Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Professional Courtesy: Married to My Profession by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD

View Comments (2) More by this author (307)


by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, Editorial Director, Dentaltown Magazine

Our cover story this month connects with a topic that is near and dear to my heart: women in dentistry. According to a graphic in the Jan. 20, 2015 issue of ADA News, the 2013 dental-school graduating class was 47.2 percent female. We have made some great progress since 1995 when I graduated from SUNY at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine and our graduating class was comprised of only 25 percent women.

Now, you might initially react with a comment like this: "What could a guy possibly understand about women in dentistry?" It all started in 1996 when I married one of my classmates from dental school.

We started our careers working apart. This was more from necessity than choice. We did residencies at different hospitals and worked as associates in different practices in upstate New York before we made the decision to migrate to Arizona. Once we settled into our new hometown and made the decision to stay long term, we made plans to open a practice of our own. It made the most sense to combine our efforts and have the ability to control our schedule.

During the 13 years that we have been in practice together, the question that I hear most often from patients is a version of this: "What's it like working with your wife?" or "How can you work with your wife all day?" I tell them the simple truth—when we are busy working with our patients, we actually spend very little time together at work, and when we are at home, we rarely spend time talking about teeth. I will say that when we do share a dental story at home, it's refreshing to share it with someone who understands the challenges and frustrations associated with our profession. I think that some couples struggle to understand each other when they have different careers.

From the beginning, we developed a division of responsibilities that was effective for maintaining peace at home and in the office. I handle all of the finances and management of the practice and my wife is always on top of matters with our family at home. Since we opened the practice, we would work together only two days a week and be alone the other three. This was done in part to keep the practice open five days a week but also to accommodate our children. We had two very young children when we opened the practice and another was born during our first year in business. It was a true blessing to allow my wife as much time off as she needed and I had some days home with the kids once she came back to work. To this day, we are able to adjust our schedules to take turns picking up the kids at school, attending sporting events or spending time at home when they have a day off.

When I ask my wife what she enjoys most about our profession, she tells me that having the ability to be flexible with her schedule when our kids were babies was at the top of her list. She also enjoys the ability to make a good living while working part time—she's in the office three days per week. Dentistry can be great for women, and women are great for dentistry. My wife said that some patients prefer women and she believes that a female dentist can sometimes relate better to an office staff.

I will say it is a blessing to be married to my business partner. We have a wonderful team to support us and we have patients who will see one or the other or both of us. I hope you enjoy our Women in Dentistry section, which starts on page 86. Please share your comments online at Dentaltown.com. Reach me by email: tom@dentaltown.com or on Twitter: @ddsTom.

Dentaltown Magazine
April 2024
Dentaltown Magazine April 2024 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Have you ever switched practice management platforms for your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2024 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450