any hustling dentists?

[cavityhereIcome]

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Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

 

[PerioDont]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

I agree with you, I would like to work 6 days per week. honestly I'm not exactly sure why people don't, since I have not yet worked as a GP either - but many say it is hard on your back. Additionally, I think many dental students came in to work 4 days per week, and it can be hard to find jobs. many new grads I know work multiple offices for 2 days each as associateships can be hit or miss.

That being said, there are definitely people who do. This podcast interviews some of the thought leaders in dentistry, and this guy worked 70 hours per week with multiple jobs and he is killing the game. So it is definitely possible. Just like anything else, the degree is only the beginning. You will determine your own success with your drive, motivation and hard work. Many dental students who were not that good in school turn out to be financially very successful and vice versa.

Make your own destiny. You can do whatever suits your lifestyle. I know a doc that worked from 7AM-10PM M-Saturday when he started his practice. you can make your own schedule as a practice owner, just can be difficult to manage your life and kids with everything else.

1247 High Performance Practice with Dr. Justin Bhullar : Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Podcast Episode · Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran · 14 September 2019 · 1hr 21min

podcasts.apple.com

 

[MG14]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

Where are you at in the process? (I.e undergrad, dental student, residency?)

 

[Mauricio45]

I've done it a couple of times. Hate doing 6 days. This is a mentally and physically draining job. It's fine for me being single and no kids. But I would imagine it would be put a dent in your dating life if you want to get married and if you have kids.

The max I'll do these days is 4 days.

 

[yappy]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

every dentist I know works 5 days per week. I work at a corporate with newer, less than 10 years experience, dentists. I know some that pick up Saturdays too every so often. In my experience 40-50 hrs per wk is the norm for younger dentists.

 

[Mauricio45]

every dentist I know works 5 days per week. I work at a corporate with newer, less than 10 years experience, dentists. I know some that pick up Saturdays too every so often. In my experience 40-50 hrs per wk is the norm for younger dentists.

What about the ones who are married and have kids?

 

[yappy]

What about the ones who are married and have kids?

Pretty much all of them are married and/or have kids. 40-50 hrs is a pretty standard work week.

General dentist as a 4 day per week job is not the norm anymore.

 

[Saddleshoes]

First, let me say, the most vocal members of this board do not represent the average dentist out there.

--For the majority of my career I worked 4 jobs. (One main job in with the state. A part time associate gig. An Air National Guard gig. A teaching job at the local college.)
-- I have retired 4 times. But have come back each time to another dental job. I am down to 2 jobs now.
--I should also mention that my main hobby during all this time was bringing in a few thousand each year too.

Good thing I like doing this dentist thing. I never made the really big bucks but I took good care of my family and am comfortable now.

 

[PerioDont]

Pretty much all of them are married and/or have kids. 40-50 hrs is a pretty standard work week.

General dentist as a 4 day per week job is not the norm anymore.

do you think that is because you are at a corp though? I thought many PP owners are inclined to a shorter week.

 

[MG14]

Pretty much all of them are married and/or have kids. 40-50 hrs is a pretty standard work week.

General dentist as a 4 day per week job is not the norm anymore.

And I would say it isn’t.

I was a dental lab tech before dental school, we did work for ~16 docs (and I ended up shadowing 4 others on top of that) and none of them worked 5 days a week. The most was 4 and a half. A few worked half a day Friday.

If I had to guess you may be working in corporate around other 25-35 year olds trying to pay off $400k in debt. It may be getting more common but it’s still not the norm. It also might be trending that way with dental schools burying their grads in debt but it’s not “standard.”

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

look into other avenues to diversify your income stream. working 50 hours a week as a general dentist is only a mean to an end in the first few years of your careers. I am currently doing it. I don't hate it. there are days I am very tired but I know there are many other minimum wage jobs that are even more tiring.

don't use the income you make working 50-60 hours a week to spend lavishly. invest it, use it to create passive income. dont get sucked into consumerism.

 

[PerioDont]

look into other avenues to diversify your income stream. working 50 hours a week as a general dentist is only a mean to an end in the first few years of your careers. I am currently doing it. I don't hate it. there are days I am very tired but I know there are many other minimum wage jobs that are even more tiring.

don't use the income you make working 50-60 hours a week to spend lavishly. invest it, use it to create passive income. dont get sucked into consumerism.

I think one other important thing to realize is that the income at the beginning years of your career is much more valuable than in your late career.

Throwing a few thousand a year into mutual funds in your twenties will multiple significantly by your fifties. A couple thousand in your fifties simply does not have that same time effect.

 

[yappy]

do you think that is because you are at a corp though? I thought many PP owners are inclined to a shorter week.

sure. I think many older dentists with established practices can afford to work less. Most of the people I know are towards the beginning of their careers and are buying their lives. After you’ve cleared major financial hurdles: paying off student loans, paying off the house, having a large retirement fund, then working less is an option if that’s your desire. The less you work the longer it takes to meet those mile stones.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

Because people in dental school complain about every little crumb of extra work or inconvenience.

An extra test scheduled on a day where we already have an exam? God forbid that ever happens, half the class would call for a class meeting.

When was working hard a bad thing? If you find the answer please give a speech at my school

 

[HKSZYU]

Because people in dental school complain about every little crumb of extra work or inconvenience.

An extra test scheduled on a day where we already have an exam? God forbid that ever happens, half the class would call for a class meeting.

Haha, this exact scenario literally happened in my class.

 

[LaughingGas]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

I used to to think this way. I worked 6 days full time, looking into working night shift non-dental job four days a week. Found a better job, better pay, working four days. I probably see double amount of patients. I am only on third year out, but I can tell you physical and mental exhaustion accumulates. I realized either I can do a sprint or marathon in this career. Realizing I am going to be in this career for long time, I prefer not to get burnt out sooner.

 

[PerioDont]

Because people in dental school complain about every little crumb of extra work or inconvenience.

An extra test scheduled on a day where we already have an exam? God forbid that ever happens, half the class would call for a class meeting.

When was working hard a bad thing? If you find the answer please give a speech at my school

I mostly agree with you, but there are some older folks in school. Some had kids, aging parents, chronic diseases, other jobs they needed to maintain their house payments etc.

So for the young 22-26 year old traditional student like myself I agree.

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” - Rumi.

but for the older people etc I would make some excuses and arrangements. However, it was mostly the young ones that were the most vocal in complaining. To be fair we had nearly 12 finals in our finals week, with about 3 a day for our entire first 1.5 years which was super tough. I think they could have spaced it a little better.

 

[AONLINE]

I mostly agree with you, but there are some older folks in school. Some had kids, aging parents, chronic diseases, other jobs they needed to maintain their house payments etc.

So for the young 22-26 year old traditional student like myself I agree.

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” - Rumi.

but for the older people etc I would make some excuses and arrangements. However, it was mostly the young ones that were the most vocal in complaining.

The young ones are more likely gunners for specialties like ortho. They are likely the most obnoxious ass-kissers in a dental class.

 

[2TH MVR]

The young ones are more likely gunners for specialties like ortho. They are likely the most obnoxious ass-kissers in a dental class.

That's actually true. 😀

 

[Cold Front]

Hi, I see a lot of dentists only work 3-4 days a week and still complain about their student loans. this is kind of of hard to understand as far as I concern since I had to hustle all my life. why not get 2nd or 3rd job as dentist especially coming off dental school? you can still have a balanced life working 6 days per week. Maybe I don't know since I am only an ignorant D2. Is it that stressful to work as a dentist?

The goal for most dentists is to taper down from working over time, as they get older.

20-30’s: Newbie and Hustle life. Many 6 days/week schedule dentists in this group. You guessed it. Student loans and keeping up with other debt.

40-50’s: Established life with moderate work schedule. Less debt. More life with family (or divorce pits) and taking more CE trips to keep the profession more interesting.

60-70’s: The end game schedule. Only going to work (not for the money or duty but) to stay mentally and socially active. Life starts to get little boring as dentists have less energy to do many things they use to. So work schedule is more of getting out of the house and to avoid social isolation.

There is this dentist down the road from one of my offices... he works 7 days a week (yes, SEVEN DAYS!). He is in his late 50s or early 60s. Some of my staff use to work for him. They said he probably has some marital issues and avoids going home (trouble in paradise). Or maybe he just wants to work all the time... Forest Gump complex.

 

[PerioDont]

The goal for most dentists is to taper down from working over time, as they get older.

20-30’s: Newbie and Hustle life. Many 6 days/week schedule dentists in this group. You guessed it. Student loans and keeping up with other debt.

40-50’s: Established life with moderate work schedule. Less debt. More life with family (or divorce pits) and taking more CE trips to keep the profession more interesting.

60-70’s: The end game schedule. Only going to work (not for the money or duty but) to stay mentally and socially active. Life starts to get little boring as dentists have less energy to do many things they use to. So work schedule is more of getting out of the house and to avoid social isolation.

There is this dentist down the road from one of my offices... he works 7 days a week (yes, SEVEN DAYS!). He is in his late 50s or early 60s. Some of my staff use to work for him. They said he probably has some marital issues and avoids going home (trouble in paradise). Or maybe he just wants to work all the time... Forest Gump complex.

nothing quite like a DDS-DH affair 😎

I think there are few things as toxic to your life as living in a horrible marriage. But a divorce at that age can cost you soooo much. I met one doc in that age range who had to pay out 3.5 mil to his ex-wife. Killed his retirement accounts

 

[LaughingGas]

nothing quite like a DDS-DH affair 😎

I think there are few things as toxic to your life as living in a horrible marriage. But a divorce at that age can cost you soooo much. I met one doc in that age range who had to pay out 3.5 mil to his ex-wife. Killed his retirement accounts

If I had to pay that much to ex-wife, I would just flee the country and never return lol.

 

[Molar Whisperer]

nothing quite like a DDS-DH affair 😎

I think there are few things as toxic to your life as living in a horrible marriage. But a divorce at that age can cost you soooo much. I met one doc in that age range who had to pay out 3.5 mil to his ex-wife. Killed his retirement accounts

Those are wise observations. Nothing kills your financial and emotional health faster and deeper than divorce. If my wife wants to divorce me, I have some simple solutions. I would buy a new BMW (Broke My Wallet) M8 at $170k cash with the expectation of it sitting at the mechanics more than actual driving. I would roll all my IRAs to my 401k protected by ERISA and get my 50 y/o a__ fired by any number of ways. Problems solved.

 

[Cold Front]

nothing quite like a DDS-DH affair 😎

I think there are few things as toxic to your life as living in a horrible marriage. But a divorce at that age can cost you soooo much. I met one doc in that age range who had to pay out 3.5 mil to his ex-wife. Killed his retirement accounts

At that level of a divorce, it’s cheaper to keep her.