Dental school graduates commonly shoulder debt amounting to 100k-300k. Loans become due 30 days from graduation. Many elect to consolidate and extend payments over 30 years, much like a home mortgage. This debt is not dischargeable by bankruptcy.
Many states will suspend the dental license should payments fall behind.
Pressure is great to find a job and begin making loan payments. Credit history is immediately at risk.
The recent graduate was so looking forward to graduating and earning the title of Dr., but
reality hits home with each piece of mail that arrives from the banks.
A car, a house, a spouse how is one to afford the american dream?
The corporation has thrown the recent graduate a lifeline in the form of an opportunity to practice the profession without worries about office overhead. Just perform and be compensated the regional supervisor (who is not a dentist) instructs.
“Our dentists make 200k a year”, she states. “Sign up today and rest assured you’ll have a bright future with us”.
These were words said to me. I bought into the dream job. Only to discover it was an illusion. Instead of not sleeping because of the debt, I could not sleep because I refused to
over diagnose, over treat, and buy into the corporate model.
I was paid 28 percent of my production. I was evaluated throughout the day and end of the workday as well as weekly monthly and quarterly.
I was counseled twice in three months by the regional supervisor (who was a dentist) and told I was not doing enough crowns. He informed me my crown to filling ratio was unacceptable. He informed me I should be doing 4 crowns for every filling. This means he was asking me to over treat and over diagnose. I was written up and instructed to “get with the program”. I was told that if my numbers didn’t improve, my future with this company was questionable.
Not long after, I reached out to a practice broker and located a private practice to purchase.
I am now in private practice and sleeping like a baby. I am proud to have made the difficult move, but have no regrets.
Unfortunately, corporate dental offices continue to spring up everywhere and it will take some time for them to disappear. People will discover for themselves that the corporate model doesn’t have their best interests in mind.
I’m happy to share this article with you and hope you will pay close attention as you are your own advocate, Trust your intuition, if it doesn’t seem right, its okay to seek a second opinion. Ask for detailed explanations and diagnoses, then research on the internet.
Best wishes to you!