want my own office....a private bathroom (or at least staff only).
This concludes your angry PSA for the day.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
SYWTSUFS - I
You’ve graduated Dental
School….FINALLY. You have amassed 250,000
dollars in student loans (probably even more by the time you poor newbies read
this), and are raring to go.
a. corporate dentistry
b. private practice
c. Public Health
2. Buy an established practice
3. Start a practice from scratch
4. Teach
5. Quit dentistry and start-up a new career (probably impossible unless you had a butt-load of financial help and low debt service.)
Different personalities will go different routes. Many routes will interweave with each other and offer opportunities to jump to another option. For example, working as an associate for an older doctor for five years and then buying him out and becoming the owner.
I really can’t help you figure out what to do, all I can do is relate how I came to my decision and go from there. So if any of you greenhorns out there are interested in starting a practice from scratch – this new blog series should pique your interest.
How did I get here? I graduated dental school in 2011 and completed a 1 year GPR on July 1st 2012. I next struggled to find a steady job and only had temp work for the following 6 months. In 2013, I started 3-days a week as an associate in a private practice office. In July of 2013, I picked up 1.5 days at an FQHC facility treating primarily Medicaid kids. Without getting into pinpoint details, I can tell you that working 4.5 days a week, I was grossing well under 6 figures. The cause of this was primarily due the associate position and a lack of patients, poor collections policies, and just poor systems in general. The best way to relate this is that I make the same amount salaried at the FQHC in 1.5 days a week as I do in the private office.
My wife (also a dentist) works 5 days a week in the same private practice office. She recently cut down to 4 days because she was burning out and wasting time with a schedule full of holes. Now her schedule is much fuller the days she works and she gets three-day weekends to detox from dentistry. She started off making good money here, but due to poor business decisions and alterations to compensation, she has made less money each of the two years she has worked there. Quite the opposite of what you want right?
For anyone who knows practice numbers, the office we work in collects about 2 million a year and has an A/R of 600K. You heard me, 600K of uncollected money. I have attempted to discuss changing office systems to improve this situation, but the owners are disinterested and resistant to change. 2 million is nothing when your overhead is in the 80% range and has two owners to split what’s left. Yet these dudes seem content seeing 20+ patients a roller skating from hygiene check to hygiene check. This is a great example of what I DON’T want. When I hit 70+ years of age, I want to see 2-3 patients a day and work 1-2 days a week. I don’t see myself ever 100% retiring. I’m sure everyone reading this could think of a lot of great things you could do with 600K. But poor office systems are not the point of this post – we will evaluate systems down the road as it becomes more pertinent to my situation.
So with a combined student loan debt of around 700K, we simply aren’t making enough money. What were the options?
1. Both find new associate positions
2. Go corporate
Now what?
There are several
routes to go following graduation. The
decision really comes down to your desires, dreams, and goals. Finding out what is right for you may take
time and lot of frustration, but you will figure it out.
What are the options?
1. Work for someone elsea. corporate dentistry
b. private practice
c. Public Health
2. Buy an established practice
3. Start a practice from scratch
4. Teach
5. Quit dentistry and start-up a new career (probably impossible unless you had a butt-load of financial help and low debt service.)
Different personalities will go different routes. Many routes will interweave with each other and offer opportunities to jump to another option. For example, working as an associate for an older doctor for five years and then buying him out and becoming the owner.
I really can’t help you figure out what to do, all I can do is relate how I came to my decision and go from there. So if any of you greenhorns out there are interested in starting a practice from scratch – this new blog series should pique your interest.
How did I get here? I graduated dental school in 2011 and completed a 1 year GPR on July 1st 2012. I next struggled to find a steady job and only had temp work for the following 6 months. In 2013, I started 3-days a week as an associate in a private practice office. In July of 2013, I picked up 1.5 days at an FQHC facility treating primarily Medicaid kids. Without getting into pinpoint details, I can tell you that working 4.5 days a week, I was grossing well under 6 figures. The cause of this was primarily due the associate position and a lack of patients, poor collections policies, and just poor systems in general. The best way to relate this is that I make the same amount salaried at the FQHC in 1.5 days a week as I do in the private office.
My wife (also a dentist) works 5 days a week in the same private practice office. She recently cut down to 4 days because she was burning out and wasting time with a schedule full of holes. Now her schedule is much fuller the days she works and she gets three-day weekends to detox from dentistry. She started off making good money here, but due to poor business decisions and alterations to compensation, she has made less money each of the two years she has worked there. Quite the opposite of what you want right?
For anyone who knows practice numbers, the office we work in collects about 2 million a year and has an A/R of 600K. You heard me, 600K of uncollected money. I have attempted to discuss changing office systems to improve this situation, but the owners are disinterested and resistant to change. 2 million is nothing when your overhead is in the 80% range and has two owners to split what’s left. Yet these dudes seem content seeing 20+ patients a roller skating from hygiene check to hygiene check. This is a great example of what I DON’T want. When I hit 70+ years of age, I want to see 2-3 patients a day and work 1-2 days a week. I don’t see myself ever 100% retiring. I’m sure everyone reading this could think of a lot of great things you could do with 600K. But poor office systems are not the point of this post – we will evaluate systems down the road as it becomes more pertinent to my situation.
So with a combined student loan debt of around 700K, we simply aren’t making enough money. What were the options?
a. Pros – find a better situation, make money
b. Cons – No guarantee of finding anything better
a. Pros – Make a lot of money
b. Cons – working for a corporation is rarely in the best
interest of the patient. Often your boss
is some coin-counter that only cares about production, not the person you are
treating
3. Buy an established practice
a. Pros – Instant cash flow and patient pool
b. Cons – dealing with staff that is stuck in their ways,
dealing with all the legal BS of transitioning
4. Starting from scratch
a. Pros – you are your own boss instantly, can mold the
team to your vision from the beginning
b. Cons – zero cash flow. Negative income for many months – FINANCIAL STRESS!!
I never pictured myself
as an entrepreneur, but go figure – I’ve opted to start from scratch. If my wife wasn’t working and bringing home
the bacon, I probably wouldn’t be so ballsy.
How did we come to this decision?
Essentially we have been looking to own for the past six months. We briefly checked out the seller’s market
and even met with a doctor and got the preliminary info/talks going. As soon as he gave me his asking price, I ran
away from the deal. Old dentists tend to
overvalue their current market worth. Their
practices may have been worth more five years ago, but as they slow down and
take more vacation – they produce less.
The value of a practice is always steered by its revenues. I can’t blame them though. The economy nose-dived in 2008, and they all
have to work longer than expected and are clinging to some hope that an idiot
new doctor will pay them what they are asking.
This touches upon what the topic for my next post on this subject –
assembling your professional team and avoiding getting ripped off.
Basically I got tired
of dealing with older docs. They all
were decent fellows, but I need to do what is best for me. I also cringed at the thought of dealing with
staff in a transition. Some employees at
the office I was looking into were probably my mom’s age. I couldn’t picture them taking orders from
me. The environment just didn’t seem amenable to my infant business/management
stages of life. I’d rather work with
people I hire from the start. Now you
could argue to simply fire everyone and bring in your own team. But that would kill a lot of practice value
because patients would leave due to the dramatic changes. People hate change.
The decision was made
based off the fact that I make so little income as it is, that going a few more
lean years now rather than post-kids and mortgage sounded like the right thing
to do. I was also encouraged by the fact
that every bank I have spoken too has basically tripped over all the giant bags
of money they are trying to get me to accept.
This wouldn’t be so easy if dentistry didn’t have a good history of
success with loan repayment.
We have no children,
rent a condo my parents own (decent family discount), and really no other
financial obligations outside of student debt.
Now seems like as good a time as any to jump on in and go for it.
What’s another 400-500K
debt anyways right? The key is to think
of a practice loan as a business investment rather than straight up debt. Most start-ups are 100% financed by the big
players and 7-10 years is the range most repayments occur. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have my practice
and student loans killed off before I hit 40?
This is possible if we are proactive NOW and get things moving.
My wife will stay at
the same office (or maybe associate somewhere new) for a few years while I
build the new practice base. I will stay
in the FQHC for income boost. We may have
to dip into savings and hold off on a home for few more years, but we are
finally at peace with this decision – and that is one of the toughest parts
about any career move – you need to want the change.
Could I have jumped
into this straight out of residency?
Hell no! Experiencing an office
with poor systems has actually been more valuable to me than if I had made it
big in some FFS office. If I made a lot
of money as an associate, I would be unmotivated to change and unlikely to
pursue ownership for many years. And
when you don’t own – you are expendable.
You could get let go at any time.
Security as an associate is a fallacy.
So being in an office that just makes me want to fix the business end of
it has taught me a great amount. And
while I have not been as busy as I would have liked – I have indeed gotten much
better at dentistry over the last year.
I feel confident enough to do it on my own.
I’ve been reading
business, leadership and behavioral texts for the past year and I can’t believe
I just typed that sentence. I always
thought that stuff was stupid and you could figure it out on your own. I can’t even begin to explain how much I have
developed and learned in such a short time.
Controlling my own emotions seems easier; analyzing other people’s behavior
is engaging and leads to mutual purpose over name-calling and back-stabbing.
Most importantly, it
helps ground yourself in you. Read that
a few times, it makes sense.
So know the end goal
before you start. Where do you want to
be? What are your professional
goals? What are your personal
goals? How do you want to be
remembered? Write it down. I thought it a dumb exercise at first, but
having these thoughts in writing will motivate you in everything you do. It gives you a compass for your life which
will help you with major decisions.
This post has been more
scatterbrained than usual. But as my
usual copout, that is how this experience has been. This decision to make my own path simply
feels right after running countless scenarios through my overstressed mind.
The introductory post
is more to get your brain juices flowing.
Are you a dental student contemplating the future? A new grad stressed about paying loans? Another doc looking to start-up or buy? You need to figure out where you are in life
and what you feel ready to tackle.
I still argue that dentistry
is a great profession. However, I would
caution anyone thinking about this career path to consider the time sacrifice. While my income is technically higher than
most of my friends, they still have the same amount of disposable income
because my loans are so insanely high.
Most of my friends are married, own a home, and are starting to have
kids. I spent 5 years after college
getting an education that would allow me to live a more comfortable lifestyle
yet I feel behind the curve. I know I
will find the promised land eventually, but the time it takes to get there is definitely
not how the field of dentistry is advertised.
Like any other profession, you have to pay your dues in the trenches
before ascending. The difference between
other career paths is that you are four years older starting in the trenches.
So fellow dentites, it’s
choose your own adventure time. Spend
some quiet time reflecting on exactly what you want to achieve in life and what
your career goals are.
I plan to update as I
continue the process. My current goal is
to be in my own office before the end of the year.
Next up – assembling your
team of advisors
PS> If you can guess the acronym I have created for my post title, I will pay off all of your student debt**
** Only applicable if student debt service is less than or equal to 1.00 US
Saturday, January 25, 2014
A New Year's Resolution
I will be a practice
owner by the end of 2014. That is my
resolution. That is my goal. I am truly disappointed that I have not been
able to really keep a detailed log of the past months in this blog but have
simply lacked the will/time. Not to
mention a lot is happening and lot is changing at almost a daily rate that
information becomes obsolete quite quickly.
The first steps have been fun. While I’m doing most of the research and leg-work, my wife has been involved as well (she will, after all, be my partner in business as well as life.) We have worked with three different CPAs, finally feel like I found one to keep. Have a solid attorney in our corner as well. Been approved by three lenders (two national and one local). Don’t need the loan just yet, but nice to know I can get it. Up to 1million if I want (hahahaha that would be stupid wouldn’t it!) Goal budget is 400K, but will be comfortable with 450 if necessary. Banks will essentially throw money at you because you are a great risk. Dental offices usually succeed and worst case scenario is that repossess the office and recoup most (if not all) their losses by selling to another doc.
Found a dental specific realtor that we like and are beginning the preliminary hunt for spaces. Targeting the western suburbs of Chicago. Spoken with two major dental suppliers (Henry Schein and Patterson) and will meet with both in the near future. The next major decision is choosing a consultant. Both are similar in cost (around 25K for one year after your doors open). I have received proposals, done some research – going to have a phone conference on Wednesday to get the sales pitch from the top contender. While the bulk of this cost will be rolled into our working capital from the bank loan, we still need to deposit 5K to retain them soon so that they can assist with site appraisals.
If you have ever seen the AMC show Mad Men. I am essentially the client, and all of these different groups/professionals are a Don Draper and his team trying to sell me their services. Lots of free lunches and ass kissing. Awkward at first, but I’m growing to enjoy it. Sure these guys just want my money. But I have to make money in order for them to get any so it should hopefully turn into many mutually beneficial relationships.
Are you confused yet? So am I. There are a lot of big decisions to make and many more to come in the following years. Not to mention preparing for the lean year of cash income that will follow opening day. We have some savings (not a ton) but enough to hopefully get us through. Can’t think about kids or a house yet but someday we will get there. I like the idea of taking out this big pile of debt now rather than in 5 years. This means I will be 5 years younger and the practice will be paid off.
One bit of advice I can give to all you new grads. Read! READ READ!!!! Not just dental rags or CE. Read books on business, conversational skills, sales, marketing, leadership, etc. A lot of this applies to dentistry and particularly ownership. The other big piece of advice is to GET HELP. Do not try to do this all on your own. These other professionals survive and make a living because they are great at what they do. They take the stresses off and end up saving you more money despite their hefty fees. As my attorney put it best – “You are going to have a few things slip through the cracks with any major practice start-up. However, the more “OH SHIT” moments you can eliminate, the happier and wealthier you will be.”
Stay tuned and please wish me luck.
Here is a quick
timeline of my life post-GPR.
July 2012 – Received
Residency Certificate, licensed in Conscious IV Sedation
July 2012 – Got Married
July - September 2012 –
Unsuccessful contract negation with first job offer. Walked away from position. Did not work, enjoyed life, honeymoon. I
learned to incorporate two important life skills during this time.
1. Exercise, namely
running but some yoga as well.
2. Cooking, really
enjoying it and it saves money.
October – December 2012
– Worked two days a week in a FQHC seeing primarily pediatric patients. I was temping for dentist on maternity leave.
December 2012 – Went on
two week vacation with Wife’s side of family to Taiwan and Japan. First time I left the country (not counting
Canada).
January – June 2013 –
Started as Associate for three days a week.
Slow start, little growth – little pay.
July 2013 – Get offered
permanent position at FQHC where I temped, 1.5 days a week – guaranteed salary.
At the same time, associate office changes structure of how the associate is
paid – essentially a pay cut. Make
decision that it is time to get out. Working 4.5 days between both offices at this time. Still making peanuts relative to my years of training and cost of education (quite a ways under 6 figures). Wife's income is keeping us alive.
August 2013 – Begin interviewing
CPAs and Attorneys to form a team of advisors.
One CPA informs me of office not on the market with owner doc looking to
sell.
September-November 2013
– Meet with doctor, determine if fit is good, gather initial tax
documents. Ultimately asking price was
just out of the park high. Walked away
from negotiation.
December 2013 – Made decision
to Start-up office from scratch.
There you have it, a
brief foray into my last 18 months.
While my income has been downright abysmal, my life lessons have been
strong. Quite honestly, if I made a lot
of money as associate, I would likely become complacent and plateau at a
certain income. Making so little has
given me the drive to forge my own path.
I know with certainty
that this is the right path for me. I
was even tempted by the devil but five days ago. Through my networking vine, I was turned on
to an FFS office looking to bring in an associate with potential for
ownership. Would make triple my income
now, state of the art practice, under one hour commute. Why am I not pursuing this?
1) No guarantees of
ownership. Owner plans to retire in 3-5
years. Another dentist with a ‘maybe I’ll
retire plan.’
2) Owner feels the
associate should have to bust tail for 10 years before taking weekends off and
living like “a dentist.”
3) Very hygiene driven
4) Re-read number 4
Didn’t even submit a
resume. While the money really was enticing,
I don’t want to work for another dentist at this point. They have expectations that don’t match with
what I want. I’m dreaming bigger and
this is a good thing. I agree that I
should be working hard for the next few years.
However, I also realize that I didn’t become a dentist to work every
weekend and late hours. As an owner, I
can make whatever decision I feel best.
If I make less money, then at least I know the reason was my own
choice. Quality of life and time away
from work is a value that many people underappreciate. I do not plan on doing this.
The first steps have been fun. While I’m doing most of the research and leg-work, my wife has been involved as well (she will, after all, be my partner in business as well as life.) We have worked with three different CPAs, finally feel like I found one to keep. Have a solid attorney in our corner as well. Been approved by three lenders (two national and one local). Don’t need the loan just yet, but nice to know I can get it. Up to 1million if I want (hahahaha that would be stupid wouldn’t it!) Goal budget is 400K, but will be comfortable with 450 if necessary. Banks will essentially throw money at you because you are a great risk. Dental offices usually succeed and worst case scenario is that repossess the office and recoup most (if not all) their losses by selling to another doc.
Found a dental specific realtor that we like and are beginning the preliminary hunt for spaces. Targeting the western suburbs of Chicago. Spoken with two major dental suppliers (Henry Schein and Patterson) and will meet with both in the near future. The next major decision is choosing a consultant. Both are similar in cost (around 25K for one year after your doors open). I have received proposals, done some research – going to have a phone conference on Wednesday to get the sales pitch from the top contender. While the bulk of this cost will be rolled into our working capital from the bank loan, we still need to deposit 5K to retain them soon so that they can assist with site appraisals.
If you have ever seen the AMC show Mad Men. I am essentially the client, and all of these different groups/professionals are a Don Draper and his team trying to sell me their services. Lots of free lunches and ass kissing. Awkward at first, but I’m growing to enjoy it. Sure these guys just want my money. But I have to make money in order for them to get any so it should hopefully turn into many mutually beneficial relationships.
Are you confused yet? So am I. There are a lot of big decisions to make and many more to come in the following years. Not to mention preparing for the lean year of cash income that will follow opening day. We have some savings (not a ton) but enough to hopefully get us through. Can’t think about kids or a house yet but someday we will get there. I like the idea of taking out this big pile of debt now rather than in 5 years. This means I will be 5 years younger and the practice will be paid off.
One bit of advice I can give to all you new grads. Read! READ READ!!!! Not just dental rags or CE. Read books on business, conversational skills, sales, marketing, leadership, etc. A lot of this applies to dentistry and particularly ownership. The other big piece of advice is to GET HELP. Do not try to do this all on your own. These other professionals survive and make a living because they are great at what they do. They take the stresses off and end up saving you more money despite their hefty fees. As my attorney put it best – “You are going to have a few things slip through the cracks with any major practice start-up. However, the more “OH SHIT” moments you can eliminate, the happier and wealthier you will be.”
Wise words.
I will try to keep this
up to date and perhaps make another interblog mini-series. Need to think of a good title first…Stay tuned and please wish me luck.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
First True Emergency
Statistically speaking,
the odds of a life threatening event occurring in a dental office is very
rare. The last time I read an article on
the subject, I believe the average TRUE emergencies experienced in a general
dentists career was something like 0.8.
This means not everyone will see even ONE over a 30-40 year time
span. Well I’ll be damned, but I’m only
out 1.5 years and have had the privilege of a real “OH SHIT” moment just this past
Friday.
I’ve had some time to process the emotions involved and feel pretty good about posting this on ye olde blog. If nothing else, so I can remember the event with clarity although I think I will probably remember this forever.
A true emergency is NOT vasovagal syncope (fainting). A true emergency is when there is a real threat to life that needs to be managed until the Calvary arrives or the problem remedied in-house.
Here is the situation. I have just consulted a patient who needs a referral and am walking through the office to write one up. As I’m meandering through, I notice an assistant essentially sprinting towards the front with a look of purpose and abject terror. I b-line the direction she had come from and find a mother clutching her 7-week old baby in her lap. The mom is entering the early stages of hysteria and I immediately can see why – the baby is blue. Like Violet from Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory blue.
This is that moment in life which really determines who you are in a crisis. I have always been confident in a controlled setting, but have secretly feared that if someone truly needed help in an emergency, that I would shy away and spectate.
I don’t know exactly what went through my head, but I do remember acting and sequencing. I entered the room and scooped the baby away from mom, sat down and had the baby supine in my lap, head close to my core for assessment and immediate airway management. Why do we turn blue? When we are not getting enough O2 – simple as that. How do we not get enough O2? Air is either not being processed by the lungs or it is obstructed from getting to the lungs.
The baby is conscious and moving arms about. Chest is rising sporadically. He is making clear choking and snorting sounds. Baby is conscious, I skip checking for pulse. I immediately head-tilt and chin lift and ask mom – “Has he had anything to eat or access to any object he might try to eat.” NO. Child is 7 weeks old, all soft diet, was strapped to mom all morning, no access to foreign body. So while he appears to be choking on something, it isn’t a toy car or food particulate.
Observation: It is bone-chillingly cold outside and baby has tons of snot visible in his nostrils.
9-1-1 has already been called by the assistant, I ask for O2, and it is brought about with a passive air mask. Head-tilt chin lift has not resolved blue coloration and breathing difficulties. Passive O2 is also not helping. I ask for a hand-mirror and proceed to jam it down the little guy’s throat. Depressing the base of his tongue and pulling it down and forward. Voila, baby lets out loud cough starts crying and turns pink in about 10 seconds. Paramedics arrive and I hand the infant off to the pros.
My current cause is that the infant was choking on his own secretions. A 7 week old infant is such a smushy and compressed human, that the airway can EASILY be compromised. Whether or not my dx is correct is yet to be determined. All we know so far is the baby was hospitalized with some sort of virus. I hope to learn the exact cause in the next few weeks.
This happened about 740AM, so now I have the rest of the day to take care of. I moved forward and returned to talk with my patient about the referral.
The entire office staff has been non-stop bragging about me and congratulating me and giving me all this hero talk. Quite frankly, while I feel phenomenal that the situation turned out OK, it is sort of embarrassing to get all these accolades. All I did was manage an airway for 4 minutes and help clear an obstruction. The assistants who calmly called 9-1-1 and got everything I asked for quickly and efficiently all played an important role. The mom herself managed to stay (somewhat) calm and answered every single question I asked her immediately. Everyone played their part well and the outcome was positive.
Here is what I would do differently:
I’ve had some time to process the emotions involved and feel pretty good about posting this on ye olde blog. If nothing else, so I can remember the event with clarity although I think I will probably remember this forever.
A true emergency is NOT vasovagal syncope (fainting). A true emergency is when there is a real threat to life that needs to be managed until the Calvary arrives or the problem remedied in-house.
Here is the situation. I have just consulted a patient who needs a referral and am walking through the office to write one up. As I’m meandering through, I notice an assistant essentially sprinting towards the front with a look of purpose and abject terror. I b-line the direction she had come from and find a mother clutching her 7-week old baby in her lap. The mom is entering the early stages of hysteria and I immediately can see why – the baby is blue. Like Violet from Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory blue.
This is that moment in life which really determines who you are in a crisis. I have always been confident in a controlled setting, but have secretly feared that if someone truly needed help in an emergency, that I would shy away and spectate.
I don’t know exactly what went through my head, but I do remember acting and sequencing. I entered the room and scooped the baby away from mom, sat down and had the baby supine in my lap, head close to my core for assessment and immediate airway management. Why do we turn blue? When we are not getting enough O2 – simple as that. How do we not get enough O2? Air is either not being processed by the lungs or it is obstructed from getting to the lungs.
The baby is conscious and moving arms about. Chest is rising sporadically. He is making clear choking and snorting sounds. Baby is conscious, I skip checking for pulse. I immediately head-tilt and chin lift and ask mom – “Has he had anything to eat or access to any object he might try to eat.” NO. Child is 7 weeks old, all soft diet, was strapped to mom all morning, no access to foreign body. So while he appears to be choking on something, it isn’t a toy car or food particulate.
Observation: It is bone-chillingly cold outside and baby has tons of snot visible in his nostrils.
9-1-1 has already been called by the assistant, I ask for O2, and it is brought about with a passive air mask. Head-tilt chin lift has not resolved blue coloration and breathing difficulties. Passive O2 is also not helping. I ask for a hand-mirror and proceed to jam it down the little guy’s throat. Depressing the base of his tongue and pulling it down and forward. Voila, baby lets out loud cough starts crying and turns pink in about 10 seconds. Paramedics arrive and I hand the infant off to the pros.
My current cause is that the infant was choking on his own secretions. A 7 week old infant is such a smushy and compressed human, that the airway can EASILY be compromised. Whether or not my dx is correct is yet to be determined. All we know so far is the baby was hospitalized with some sort of virus. I hope to learn the exact cause in the next few weeks.
This happened about 740AM, so now I have the rest of the day to take care of. I moved forward and returned to talk with my patient about the referral.
The entire office staff has been non-stop bragging about me and congratulating me and giving me all this hero talk. Quite frankly, while I feel phenomenal that the situation turned out OK, it is sort of embarrassing to get all these accolades. All I did was manage an airway for 4 minutes and help clear an obstruction. The assistants who calmly called 9-1-1 and got everything I asked for quickly and efficiently all played an important role. The mom herself managed to stay (somewhat) calm and answered every single question I asked her immediately. Everyone played their part well and the outcome was positive.
Here is what I would do differently:
1 – Positive pressure O2 rather
than passive (we have an ambu bag hook-up, but I did not specifically ask for
it)
2 – Surgical suction up the baby’s
nose to clear some of the mucous.
3 – Use mirror for tongue
depression faster
Several of my colleagues
suggested the baby equivalent of the Heimlich maneuver which is turning him
over on his stomach and giving him two strong back slaps. This may have worked, but I went with the
mirror head because all signs pointed to a collapsed airway and not a foreign obstruction
What I am happy with:
1 – My demeanor was
calm and collected throughout. My mind
processed the event and made the right decisions. I would like to have arrived at the need to
depress the tongue sooner, but I probably was doing it within 30 seconds of
sitting down (time completely vortexed and distorted for me).
2 – staff in general
did a great job, could have moved faster, but definitely acceptable
3 – Baby is OK!!!
So what should you
young dental guns take from this?
FUCKING PAY ATTENTION
IN YOUR EMERGENCY COURSES.
Every single one of us should
know how to manage an airway. It is so
easy to do, and so critical to life.
I credit my experience
in the GPR greatly to my action as well.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a youngster turn blue, we had a few SPC
IV Sed cases where this happened as well – that was in a very controlled
environment though and with a lot more airway management equipment (not to
mention a dental anesthesiologist to bail our asses out as necessary). Each time I saw it happen, I either witnessed
or performed the necessary maneuvers to remedy the situation. These experiences were terrifying, but
ultimately made me a better clinician.
Now just the day before
this event, I received an asking price for a dental practice out in the western
burbs. Won’t even bother countering –
asking price was in the stratosphere.
But I will get into that in my next post!
Hoping to get that up
before the New Year - fingers and goes crossed!
If I don’t though, have
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Being Proactive About Change
I will be the first to
admit that the title of this post sounds like something you would see at some
sort of business convention, but I use it as my own personal motivator. Why you ask?
The quick answer, I am extremely resistant to change. Most humans resist change because it results
in uncertainty, something different, and something that cannot be predicted or
controlled through past experience. The
end-result is often fear. Not a lot of
us enjoy fear, it is an unpleasant emotion that is best saved for the month of
October watching slasher flicks on AMC.
So the title of this post has become one of my goals, a useful barometer in my ever-present development as an individual striving towards personal growth. If you are like me, somewhat anti-social, timid, and more of a follower than a leader, you need to be proactive about change. If I want to own my own dental office, nobody is going to hand it over to me, manage the details, and then steer the ship once control is finally attained. I need to become a better leader, a better communicator, and simply a smarter individual in all things NOT related to dentistry. Human relations and common business sense/strategy play an enormous role in this profession – a role that is not easy to learn or teach.
You need to set goals, both personal and professional. You need to revisit and revise these goals regularly, you need to be realistic that change is inevitable, and it usually is arduous and slow. I hate change; I love consistency, a guaranteed paycheck, no unknowns, and a routine I know. This leads to something I hate even more than change – complacency. The other associate in my current office represents what I don’t want to happen to me. This person is a good dentist, well-liked by staff and patient alike, but is mired in complacency. This person is unhappy, but fears change so much, that they are unwilling to make the move. This person has been an associate for 7 years with no end in sight. I hope they escape the cell of complacency because it is so much worse than taking the plunge and embracing risk/change. That could be me. It is like the story, ‘Christmas Carol,’ and I see the ghost of my future. To be mired in fear so much that you are willing to be unhappy is far worse than dealing with the fear of the unknown. In fact, in reflection, I realize that some of my most enjoyable memories have occurred following the leaps of risk and change. So while I’m scared of change, I am learning to embrace that fear as something to draw upon and learn from.
So I wake up each day muddled in the complacency of my current situation, yet inspired by my drive to escape. I’m not unhappy, but I’m also not content. We are simply put, not making nearly enough money given our years of education/training and massive amount of debt. It doesn’t help when I read an article about how the UIC chancellor got a 1 million dollar house for free just for taking the job. What the hell is a chancellor anyways? Just a reminder of why I will never donate to my dental school. Got a decent education, but the cost will never be justifiable to me – and it’s only getting worse. So in order to make more money, we must own. Is there risk? Yes. Could we make less money for a while? Sure. Will it be scary? YES! But do it we must.
So the first step towards ownership for me has simply been to network and stay in touch with people whose opinions I value. Find a mentor! My god, I can’t emphasize how important this is. Having someone you respect, who is willing to talk with you regularly and help you evaluate situations and make life changing decisions is invaluable. I have kept in touch with one of my attendings from the GPR and his advice has truly inspired me. I also have maintained pretty decent contacts with several of my classmates and co-residents. We have an email chain that provides for clinical discussion/debate which is a great learning tool. Networking is also very important. My wife and I have been more aggressive in attending local meetings and larger conferences. Not only to you get CE – the importance of which is another topic altogether, but you meet people in your field. Finding a good practice is usually best done through the grape vine and not a broker. While you get mixed opinions for sure, if a practice is relying on a broker for sale, it is likely having difficulty selling due to reasons you may not figure out until you already have sold your soul.
Assemble your team: While I haven’t officially retained anyone, I have been in contact with a few accountants, attorneys, and now lenders. Most of these people will gladly meet with you for free – realizing that you are still poor as hell, but will eventually be able to pay them lots of money. They are necessary for your success. Find people you are comfortable with and that you can develop trust with. Again, consulting your local colleagues, or mentor can give you a nudge in the right direction. Network, network, network. Sounds so funny saying that, as I’d prefer to spend my Saturday night watching an original Syfy horror movie (so bad they’re good), but I realize that to get anywhere in this world – you need to get yourself out there and become recognized.
Where are we right now? It is the same as before work-wise, except that I am somehow managing to make EVEN less money in the private practice office due to an abysmal September. However we have discovered through networking and meeting with other professionals (accountant in this case), an office that has potential. It is located where we are targeting for a start-up and is 25 minutes from the area we want to buy a home. The office itself is less than 5 years old with decent technology in place and the owner is planning to move out of state. We met a week ago and it felt like being on House Hunters. 5-ops, hygiene driven at the moment as the owner doc is pretty laid back and slowing down. We liked the space overall and the locale seemed nice. Will be an absolutely horrible commute from Chicago, but I’m prepared to do that for a few years until we can actually afford a house. The plan either way will be for me to set-up shop first while the wife keeps her associate position for a few more years and slowly phases out to our office as we theoretically grow large enough for a second dentist. This affords us at least some financial security as her income will continue to be our lifeblood. Although to be honest, even if I worked only 2 days a week building the practice as an owner, I would probably make more money than I currently am making 4.5 days a week working for other people.
I’ve signed the “non-disclosure” agreement which essentially means I can’t talk about the practice to anyone except my designated “agents.” Whatever the hell that means. I swear, lawyers are smart - invent your own new language using English words so that one must pay 400 dollars an hour to have it interpreted by the creator of the language. Brilliant.
So I’m all over the place right now but the main point of this post still stands. Embrace change – seek it out, or you will never escape the bonds of complacency – which is often a far worse fate then fear of change or fear of failure. Even if you fail, you can learn from it, and dust yourself off for the next round. This too is better than becoming frozen in time, depressed, and unmotivated as you drift through the motions, day in and day out.
So the title of this post has become one of my goals, a useful barometer in my ever-present development as an individual striving towards personal growth. If you are like me, somewhat anti-social, timid, and more of a follower than a leader, you need to be proactive about change. If I want to own my own dental office, nobody is going to hand it over to me, manage the details, and then steer the ship once control is finally attained. I need to become a better leader, a better communicator, and simply a smarter individual in all things NOT related to dentistry. Human relations and common business sense/strategy play an enormous role in this profession – a role that is not easy to learn or teach.
You need to set goals, both personal and professional. You need to revisit and revise these goals regularly, you need to be realistic that change is inevitable, and it usually is arduous and slow. I hate change; I love consistency, a guaranteed paycheck, no unknowns, and a routine I know. This leads to something I hate even more than change – complacency. The other associate in my current office represents what I don’t want to happen to me. This person is a good dentist, well-liked by staff and patient alike, but is mired in complacency. This person is unhappy, but fears change so much, that they are unwilling to make the move. This person has been an associate for 7 years with no end in sight. I hope they escape the cell of complacency because it is so much worse than taking the plunge and embracing risk/change. That could be me. It is like the story, ‘Christmas Carol,’ and I see the ghost of my future. To be mired in fear so much that you are willing to be unhappy is far worse than dealing with the fear of the unknown. In fact, in reflection, I realize that some of my most enjoyable memories have occurred following the leaps of risk and change. So while I’m scared of change, I am learning to embrace that fear as something to draw upon and learn from.
So I wake up each day muddled in the complacency of my current situation, yet inspired by my drive to escape. I’m not unhappy, but I’m also not content. We are simply put, not making nearly enough money given our years of education/training and massive amount of debt. It doesn’t help when I read an article about how the UIC chancellor got a 1 million dollar house for free just for taking the job. What the hell is a chancellor anyways? Just a reminder of why I will never donate to my dental school. Got a decent education, but the cost will never be justifiable to me – and it’s only getting worse. So in order to make more money, we must own. Is there risk? Yes. Could we make less money for a while? Sure. Will it be scary? YES! But do it we must.
So the first step towards ownership for me has simply been to network and stay in touch with people whose opinions I value. Find a mentor! My god, I can’t emphasize how important this is. Having someone you respect, who is willing to talk with you regularly and help you evaluate situations and make life changing decisions is invaluable. I have kept in touch with one of my attendings from the GPR and his advice has truly inspired me. I also have maintained pretty decent contacts with several of my classmates and co-residents. We have an email chain that provides for clinical discussion/debate which is a great learning tool. Networking is also very important. My wife and I have been more aggressive in attending local meetings and larger conferences. Not only to you get CE – the importance of which is another topic altogether, but you meet people in your field. Finding a good practice is usually best done through the grape vine and not a broker. While you get mixed opinions for sure, if a practice is relying on a broker for sale, it is likely having difficulty selling due to reasons you may not figure out until you already have sold your soul.
Assemble your team: While I haven’t officially retained anyone, I have been in contact with a few accountants, attorneys, and now lenders. Most of these people will gladly meet with you for free – realizing that you are still poor as hell, but will eventually be able to pay them lots of money. They are necessary for your success. Find people you are comfortable with and that you can develop trust with. Again, consulting your local colleagues, or mentor can give you a nudge in the right direction. Network, network, network. Sounds so funny saying that, as I’d prefer to spend my Saturday night watching an original Syfy horror movie (so bad they’re good), but I realize that to get anywhere in this world – you need to get yourself out there and become recognized.
Where are we right now? It is the same as before work-wise, except that I am somehow managing to make EVEN less money in the private practice office due to an abysmal September. However we have discovered through networking and meeting with other professionals (accountant in this case), an office that has potential. It is located where we are targeting for a start-up and is 25 minutes from the area we want to buy a home. The office itself is less than 5 years old with decent technology in place and the owner is planning to move out of state. We met a week ago and it felt like being on House Hunters. 5-ops, hygiene driven at the moment as the owner doc is pretty laid back and slowing down. We liked the space overall and the locale seemed nice. Will be an absolutely horrible commute from Chicago, but I’m prepared to do that for a few years until we can actually afford a house. The plan either way will be for me to set-up shop first while the wife keeps her associate position for a few more years and slowly phases out to our office as we theoretically grow large enough for a second dentist. This affords us at least some financial security as her income will continue to be our lifeblood. Although to be honest, even if I worked only 2 days a week building the practice as an owner, I would probably make more money than I currently am making 4.5 days a week working for other people.
I’ve signed the “non-disclosure” agreement which essentially means I can’t talk about the practice to anyone except my designated “agents.” Whatever the hell that means. I swear, lawyers are smart - invent your own new language using English words so that one must pay 400 dollars an hour to have it interpreted by the creator of the language. Brilliant.
So I’m all over the place right now but the main point of this post still stands. Embrace change – seek it out, or you will never escape the bonds of complacency – which is often a far worse fate then fear of change or fear of failure. Even if you fail, you can learn from it, and dust yourself off for the next round. This too is better than becoming frozen in time, depressed, and unmotivated as you drift through the motions, day in and day out.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The Fall Report
Although it is 80+
degrees for some reason, I still consider mid-September to be “Fall.” The days are getting shorter, the clouds are
hanging around more often, definitely fall-ish.
Now if that horde of hornets living up on my deck would finally die off,
I’ll be a happy human. Every time I wipe
out one nest, I feel as if two more sprout up.
How is the professional life treating me you ask? Still not great, but I feel like I have motivation and direction at last. I figured I would work as an associate for 5 years in this office, build my skill-base, and then buy-out or transition into an existing practice. However, I’ve quickly realized that I can’t wait five years. Being an associate has many many benefits. These benefits also come in tandem with many many frustrations. The plus side is obvious. You get to focus almost exclusively on your trade as a dentist. Without the burden of managing an office and having employees, you can get the inexperienced jitters out of your system much smoother.
With all great things comes the downside. You are an employee. Always remember that. It doesn’t matter if your contract is structured as an Independent Contractor. You are still an employee. Every other employee in the office knows this. So naturally, your authority is limited. You are not going to be able to dramatically change anyone’s behavior or any office systems already in place. This becomes glaringly apparent if you work in an office that has been around for decades (like me). Now every position is different, but as an associate, you WILL eventually max out your income potential. If you want to hit that juicy median income of your average general practitioner, you must strike out and own.
So as my last post made clear, I am looking into ownership far earlier than expected. I have spoken with both an attorney and accountant informally to simply network as well as get as much free advice as I can before they invariably start charging me. The good thing about shopping around for other professionals is that they know this and are more willing to cut you a break at the beginning. We are also meeting with a bank in regards to acquiring a loan towards practice financing. Several major banks in this country have medical/dental specialist sub segments that exclusively cater to dentists and financing practice start-ups/buy-outs. Much like with other professionals, we plan to meet with more than one. This first meeting will occur early next month.
A lot of my free time is now spent reading up on the non-clinical aspects of dentistry. Books on leadership, communication, practice transitions, etc. Not only is it a nice break from constantly reading articles on clinical dentistry, but I am absorbing an enormous amount of information – namely because I am really underdeveloped from a business standpoint.
I currently work 4.5 days a week and while my income is still laughable for a general dentist (and given my 9 years of post-HS education), it has become less laughable than it was last year at this time. My wife is still bringing home way more bacon than me, but as a progressive and mature adult human, I am super excited about this because she keeps us going financially while I have fuddled around for the last year. She still is pretty underpaid for how many hours she puts in – but I can’t say she is unfairly paid as an associate dentist. Combined, we make enough to maybe consider ourselves one whole dentist. I realize our income potential is quite high over our careers, but knowing this and getting there are two very different ideals.
I did get a job offer from one of the local corporate dental chains. I would make double what I do now, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. To be unable to practice comprehensive dentistry every day of the week would simply drive me insane. I do care about financial growth and stability, but I don’t consider my wealth as the definition of who I am. Don’t get me wrong, I like nice things just as much as the next guy, but I thankfully don’t find myself craving social status types of items. We are living somewhat below are means. Most of our money is spent on travel, which we do sporadically. And finally having a somewhat less laughable income on my end has allowed us to begin significantly saving money. The student loans still sit, but we have stabilized and will continue to chip away, hoping to whittle them down 100% over the next 10-15 years. The idea of taking out another 500K to finance a practice is daunting, but at the same time, it’s just a number. I never physically walk around with it in my pocket. The practice is established with numbers crunched to accommodate repayment well before the bank even approves. Dental practices rarely ever fail. And I’ve see some pretty incompetent dentists in my short career doing just fine and dandy. If they can somehow get by, then I feel like I’ve got a good chance to excel. Not that I’m god’s greatest gift to dentistry or anything, but I actually care about the quality of my work. I know I’ve had bad days, but I learn from my mistakes, constantly strive to improve and am never satisfied with what I know. I feel like these traits will push me to higher peaks over the next 35 years.
So much like the Chicago Bears this season, I am cautiously optimistic about the future. I know there are plenty of frustrating times ahead of me, but I also see a lot of happiness and contentment as well.
While I’d be lying if I said my post-education world was what I expected it to be, I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t a pretty lucky SOB with a great life.
Cheers to all.
How is the professional life treating me you ask? Still not great, but I feel like I have motivation and direction at last. I figured I would work as an associate for 5 years in this office, build my skill-base, and then buy-out or transition into an existing practice. However, I’ve quickly realized that I can’t wait five years. Being an associate has many many benefits. These benefits also come in tandem with many many frustrations. The plus side is obvious. You get to focus almost exclusively on your trade as a dentist. Without the burden of managing an office and having employees, you can get the inexperienced jitters out of your system much smoother.
With all great things comes the downside. You are an employee. Always remember that. It doesn’t matter if your contract is structured as an Independent Contractor. You are still an employee. Every other employee in the office knows this. So naturally, your authority is limited. You are not going to be able to dramatically change anyone’s behavior or any office systems already in place. This becomes glaringly apparent if you work in an office that has been around for decades (like me). Now every position is different, but as an associate, you WILL eventually max out your income potential. If you want to hit that juicy median income of your average general practitioner, you must strike out and own.
So as my last post made clear, I am looking into ownership far earlier than expected. I have spoken with both an attorney and accountant informally to simply network as well as get as much free advice as I can before they invariably start charging me. The good thing about shopping around for other professionals is that they know this and are more willing to cut you a break at the beginning. We are also meeting with a bank in regards to acquiring a loan towards practice financing. Several major banks in this country have medical/dental specialist sub segments that exclusively cater to dentists and financing practice start-ups/buy-outs. Much like with other professionals, we plan to meet with more than one. This first meeting will occur early next month.
A lot of my free time is now spent reading up on the non-clinical aspects of dentistry. Books on leadership, communication, practice transitions, etc. Not only is it a nice break from constantly reading articles on clinical dentistry, but I am absorbing an enormous amount of information – namely because I am really underdeveloped from a business standpoint.
I currently work 4.5 days a week and while my income is still laughable for a general dentist (and given my 9 years of post-HS education), it has become less laughable than it was last year at this time. My wife is still bringing home way more bacon than me, but as a progressive and mature adult human, I am super excited about this because she keeps us going financially while I have fuddled around for the last year. She still is pretty underpaid for how many hours she puts in – but I can’t say she is unfairly paid as an associate dentist. Combined, we make enough to maybe consider ourselves one whole dentist. I realize our income potential is quite high over our careers, but knowing this and getting there are two very different ideals.
I did get a job offer from one of the local corporate dental chains. I would make double what I do now, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. To be unable to practice comprehensive dentistry every day of the week would simply drive me insane. I do care about financial growth and stability, but I don’t consider my wealth as the definition of who I am. Don’t get me wrong, I like nice things just as much as the next guy, but I thankfully don’t find myself craving social status types of items. We are living somewhat below are means. Most of our money is spent on travel, which we do sporadically. And finally having a somewhat less laughable income on my end has allowed us to begin significantly saving money. The student loans still sit, but we have stabilized and will continue to chip away, hoping to whittle them down 100% over the next 10-15 years. The idea of taking out another 500K to finance a practice is daunting, but at the same time, it’s just a number. I never physically walk around with it in my pocket. The practice is established with numbers crunched to accommodate repayment well before the bank even approves. Dental practices rarely ever fail. And I’ve see some pretty incompetent dentists in my short career doing just fine and dandy. If they can somehow get by, then I feel like I’ve got a good chance to excel. Not that I’m god’s greatest gift to dentistry or anything, but I actually care about the quality of my work. I know I’ve had bad days, but I learn from my mistakes, constantly strive to improve and am never satisfied with what I know. I feel like these traits will push me to higher peaks over the next 35 years.
So much like the Chicago Bears this season, I am cautiously optimistic about the future. I know there are plenty of frustrating times ahead of me, but I also see a lot of happiness and contentment as well.
While I’d be lying if I said my post-education world was what I expected it to be, I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t a pretty lucky SOB with a great life.
Cheers to all.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
One Year In
I finished my first
full year as a “general dentist” at the end of June. I know it has been MONTHS since my last
appearance but I assure you, I am very much alive. So how are things you ask?
Meh.
Yea, unfortunately 12 months post residency, my professional life is still meh. I am much better off than I was last fall (unemployed!), but really it isn’t THAT much better. I work in two offices. One is a long-time standing general practice with 2 owner docs and 3 associates. The other is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) which caters to low-no income families. I started in the private office in January and just started in the FQHC in July. By the way, for you die-hard fans, this is the same FQHC I temped in last fall. They finally made room for a second dentist and I was invited back for 1.5 days a week.
The general practice office is still three days a week and if I have anything to do with it, will soon be zero. Six months have elapsed and I still have a schedule with more holes in it than a moldy piece of Swiss cheese. The office is predominantly PPO (Over 90% of the patients), and I am paid exclusively on collections (40%). You see the 40% and think, that ain’t half bad. Well, as I have found out at a painfully slow pace, the yearly collections in this office is under 90%. UNDER NINETY PERCENT. I have never heard of such a poor yield. The fact that we take all these dogshit PPOs also cripples the ability to charge an even ‘average’ fee. I’m sorry, but only 400 bucks for four wisdom teeth? Are you kidding me?
To any readers who are a bit miffed by insurance plans, allow me to summarize (I will likely have an entire post on this in the future). I won’t deal with HMOs today. So lots of people have PPO plans. How do they work? You usually get them through your employer, who will sign up for a plan to get a specific rate for his/her employees. You pick your plan, cough up a monthly tab, and get your benefits. Your average plan will cover 1500-2500 bucks annually. They generally cover 100% preventative stuff.
So why do they suck? Because they hamstring the dentist. PPOs generally raise their fees about 0.5%-1% annually unless the dentist attempts to hardball renegotiate fees. General inflation in America is 3-4% annually. Do you see the problem? The cost for dental materials, staff salary, office supplies, etc all increases with standard inflation. The PPO does not. So if you rely heavily on PPOs, you will begin to see a steady decline in office cash flow. So how do you fix this? Oh yea, cram as many patients into your schedule as you can. I don’t care how good you are, you are going to be doing some shoddy dentistry when you are seeing 14+ patients daily (not including hygiene) just to make up for fee’s that you have no control over.
Now of course the ideal world would be a completely fee for service (FFO) practice. They do indeed exist, but realistically, most can’t get by without taking SOME insurance. The key is to LIMIT it. The inherent system is simply flawed. Insurance companies are NOT dentists, yet they determine how much we should make. It is not good.
But I can dissect this stuff better in a separate post. The jist of it has been implied. So this family practice is essentially going under. Office overhead is in the 70% range, the practice produces 2.5 million a year, yet is still struggling to break even. So what has this yielded? The wise and benevolent practice management firm that the owner docs seem to let run the show has suggested that they cut associate dentist compensation. How they are doing it really doesn’t matter, but it essentially equates to about 60K gross pay for the oldest associate, 30K for my wife and 10K for me. But hah, I make nothing as it is so what’s the diff. The only reason I have stayed as long as I have is that the office is generally a positive work environment, I’ve learned a decent amount, I enjoy working with my wife (which bodes well for the future), and I was happy to have a stable work week finally. But alas, all things tend to change. I originally planned to stick it out here for at least a year. Now I’m hoping to be somewhere else by then. And a big part of me hopes that other place is owned by ME. OH SNAP!
The real positive of this mess is that it is ignited a fire in my dormant self. I originally thought I would slug it out as an associate for several years. Hell no! We are beginning the process of opening our own practice. We still haven’t decided if we will buy one out, or start from scratch – but I have begun assembling the Justice League for Dentistry (i.e., my professional team). This includes a lawyer, CPA, banker, demographics dude, medical contractor, oh my god there are a lot of them.
We are hoping to meet a bunch and find the right fit. We aren’t rushing into anything, but the process has begun! I’m pretty damn excited about it too. Literally just started, but I hope to update as we go along, as this segment of my career will probably be pretty damn interesting for the new dentists coming forth.
So will I go bankrupt? Make millions? Die in a freak accident? Find balance in all things life? Stay tuned!
So yea, as far as this first year is concerned….
Meh.
Disclaimer:
OKOK I know I’m bitching a bit excessively and I truly HAVE become a better dentist despite the lack of dentist-like income. We aren’t starving or anything either, but the thought of having children or owning a house is much farther away than I would have expected for someone my age. I still drive a car with no passenger door handle or driver side mirror. I mean, I don’t need a Maserati or anything, but A/C and a non-ruptured washer fluid line would be nice. We will get there eventually, but was the five extra years of school + mountain of debt really worth it? Seeing as a do indeed like being a dentist, I’m still OK with it. Lots of people make a decent living but absolutely hate their jobs. I generally enjoy doing what I do at least. So there’s some positivity!
Ask me again in a decade.
I will hopefully organize some posts about transitioning to ownership in the coming months/years. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur, but the thought of building something from the ground up, and actually being in charge, and getting to do it MY way sounds so freaking amazing after working for other dudes that do so many things wrong. Not that I am perfect or anything, but I’m looking forward to giving it the old college try.
Yikes I’m really rambling. Sorry for the lack of coherence, but that is just how I roll!
Seriously though, I will try to get some thoughtful posts about this transition as it occurs. Hell, it takes a long time to get rolling anyways so I should be able to find some time.
Good evening.
Meh.
Yea, unfortunately 12 months post residency, my professional life is still meh. I am much better off than I was last fall (unemployed!), but really it isn’t THAT much better. I work in two offices. One is a long-time standing general practice with 2 owner docs and 3 associates. The other is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) which caters to low-no income families. I started in the private office in January and just started in the FQHC in July. By the way, for you die-hard fans, this is the same FQHC I temped in last fall. They finally made room for a second dentist and I was invited back for 1.5 days a week.
The general practice office is still three days a week and if I have anything to do with it, will soon be zero. Six months have elapsed and I still have a schedule with more holes in it than a moldy piece of Swiss cheese. The office is predominantly PPO (Over 90% of the patients), and I am paid exclusively on collections (40%). You see the 40% and think, that ain’t half bad. Well, as I have found out at a painfully slow pace, the yearly collections in this office is under 90%. UNDER NINETY PERCENT. I have never heard of such a poor yield. The fact that we take all these dogshit PPOs also cripples the ability to charge an even ‘average’ fee. I’m sorry, but only 400 bucks for four wisdom teeth? Are you kidding me?
To any readers who are a bit miffed by insurance plans, allow me to summarize (I will likely have an entire post on this in the future). I won’t deal with HMOs today. So lots of people have PPO plans. How do they work? You usually get them through your employer, who will sign up for a plan to get a specific rate for his/her employees. You pick your plan, cough up a monthly tab, and get your benefits. Your average plan will cover 1500-2500 bucks annually. They generally cover 100% preventative stuff.
So why do they suck? Because they hamstring the dentist. PPOs generally raise their fees about 0.5%-1% annually unless the dentist attempts to hardball renegotiate fees. General inflation in America is 3-4% annually. Do you see the problem? The cost for dental materials, staff salary, office supplies, etc all increases with standard inflation. The PPO does not. So if you rely heavily on PPOs, you will begin to see a steady decline in office cash flow. So how do you fix this? Oh yea, cram as many patients into your schedule as you can. I don’t care how good you are, you are going to be doing some shoddy dentistry when you are seeing 14+ patients daily (not including hygiene) just to make up for fee’s that you have no control over.
Now of course the ideal world would be a completely fee for service (FFO) practice. They do indeed exist, but realistically, most can’t get by without taking SOME insurance. The key is to LIMIT it. The inherent system is simply flawed. Insurance companies are NOT dentists, yet they determine how much we should make. It is not good.
But I can dissect this stuff better in a separate post. The jist of it has been implied. So this family practice is essentially going under. Office overhead is in the 70% range, the practice produces 2.5 million a year, yet is still struggling to break even. So what has this yielded? The wise and benevolent practice management firm that the owner docs seem to let run the show has suggested that they cut associate dentist compensation. How they are doing it really doesn’t matter, but it essentially equates to about 60K gross pay for the oldest associate, 30K for my wife and 10K for me. But hah, I make nothing as it is so what’s the diff. The only reason I have stayed as long as I have is that the office is generally a positive work environment, I’ve learned a decent amount, I enjoy working with my wife (which bodes well for the future), and I was happy to have a stable work week finally. But alas, all things tend to change. I originally planned to stick it out here for at least a year. Now I’m hoping to be somewhere else by then. And a big part of me hopes that other place is owned by ME. OH SNAP!
The real positive of this mess is that it is ignited a fire in my dormant self. I originally thought I would slug it out as an associate for several years. Hell no! We are beginning the process of opening our own practice. We still haven’t decided if we will buy one out, or start from scratch – but I have begun assembling the Justice League for Dentistry (i.e., my professional team). This includes a lawyer, CPA, banker, demographics dude, medical contractor, oh my god there are a lot of them.
We are hoping to meet a bunch and find the right fit. We aren’t rushing into anything, but the process has begun! I’m pretty damn excited about it too. Literally just started, but I hope to update as we go along, as this segment of my career will probably be pretty damn interesting for the new dentists coming forth.
So will I go bankrupt? Make millions? Die in a freak accident? Find balance in all things life? Stay tuned!
So yea, as far as this first year is concerned….
Meh.
Disclaimer:
OKOK I know I’m bitching a bit excessively and I truly HAVE become a better dentist despite the lack of dentist-like income. We aren’t starving or anything either, but the thought of having children or owning a house is much farther away than I would have expected for someone my age. I still drive a car with no passenger door handle or driver side mirror. I mean, I don’t need a Maserati or anything, but A/C and a non-ruptured washer fluid line would be nice. We will get there eventually, but was the five extra years of school + mountain of debt really worth it? Seeing as a do indeed like being a dentist, I’m still OK with it. Lots of people make a decent living but absolutely hate their jobs. I generally enjoy doing what I do at least. So there’s some positivity!
Ask me again in a decade.
I will hopefully organize some posts about transitioning to ownership in the coming months/years. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur, but the thought of building something from the ground up, and actually being in charge, and getting to do it MY way sounds so freaking amazing after working for other dudes that do so many things wrong. Not that I am perfect or anything, but I’m looking forward to giving it the old college try.
Yikes I’m really rambling. Sorry for the lack of coherence, but that is just how I roll!
Seriously though, I will try to get some thoughtful posts about this transition as it occurs. Hell, it takes a long time to get rolling anyways so I should be able to find some time.
Good evening.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
A Short Story (With Pictures!)
About two months into my
current job and things are going swimmingly.
I’m still not busy enough, but slowly but surely, I’m building a patient
base. Luckily the practice is large, so
I get all the emergencies to fill in the gaps.
Most emergencies are not particularly interesting, but I’ve been on a
bit of a streak as of late.
So here is my story. A certain Friday afternoon arrives with a middle-aged guy coming in at 2:00 for emergency tooth pain. We close at 3:00 on Fridays and pretty much every specialist we refer to closes early on Fridays as well.
He is around 45 years old and is complaining of pain in #3. Persistent for the last 3 days and really hurts when he eats.
So here is my story. A certain Friday afternoon arrives with a middle-aged guy coming in at 2:00 for emergency tooth pain. We close at 3:00 on Fridays and pretty much every specialist we refer to closes early on Fridays as well.
He is around 45 years old and is complaining of pain in #3. Persistent for the last 3 days and really hurts when he eats.
Hard to appreciate the
divergent roots in this picture, but you can definitely see the fracture line
going straight down the center of the crown.
He’s in a lot of pain and I have two options.
1 – refer to OS and
give him pain killers to survive the weekend
2 – Extract the tooth
myself
If you had talked to me
right out of dental school, no way in hell I try to get that tooth out. But here is why the GPR positively influenced me. I decide to go for it.
For some reason, I
thought I could get this tooth out in one piece (ohh silly delusional self). So naturally, the tooth breaks down below the
crest. Fuck. Now I’m flapping and removing bone with a
handpiece and surgical bur. Long story
short, took me an hour to get it out and the sinus membrane was exposed at the
base of EVERY root tip. Fortunately, the
membrane was intact and no communication was present into the sinus proper.
The GPR gave me the
confidence to attempt this extraction, but more importantly, it gave me the skillset
to get out of trouble and analyze the procedure more critically than I would
have straight out of school.
What went well:
-Entire tooth removed, all tips accounted for
-no sinus exposure
(close though!)
-pain management during
procedure and post-op was excellent
What could have gone
better:
-Should have
flapped/sectioned immediately, controlled tooth breakage is far superior to
forceps-induced. This in turn, would
have allowed me to spare more of the alveolar bone as well.
This was my first “oh
crap” moment in private practice. When
the crown snapped off, I realized I was in a hole and it was going to require
some patience and persistence to climb out.
Great thing is I didn’t panic, everything worked out OK, and the site is
healing up as expected at this point.
So that brings me to
the very next patient I saw the following Monday. Emergency comes in complaining of tooth
pain. Young African American male with
no medical complications.
Both #1 and #2 need to
go. I felt like this was my chance for
immediate redemption. This time, I
adapted from my previous experience and made the correct choice. I immediately flapped, troughed, and
sectioned #2. #1 was a standard forceps
extraction. Including anesthesia and
suturing, I was done in 20 minutes, a marked improvement over Friday afternoon. No post-op issues, area healing well at
follow-up.
This isn’t a ‘brag’
post or anything. Plenty of general
dentists could get these teeth out as well, but I was just really pleased with
the immediate turnaround. I mean, that
sort of thing is so rare, to get a chance to do a nearly identical procedure
the very next patient and see such improvement in management just made me
smile.
So I’m the extraction
guy in our office and I’m ok with that.
I am still waiting to really get rolling with some more prosthetic
cases, but the bread and butter stuff is working out fine. Being out of the game for a few months really
didn’t diminish my skillset at all, I feel confident and comfortable with the
basics. Do I still get frustrated? Yes.
Do I still need time to think and dissect a larger restorative
case? YES! Am I still learning and getting better every
day? Hell yes!
The only real complaint
I can come up with at this point is a lack of consistency on when I get
paid. Supposed to be the 1st
and 15th of every month…but is currently the 20th of February,
and I still haven’t seen that 15th paycheck. Not the end of the world, but definitely
annoying and making paying back loans and keeping my credit card balance at
zero far more difficult to keep up with.
We are getting by and I only expect things to improve after I really
establish myself at this office…but it is still rough going financially. Go figure right? A husband/wife dentist combo is living
paycheck to paycheck. Can’t wait for
that phase of our lives to end, hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Three days a week of work
is still not enough, but it seems like the potential to grow is good and I will
ultimately get more time in this practice. The question becomes should I find
another job for the interim. The plus
side to that would be increased income and exposure to a different work
environment. The con would be difficulty
in changing days/hours as my workload at the primary office increases. We shall see how things develop.
And I’m spent. Going for a ton of CE at the midwinter
meeting…hopefully I learn.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Turn The Page, Wash Your Hands
On the eve of a new year
and I just had to get one last post in.
I know, I know, the posting train has slowed to a veritable crawl, but
such is life. My PC did eventually
succumb to the computer equivalent of Alzheimer’s. It just stopped remembering how to open any
application, and the process of buying a new one is rather expensive. I was in no particular rush either as we
usually just use an ipad or our phones for internet stuff in the house. However, typing up blog entries just doesn’t
feel right unless I’m at a trusty desktop.
So here I am, new PC (with crazy windows 8) at the ready.
So I read my last post and found it to be extremely negative. I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ so I’m attempting to look more on the positive side. I do tend to use this blog as a mental venting source every once in awhile, but I don’t want that to be all it’s good for. I honestly feel my overall pessimism is from being a Chicago sports fan. Let’s face it, our teams generally suck. And when they tease you with glimmers of hope, they choke it away in the last month of the season. I’m looking at you both Bears and White Sox. But this is not a sports blog, so I digress. I haven’t had much dentistry in my life these last 6 months which I can use as an excuse for limited posting. Yet, these past months have felt more busy and full of life moments than most do. I got married in July, went to Maui for a 2 week honeymoon. Hell, I finally left the country for the first time in my life. We visited Taiwan and Japan for a 2 week tour in earlier this month. The wife has a lot of extended family in Taiwan and we just went to Japan for the hell of it afterwards. Being a creature of habit and routine, I figured this extensive trip would stress the crap out of me, but it ended up being really fun (minus the 2 week jet lag).
I did work temporarily in a public health clinic and was grateful to at least maintain some of my hand skills and dental brains. But now, as we bring in the New Year, I finally appear to have a dental home for the immediate future. I will be working in the same office as my wife. As we plan to eventually own a practice together, I feel this will be an excellent trial period to see if we can get along professionally in the same working space. If it doesn’t work out, better to find out before we sink 500k into a practice. And there isn’t anything wrong with that either, there are plenty of married dentists out there that work in separate offices for the duration. However, I’m hoping to be in the other category as the journey of business and ownership would be more palatable for me as a team rather than on my own.
We hope to stay on as associates in the practice for the next few years while we improve our clinical and business skills whilst bringing the debt down. Ultimately want to own a practice within ten years. Ideally like to be transitioning within five. We do have one practice in mind at the moment owned by two dentists (also married). We met them during Dental School and have kept in touch, seems the timing for their retirement may work out perfectly with our own timetable for ownership. There is interest in both camps, but obviously things can change, but it’s nice to at least have a possibility. I would prefer to transition a practice rather than buy one outright. But we may end up doing that if we can’t find the right fit.
So the year of 2013 should be the one where we finally can start saving money and increasing our loan slaying. We’ve also spent a lot on vacation, the wedding and the holidays over the last year, so it will be nice for a low key year where we can develop a routine and start putting money away for our eventual migration from the city proper.
It still feels weird not having the ‘next grade’ to go to in terms of education. No more tests, no more class, no more paying tuition! Start my first associateship on Wednesday!
I have no more to say folks; I look forward to relaying dental focused entries again in the coming months. Granted, job hunting was viable topic, but it is also not really that exciting as there is just so much waiting involved coupled with bursts of excitement and/or frustration. I will look back on these past 6 months happily in the future as a time of self-discovery, patience, and humility. Everything works out in the end, just seeing that happy ending sometimes is tough.
Happy New Year everyone!
So I read my last post and found it to be extremely negative. I don’t want to be ‘that guy’ so I’m attempting to look more on the positive side. I do tend to use this blog as a mental venting source every once in awhile, but I don’t want that to be all it’s good for. I honestly feel my overall pessimism is from being a Chicago sports fan. Let’s face it, our teams generally suck. And when they tease you with glimmers of hope, they choke it away in the last month of the season. I’m looking at you both Bears and White Sox. But this is not a sports blog, so I digress. I haven’t had much dentistry in my life these last 6 months which I can use as an excuse for limited posting. Yet, these past months have felt more busy and full of life moments than most do. I got married in July, went to Maui for a 2 week honeymoon. Hell, I finally left the country for the first time in my life. We visited Taiwan and Japan for a 2 week tour in earlier this month. The wife has a lot of extended family in Taiwan and we just went to Japan for the hell of it afterwards. Being a creature of habit and routine, I figured this extensive trip would stress the crap out of me, but it ended up being really fun (minus the 2 week jet lag).
I did work temporarily in a public health clinic and was grateful to at least maintain some of my hand skills and dental brains. But now, as we bring in the New Year, I finally appear to have a dental home for the immediate future. I will be working in the same office as my wife. As we plan to eventually own a practice together, I feel this will be an excellent trial period to see if we can get along professionally in the same working space. If it doesn’t work out, better to find out before we sink 500k into a practice. And there isn’t anything wrong with that either, there are plenty of married dentists out there that work in separate offices for the duration. However, I’m hoping to be in the other category as the journey of business and ownership would be more palatable for me as a team rather than on my own.
We hope to stay on as associates in the practice for the next few years while we improve our clinical and business skills whilst bringing the debt down. Ultimately want to own a practice within ten years. Ideally like to be transitioning within five. We do have one practice in mind at the moment owned by two dentists (also married). We met them during Dental School and have kept in touch, seems the timing for their retirement may work out perfectly with our own timetable for ownership. There is interest in both camps, but obviously things can change, but it’s nice to at least have a possibility. I would prefer to transition a practice rather than buy one outright. But we may end up doing that if we can’t find the right fit.
So the year of 2013 should be the one where we finally can start saving money and increasing our loan slaying. We’ve also spent a lot on vacation, the wedding and the holidays over the last year, so it will be nice for a low key year where we can develop a routine and start putting money away for our eventual migration from the city proper.
It still feels weird not having the ‘next grade’ to go to in terms of education. No more tests, no more class, no more paying tuition! Start my first associateship on Wednesday!
I have no more to say folks; I look forward to relaying dental focused entries again in the coming months. Granted, job hunting was viable topic, but it is also not really that exciting as there is just so much waiting involved coupled with bursts of excitement and/or frustration. I will look back on these past 6 months happily in the future as a time of self-discovery, patience, and humility. Everything works out in the end, just seeing that happy ending sometimes is tough.
Happy New Year everyone!
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