Silent I have been out about 1 1/2 yrs now. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I have done quite a bit over the past year and I am very confident at what I can do. I feel like via-a-via people my experience I am probably stronger than most. I am looking to buy a practice in a semi-rural area where the doc/patient ratio is favorable and would allow me to make good money and not deal with stuff especially like corporate dentistry. I am currently working with several brokers to find the right practice and do have one in my sights right now. 100% FFS, semi-rural pop with ratio of 3500:1 ratio, and a healthy NP flow, all equipment fairly modern with low overhead. In fact I am going down there this weekend to speak with the OldDoc. However, right now the market is a sellers market, so I won't rush into buying an office just for buying's sake. If I need to I can wait until next year which I predict will have more practices for sale.
My take on buying a practice is that you must be of a certain mentality to succeed. If you are just of a mindset to 'get-by," you can just associate for your entire career and still eke out a good living. However, this type of dentist probably will bounce around a lot of places for his/her entire career and won't be very financially successful, if that measure is taken into consideration. On the other hand, if you are like me, a strong-willed and dominant individual who likes to dictate my own course of action, then ownership might be the only road to true fulfillment. Not only will you get the entire profit, but you get to call your own shots, hire your own people who answer only to you (not like to senior management as in corporate dentistry), practice the way you want, and have the chance to derive the most financial rewards. It is a lot of work, to be sure, but I personally think it is priceless.