Podcast Episode #569: Reinventing Dental College Education: The High Point University Model – Dr Kevin Cain & Dr Muhammad Ali Shazib
Episode #569: Dentist Freedom Blueprint Podcast
Reinventing Dental College Education: The High Point University Model – Dr Kevin Cain & Dr Muhammad Ali Shazib
Dental education is broken, and everyone in the profession knows it. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Cain and Dr. Muhammad Ali Shazib explain why the traditional dental school model is decades behind real-world dentistry and what they’re doing to rebuild it from the ground up at the Workman School of Dental Medicine at High Point University. No student clinics. No DAT cutoffs. Real practices from year one. Business, leadership, and clinical judgment taught together instead of in silos. This is not a tweak. It’s a rewrite.
Dr. Cain, a former business strategist turned academic disruptor, and Dr. Shazib, a Harvard-trained clinician and current dean, share how their distributed practice model prepares graduates for ownership, leadership, and long-term sustainability instead of burnout and debt paralysis. They also address the biggest misconceptions around DSOs, private equity, and the school’s relationship with Rick Workman head-on. If you care about the future of dentistry, whether you’re a student, associate, owner, or nearing transition, this conversation lays out what’s changing and why standing still is the riskiest move of all.
Minute Markers:
00:00 – The Future of Dentistry Is Being Rewritten
02:15 – Why Traditional Dental Education Is Failing
06:23 – One Email That Started a Dental School
08:58 – From Private Practice to Building Something New
13:03 – Rethinking Admissions and Student Selection
16:19 – Why Real-World Experience Matters Early
18:40 – DSOs, Academia, and Misconceptions
25:34 – The Truth About the Workman Connection
32:36 – Inside the Distributed Practice Model
39:16 – Why This Is Dentistry’s Most Important Decade
42:10 – You’re No Longer Alone in Dentistry
Featured on the Show:
Workman School of Dental Medicine (High Point University Site)
Private Facebook Group: The Exit-Ready Dentist
Download the Exit Strategy Playbook
Schedule your Freedom Founders discovery call
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are some other ways I can help fast track you to your Freedom goal (you’re closer than you think) :
In this episode, we finish up the second part of my interview with Rob Swanson and his eight rules of investing. (If you haven’t listened to part 1, be sure to go back and give that a listen before jumping into this one.) Today, we pick up where we left off, covering rules four through eight and talking about everything from decision-making to cash flow and risk reduction.
Listen in as Rob shares his incredible insight and experience in real estate and investing to give us a few rules that help make our decisions and investments more solid. You will hear about the importance of looking at margins before buying and what boxes need to be checked when it comes to predicting a solid income stream. Rob also discusses how to define and mitigate the different risks involved so that you can come out on top.
Alastair MacDonald is a private advisor to established entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners, as well as a TEDx speaker who lectures on economic, social, and financial forecasts. Join me today to hear part two of our conversation at the Freedom Founders Mastermind, where we dive into the concept of certainty, how to hedge against a volatile economy, and why the abdication model is no longer one that works.
Listen in to learn the reasons why Alastair is not worried about consumer price inflation (and what he’s really worried about instead) and why the 401(k) is not always the investment that it is made out to be. You’ll learn why he is most concerned about the issue of division and polarity in the Western world, why your business is your best asset in a volatile economy, and how you can maintain its viability to weather the most intense economic storm.
1. Get Your Free Retirement Scorecard:
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2. Attend A Workshop:
If you’re committed to Freedom, but still building a practice, paying down school debt, or growing investment capital, our hands-on Freedom Blueprint Workshops are your entrance ramp onto the fast track! Visit www.freedomfounders.com/workshop to claim your seat!
3. Apply To Visit The Mastermind:
If you’d like to join dozens of dentists, docs, and practice professionals on the fast track to Freedom (5-7 years max), visit www.freedomfounders.com/step-1 to apply for a seat.
4. Want to Work Directly with Me?
If you’d like to work directly with me and a small group of my closest investment colleagues, with direct access to the dealmakers and asset classes that I invest in, just send a message to my Executive Assistant (Lindsey@FreedomFounders.com), and put “Fast Access” in the subject line. Or, call (972) 203-6960 Ext 144 and leave a brief voicemail for Lindsey. Let her know you’re interested in the Fast Access program – we’ll set up a time with you to talk, find out about your goals, and see if there is a fit.