I think I would be better as an office manager

[velocicaur]

Greetings dentists and dental students!

I have long struggled with my pursuit of becoming a dentist and I think I would do much better as an office manager. I have really taken to business classes and the idea of making a practice run as efficient and profitable as possible while maintaining the highest patient satisfaction intrigues me more than doing the dental work itself.

There are many job postings for office managers and they seem to be all over the place. There really doesn't seem to be any "required" skills other than solid communication skills. Beyond that, things such as computer software knowledge and insurance knowledge is just a bonus. Most positions appear to be an assistant/answer the phone/jack of all trades type of person that can pick up the slack where needed. Very few seem to be truly business oriented.

I come to you looking for what you would define as an office manager. What kind of traits and skills are/will you look for? College degree?

Thanks!

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[yeee]

Get a DDS for the office manager position.

 

[THS]

Greetings dentists and dental students!
There are many job postings for office managers and they seem to be all over the place. There really doesn't seem to be any "required" skills other than solid communication skills. Beyond that, things such as computer software knowledge and insurance knowledge is just a bonus. Most positions appear to be an assistant/answer the phone/jack of all trades type of person that can pick up the slack where needed. Very few seem to be truly business oriented.

What kind of traits and skills are/will you look for? College degree?

An employee that only does the duties in bold should not be payed as much as an office manager, but as another front desk worker.
A good office manager will have the people skills to deal with unruly patients and poor employees. They should have some basic book-keeping experience, be able to use Quickbooks and do payroll, be able to consult patients and discuss their treatment plan and payment options. A good manager will know benchmark numbers for office performance. They will know that if payroll costs 35% of production, someone may need to be let go. If the new associate's production is $100 per hour, they may need to be talked to about increasing that number. If hygiene production is making up %50 of the total office production, they should let the dentist know that he is under-diagnosing.
They will be extroverts and very approachable, but also very stern when they need to be. A really good manager will let the dentist forget about the numbers, and just do dentistry.