Ask Fancy Anything(within reason)...

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fancymylotus

fancymylotus

A Whole New World
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I'm a practicing dentist in the metro new york city area. I work for a parent. We own group practices. I have some idea of the business aspect of things after a few years of work. Please limit silly questions to a minimum or the mods will shut us down.

Enjoy!
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What is your least favorite aspect of your job? And why?
 
I will be taking out $400,000 in loans, so I'm worried about paying that off.
To deal with this debt load, what are some of your suggestions?
is it better to become an associate for a few years or to work in a corporate dentistry? (only thinking about salary to pay debt)
for now I just care about the fastest way to pay this off, thank you!
 
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JLT223 said:
What is your least favorite aspect of your job? And why?
Click to expand...



Employee related issues. Coordinating vacation time. Dealing with people getting angry with each other. I've found that employees are far more difficult to deal with than the most difficult patients


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helpmepleasedentists said:
I will be taking out $400,000 in loans, so I'm worried about paying that off.
To deal with this debt load, what are some of your suggestions?
is it better to become an associate for a few years or to work in a corporate dentistry? (only thinking about salary to pay debt)
for now I just care about the fastest way to pay this off, thank you!
Click to expand...



I would say limit your expenses when you first graduate- don't buy the most expensive car or live in the fanciest apartment, work either corporate for associate at a few different offices and throw as much money as possible at your debt. Once you get that down to 25-50% of what it was, think about establishing yourself/buying a practice.

Some people do get full financing for practice purchase straight out of school, though not sure if you want to take on such a massive debt load


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I can't really find this information online, and when I do not too sure about how accurate it is.

to pay off the debt I was thinking about moving to a city that has a higher pay and less saturation for a few years
do you know of any cities/states that fit this criteria (not alaska) ? I plan on only working there for a maximum of 5 years to pay that debt
 
Does ADA report salary after practice note has been paid? Also, how physically demanding is dentistry, for example, do you get back pains? What do you do to cope with the back pains if you get them?

2. Do you take work home with you?

3. How is the lifestyle? Do you have free time?
 
JakeSill said:
Does ADA report salary after practice note has been paid? Also, how physically demanding is dentistry, for example, do you get back pains? What do you do to cope with the back pains if you get them?
Click to expand...

No.

I had terrible terrible back and neck pain the first two years of practice. My PCP suggested steroid injections....but off the record told me that she does Pilates and that it helps a great deal. I chose that option, as I had no desire as a 27 year old to be getting shots in my back. Its working great. I take private Pilates reformer classes once a week.
 
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Confused321 said:
I can't really find this information online, and when I do not too sure about how accurate it is.

to pay off the debt I was thinking about moving to a city that has a higher pay and less saturation for a few years
do you know of any cities/states that fit this criteria (not alaska) ? I plan on only working there for a maximum of 5 years to pay that debt
Click to expand...


Upstate NY has a bunch of places like this, surprisingly. As does CT if you go further away from the metro areas. Probably PA as well.
 
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when did you graduate dental school?
I know that starting salary varies a lot, but from your personal experience, how much did most of your classmates make (those that went corporate/associateship)
how much can a new dentist that graduates in 2020 expect to earn (on average) in desirable areas like new york/california?
of course online it says 150K, but I've read on SDN that most new graduates won't even make 100K
 
Do patients really care which dental school you went to?
 
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does going to an Ivy League seriously matter as much as SDN says it does if I want to be an orthodontist?
is it better to go to ANY cheaper school and try to specialize?
I remember when I applied for college everyone said to go to a top university, well I didn't and everything worked out fine.
 
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musicplease said:
when did you graduate dental school?
I know that starting salary varies a lot, but from your personal experience, how much did most of your classmates make (those that went corporate/associateship)
how much can a new dentist that graduates in 2020 expect to earn (on average) in desirable areas like new york/california?
of course online it says 150K, but I've read on SDN that most new graduates won't even make 100K
Click to expand...


2011

150-175

Probably the same or more

Don't believe everything you read on sdn.


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jokersmiles said:
does going to an Ivy League seriously matter as much as SDN says it does if I want to be an orthodontist?
is it better to go to ANY cheaper school and try to specialize?
I remember when I applied for college everyone said to go to a top university, well I didn't and everything worked out fine.
Click to expand...

No.

Yes.

Again, please don't believe everything you read on here. There's a lot of stupidity flying around.


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Illumident said:
How long did it take you to go from being a recent dental graduate to owning group practices, and what kind of practices did you work in between?
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I work for a parent, always have.

I did not have any gap time.

I put that in my opening post in the thread in the interest of being as transparent as I could.


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Why did you decide to go into dentistry? Did your motivations change during/after dental school?

And just out of curiosity, which school did you go to? If you don't want to say, that's cool :)
 
Assuming debt was at a minimum, would you recommend a new dental graduate to attempt to immediately open their own practice or would you recommend that they hone their stills for a few years first? Is this largely dependent on skill-level at graduation?

What is your opinion on AEGD/GPR programs, and would you recommend them to new grads instead of going straight into PP?

Thanks.
 
Illumident said:
Thanks! Just want to clarify, are you working for a parent or your parent?

A follow-up question:
What kind of dentistry do you practice, and were you offered a fixed-based salary starting out or commission-based?
Click to expand...


My parent

I'm a GP

I am paid on salary


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hellofuturedentists said:
Why did you decide to go into dentistry? Did your motivations change during/after dental school?

And just out of curiosity, which school did you go to? If you don't want to say, that's cool :)
Click to expand...


Was back and forth between medicine and dentistry. Ultimately the business aspect of dentistry, as well as the hours and lifestyle are what made me decide this way


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kholley25 said:
Assuming debt was at a minimum, would you recommend a new dental graduate to attempt to immediately open their own practice or would you recommend that they hone their stills for a few years first? Is this largely dependent on skill-level at graduation?

What is your opinion on AEGD/GPR programs, and would you recommend them to new grads instead of going straight into PP?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


Immediately if you can find a good opportunity and the funding.

Do a gpr or aegd. It was invaluable for me.


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JakeSill said:
Does ADA report salary after practice note has been paid? Also, how physically demanding is dentistry, for example, do you get back pains? What do you do to cope with the back pains if you get them?

2. Do you take work home with you?

3. How is the lifestyle? Do you have free time?
Click to expand...


2. I do take some work home with me, but then again, most business owners do

3. I work six days a week by choice, so my free time is limited- I do start late some days(11) and leave early other days(3) to compensate for this so I can have some semblance of a life


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How much vacation days or hours do you get?
 
JakeSill said:
How much vacation days or hours do you get?
Click to expand...



My vacation time is pretty much however I decide I want it, it's not set, but I do have to make sure there's doctor coverage before I take it off.

I'd rather work. I love work. I sound like a nutty person.


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Scumbag_Steve said:
Since you're in a group practice and refer to the specialists that are part of your group, to you face any animosity from specialists outside of your group?

Do you feel like free standing GPs and specialists in your area are suffering because your group practice is more efficient and patient friendly?

I am really interested in OMFS and would certainly be open to traveling and/or working for a group practice. I'm really interested in anything and everything you can tell me about these options.

Thanks a bunch for the thread.
Click to expand...


Not that I can think of, as were open about our business model. I know that many group practices are owned by partners and not a sole owner like ours, that probably impacts their collections etc

I'll answer more about this later- were in our monthly meeting right now


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Somebody needs to step up and ask the question that really matters most to a practicing dentist - what were your DAT scores?
 
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How is the current job market as a GP in NYC? I want to stay in NYC after graduation (family) but I heard that the job market is very bad in metropolitan cities especially in NYC. So is it really impossible to get reasonable associate position?


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Loving123 said:
How is the current job market as a GP in NYC? I want to stay in NYC after graduation (family) but I heard that the job market is very bad in metropolitan cities especially in NYC. So is it really impossible to get reasonable associate position?


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Click to expand...


It is a lot harder to find a job in NYC. Especially if you're looking for one job- as opposed to working in multiple offices. NYC is so over saturated and competitive- not worth it IMO.

Basically it's not impossible, it's just tough


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fancymylotus said:
It is a lot harder to find a job in NYC. Especially if you're looking for one job- as opposed to working in multiple offices. NYC is so over saturated and competitive- not worth it IMO.

Basically it's not impossible, it's just tough


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Click to expand...
Thank you! So most of the recent graduates tend to work in rural areas nowadays? (Is it better to start off in rural area and come back to city after paying back some loans?)


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