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Howard Speaks: Learning Plus Earning by Dr. Howard Farran, DDS, MBA

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Categories: Practice Management, HR and Accounting; Practice Transitions;
Howard Speaks: Learning Plus Earning 

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

Too many younger dentists aren’t focusing on the right things when trying to figure out which practice they should join for their first job. They’re considering only factors like location and how close the current dentist is to selling their practice, and completely overlooking one of the most important things that will help them become a great practice owner: “Can this dentist teach me how to perform quality dentistry? Can they teach me how to build a winning team? Will they teach me how to market and advertise?”


Learn from the best
In the four months between graduating from dental school and opening my own practice, I worked for Dr. Ed Silker, who was the Phoenix area’s most successful dentist at the time—which is exactly why I wanted to work for him. While I was preparing to open my own practice, I wanted to learn as much as possible from his experience.

I learned so much under Ed’s direction that I continued to work for him for an additional six months after I opened my own practice: I worked on patients in my office from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, then at his practices from 2 to 10 p.m., and also from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. (No, those Sunday hours aren’t a typo! His practices had extended hours and, having just opened my own practice, I needed the money and experience.)


Breadth of knowledge
From Ed, I learned the value of both innovation and delegation. For example, he took “freestanding office” to the extreme by buying eight prefabricated mobile buildings and dropping them onto the parking lots of shopping centers all over the Phoenix metro area. He hired an office manager for each office, gave them the authority to hire, fire and run the office as they saw fit, and stood behind every decision. Through him, I learned about billing, advertising and other financial aspects of the business.

I was also doing a lot of clinical learning, too: During my last two years of dental school, I probably did 50 fillings, 15 crowns, 15 root canals and pulled 50 teeth. I was doing that every week when I worked for Ed.


Building valuable skills
Earnings are important, of course—you’ve got student loans to pay off!—but there’s so much more to think about when going to work for someone than just the financial component. If you have the opportunity to work for someone you admire, I think that’s fantastic. You can’t base your decision solely on what you’re going to get paid by the hour—you should care more about whether this person will teach you clinical and practice management skills. You’ll need this priceless information to be successful when you finally do strike out on your own!
See Howard Live!

Dentaltown founder Dr. Howard Farran reaches hundreds of thousands of dentists around the world every day through his columns, podcast and social media posts—and now, he’s taking his act on the road, including his latest presentation based on the bestselling book Uncomplicate Business! Howard will speak live at the following organizations and events over the next few months:

To schedule Howard’s appearance at your upcoming event, call Rebecca Wheeler at 480-341-9777 or email rebecca@farranmedia.com.
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