26
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Volume3 Issue2
I
ssues and
P
eople
employee-dentistsneed fromus, because
it isn’t quite the sameas the traditional self-
employeddentist.
Whataresomecharacteristicsofnew
dentists thatmaynothavebeenas
prevalent inpreviousgenerations?
Thedental students that Imeet are really
excitedabout dentistry; in fact, the
USNews
&WorldReport
rankeddentistryas the
number oneprofession, basedonavariety
of factors suchasgrowth, salary,work-
lifebalance, etc.
1
Newyoungdentists
displaycharacteristics consistentwith their
generation: their dislikeof bureaucracy, their
loveof technology, their ability towork in
teams, and their loveof socializing, both
digitallyand face to face.
Theyalsowant tobeable to
dealwith their
dental debt,
which is substantial coming
out of dental schoolsnow. In theUS, the
average is around$250,000 for dental school
graduates. Over 50%of our dental students
nowarewomen, sowe’re seeinga lot of
dentistsmarryingother dentists, and their
combineddebt canbe significant! They’re
looking for jobs anddebt relief, but
they’re
also looking forqualityof life
, and they
enjoyworking together. Theyhaveanaffinity
togowork ina large-practice setting,which
differs fromwhat theboomerswere looking
for,whichwas theautonomy thatwent
alongwith solopractices and full ownership.
They like thequalityof life theyget beingan
employee-dentist,which isn’t asdemanding
asowning their ownpractice.
Howcandental organizationsaround
theworldadapt tomeet theneedsof the
newgenerationofdentists?
Theyounger generation seems tobe
a lot
moremobile
thanweeverwere.
I graduated fromaBostonuniversity,went
7miles away, and stayed there for 35years
of practice!Manydental schools report that
50%of their graduatesnow stay in-state
and the rest leave for all over thecountry.
We’re trying tohelp students in their final
yearmake intelligent business choices and
find somewhere topractisewhere there’s
sufficient demand to support their success.
It’s important tohelp them in their early
career stages andprovide themwith
different services thana traditional organized
dentistrymodel.We know they like to
socializedigitally, sowehave toadopt social
mediaplatforms as away tocommunicate.
Their
access toknowledgehas tobe fast
andeasy
; they shouldn’t have tofill out a
pieceof paper to joinorwriteacheque to
pay their dues.
Wedentists love tocreatecomplicated
bureaucracy, becausewe’reperfectionists!
Asorganizations,wehave to slim things
downandbemucheasier todealwith, and
make thevaluemuchmoreexplicit
so that
dentists seewhat theyaregetting for their
money.
a
References
1.U.S.News&WorldReport.
The100BestJobs.
Available:http://money.usnews.
com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs[accessed6August2015]
Towatch
the interviewwith
Dr. KathyO’Loughlin
visit
New youngdentists display
characteristics consistentwith
their generation: theirdislike
of bureaucracy, their love of
technology, their ability towork in
teams, and their love of socializing,
bothdigitallyand face to face.
