Howard Speaks don’t get scared—get prepared! by Dr. Howard Farran

Dentaltown founder Dr. Howard Farran explains how young dentists like you can gain confidence and get excited about their future

by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, publisher, Dentaltown magazine

As a new doctor preparing to graduate from dental school or who has recently graduated, this is a very exciting time! But you’re also going to face some harsh realities about the dental profession soon and make some big decisions before you get going.

You’ve likely spent your postgrad career focusing on doing dentistry to earn your degree and haven’t had the opportunity to glance at the big picture of dentistry. The macroeconomics of dentistry is simple and once you comprehend it, the results will pay off in a big way. There are three variables in macroeconomics: people, technology and capital. Let’s take a look at how each applies to you.

People

Right now, you know just enough dentistry to be dangerous. It’s your job to keep improving your skills and acquiring new ones, as well as learning the business and practice management aspects of dentistry. Your best bet to becoming the greatest dentist in your town is to latch on to mentors who’ve practiced dentistry for decades.

Smart dentists realize that they don’t know it all and are humble enough to seek advice from veteran dentists. I started Dentaltown in 1999 to make it easier for dentists to network with peers and form strong relationships. The most successful young doctors I know leveraged the collective wisdom of Dentaltown.com by starting and contributing to message board threads, picking the brains of seasoned dentists who really get into lending a hand and giving young doctors the advice they wish they’d gotten when they were starting out. (Check out an excerpt from one such recent message board on page 5.)

You have to create meaningful professional relationships with your peers and mentors to become successful. Dentaltown’s members want to help you, and they thrive off your enthusiasm—it’s a win-win. Nobody on Dentaltown gets paid to tell you their advice; every Townie is a volunteer. People participate on Dentaltown’s message boards because they’re passionate about making the field of dentistry the best that it can be—and a big part of that is helping you become the best you can be.

Technology

It’s likely you learned next to nothing about CAD/CAM, dental implants or sleep dentistry in dental school. This is why jumping right into continuing education is crucial—and will continue to be so throughout your entire career. Technology is going to keep improving and as it does, you must expand your knowledge of it if you want to be successful.

Where should you start? Forgive me for being biased, but Dentaltown has more than 470 online CE courses. I implore you to get online and start taking them—not because you need the credits to maintain your dental license, but because they will all improve how you practice dentistry.

Capital

The average dental school graduate has more than $292,000 in student loans. Forget about opening up a practice in Manhattan that overlooks Central Park; there are hundreds of towns in America that have fewer than 100,000 people and that’s where the cost of buying a practice is about half of that in an oversaturated big city. Look at areas around the country that are underserved and consider setting up shop there.

Look at areas of town that are flourishing economically, have little competition nearby and a ton of potential customers. This is all information you can obtain from local, state and federal government agencies. Be smart about this!

Right now you have nothing but options. You can be a success in dentistry, but you’ll need to get out of your routine, muster up a little courage and go for it. I know you can do it, and so do you. I can’t wait to talk to all of you on Dentaltown.com!