Hello. My name is Diwakar Kinra and I am an endodontist in private practice
in Flint, Michigan. This series of webcasts will be covering something
different than our normal discussion on endodontics. We could call this the
prequel of what's to come in your career as a dentist. Now that you've graduated
from dental school,
you belong to a distinct alumni of practicing dentists. As you can see here,
graduation rates fluctuate from decade to decade and at this time,
look like they are on the rise. That being said, there are certain areas where
the job market is extremely competitive as far as dentists and for patients.
The only way to rise above this is through educating yourself beyond dental school.
You may say, 'Hold on, I just got out of dental school!'
'I have no interest in sitting in class anymore. I just want to work and start
paying off my loans and most importantly, living my life!'
I agree with you. That's
exactly what I did when I graduated from dental school. I went straight into
private practice as an associate.
But what I realize now was that dental school was not the end of my education,
but just the beginning.
Now many of us go through this process at the end of dental school.
Should I specialize or not? Some will say 'yes', but for the majority,
the answer will be 'no' because of several different reasons.
One, there's no interest in limiting ourselves to one field in dentistry...
...they're tired of academics...
...or they're just ready to earn some money.
For those of you who want to go back to school, I applaud you.
It's tough, but well worth it for those who really have a passion to limit their
practice to one aspect of dentistry.
But as reality sets in after dental school, making a living becomes a very
high priority. Especially as most of us came out with an extremely large debt load.
And as figures from our professional associations show, the
numbers get exceedingly high as time goes along, with many students owing debts
that average $250,000 or greater.
This can be very daunting to a young professional as they enter into the workforce.
One of the first questions that most graduating dental students ask themselves is:
'What's next?' and most importantly, 'Where is next?'.
I've always been under the assumption that you should figure out a locale
where you want to practice and then put full effort into finding an opportunity
in that surrounding area.
But how do you go about that? You could go the very normal route of looking up
advertisements, classified ads, and online sites and journals.
I have always had better luck when you narrow your search and ask the help of
very specific people.
I like contacting individuals in organized dentistry in either the state
or counties that you are looking to practice in.
They are very helpful in linking employers and employees.
Also, supply reps are very knowledgeable about the job market in certain areas and many
times are the first ones to know of quality positions that need to be filled.
Also contacting the local specialists in that area -
- the endodontist, periodontist or orthodontist - also have very tight
relationships with general dentists in that area and are aware of positions
before they even become public.
So befriend a specialist if you get the chance and it will go a lot further than
filling out a job application online.
After location, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is philosophy.
And by that I mean what type of dentistry do you want to practice?
Do you want to be a researcher? An educator? A group or multiple doctor setting?
Corporate practice or in private practice as an associate?
And remember, you don't have to be tied to just one philosophy.
And many times your philosophy will change as you age or different life events occur. And there
is definitely no right or wrong answer to this question. But it is a question
that you need to put time and effort into before you start your career.
But no matter what decision it is you made, you have to remember one thing as a new dentist.
Your quality of care that you provide your patients will always define you.
And this is set at the beginning of your career.
So no matter if you are in a private practice setting or a corporate setting,
there will be some great expectations set on you
as an incoming dentist.
One of these expectations will be performing quality endodontics for the office.
In a corporate setting,
many times there's expectations to keep as much dentistry in house as possible,
including oral surgery and molar endodontics. In a private practice setting,
one of the first things senior doctors like to stop doing is those exact same
procedures so they can concentrate on their bread and butter which is usually
crown and bridge.
No matter what type of practice philosophy you decide, you will have similarities.
To be a qualified applicant, your knowledge of endodontics is critical.
A well-done, painless root canal is one of the best marketing tools for a new
dentist, as it will definitely spread word of mouth that you were able to help a
patient out in their time of need and kept them comfortable during one of the most
feared procedures in dentistry.
Not to mention that a single visit root canal, when warranted,
is also one of the most profitable procedures in dentistry.
Therefore, your knowledge base in endodontics will be extremely helpful in
launching a successful career for years to come.
But at the same time, this puts you in a conundrum.
You will have definite expectations to provide timely and clinically superior
endodontics. This in itself is a very technique-sensitive procedure and as a
new dentist, for many of us, our schooling has left us with minimal clinical experience.
Therefore, you are not at the end of your education but just the beginning,
and should seek educational opportunities that further your knowledge and
experience base beyond just fulfilling your necessary
CE credit obligations. Thank you so much for allowing me to share this
information with you.
Be sure to check out other episodes in this series as we discuss what, why and
when to bring endodontics into your practice.