Finding Your First Job

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THS

Articulating Disc Jockey
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I wanted to start a thread to give people ideas on how to go about reaching out to dentists and find "unlisted" or "word of mouth" opportunities once they graduate. As we all know, when if comes to general dentistry, "It's not the grades you make, but the hands you shake." Networking is how you'll find the great jobs where you'll learn a lot. I started my junior year thinking that there were absolutely no opportunities in the area I wanted to practice, but this was not the case at all. I'll explain how I found the offers I have been given. I should mention that I was not involved in many extracurriculars, and I performed in the bottom half of my class for academics (but towards the top of my class in clinic).

I also invite others to share how they came to find their particular opportunity.

Let's start with corporate:
-You don't need to do much to get hired by Aspen, Heartland, Pacific, etc. Many of these companies will do lunch and learns at your school, selling you on the idea of making a guaranteed salary and paying off your student loans. I sent a resume to Aspen and got a phone call the next day with an offer. These are the easy jobs to get, and they will have their available positions listed on their websites. If you want to make money and get fast, there is nothing wrong with going this route. Just make sure you aren't compromising your treatment philosophy.

FQHCs:
-These clinics will often visit your school your senior year and give you information about working in a community clinic. Good way to pay back loans, and are often a "sure thing" if you can't get another job. In my state, many require a 3 year contract, and will pay $30k per year for 4 years towards your student loans. They typically pay $80k+, in my state it's closer to $120k. For someone like me, who wanted to own a practice as soon as possible, the 3 year commitment made this a no-go. I would never forgive myself if the perfect practice went on the market in the middle of my commitment.

Private Practice Associateships:
-If you aren't tied down to one location, you options really open up. Companies like Dental Placement Pros work with established dentists seeking the right associate for their practice. I heard about this company through Mark Costes, so you can bet that the dentists using this service have a successful practice. I personally did not go this route, because I am tied down to one area.
-Dental Town has classifieds, but make sure they are recent posts - I've seen ads over 2 years old.
-If you know the area to want to practice in, get on the state's ADA component website. (Mississippi Dental Association, Florida Dental Association, etc). They will usually have a classifieds section. This is a good place to start. I went one step further and contacted someone from my state's dental association and asked for an email list of everyone in the district dental association that I would be practicing in. I emailed everyone 60+ years old with a cover letter and my CV, and got a few responses that way. You can also just send a letter and CV via post mail to these practices.
-Brokers. Find out who the brokers for you area are and contact them. Some of their sellers may be willing to bring you in as an associate with eventual buy-out.
-Shadow. I took time off school to shadow at least one dentist every month. I chose to shadow dentists that were at least 60 years old. If your school has pictures of old graduating classes, take a look at the dentists that graduated in ~1974-1980 and reach out to some of them to shadow. Take this opportunity while you're still in school and not seen as a competitor. Ask the dentist about their what their ideal transition out of practice would be.
-REPS. This was THE MOST beneficial relationship I have made so far. I contacted the 2 Patterson reps in my area and met them for drinks one evening. They each provided me with a list of their dentists that were looking for associates or looking to retire. A combined total of nearly 20 dentists in my area. I could have contacted the Schein reps as well for more opportunities, but did not go that route. The reps even offered me a chance to ride around with them all day stopping by all their dentists offices. Very friendly, helpful people. Please, please make use of your reps. It's win-win, if you work for or buy out one of their clients, you'll be their client as well.

Don't accept the first offer you get just because you think you won't find another one. I was considering working or corporate back in June when I thought I wouldn't find anything else. But since then, I have spoken to reps and brokers, and dentists have emailed our school asking for 4th years to go meet them. These offers will come eventually. Don't accept the first one, but also don't wait until May to sign a contract. The longer you postpone signing anything, the more leverage the employer has, knowing that you're desperate.

For other 4th years that have a job lined up, or for recent grads, please share how you found your job so other students can get an idea which avenues to pursue when searching.

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Have you purchased your practice? How long did you wait until you purchased?

Really good post BTW.
 
Have you purchased your practice? How long did you wait until you purchased?

Really good post BTW.
I'm a 4th year student and after exploring many options, I have decided to buy a practice outright when I graduate. I don't recommend this for everyone, and I don't want to post too much about the transition yet until I'm a little further along in the process. Basically, I want to practice in a rural setting but with modern equipment and materials. My Patterson rep put me in contact with a dentist retiring that has a fully digital office with Cerec, soft tissue laser, lateral ceph, etc. It was well run and well equipped. The owner is also offering financing, so it's a no brainer for me.

In general though, I would say work as an associate for a year or two while you seek out practices to purchase (if that's your goal). Some people may not be ready for ownership for a long time, and they probably know who they are. But if you're like me and just digested business books and non-clinical CE throughout dental school, jumping into ownership sooner may be better for you.
 
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And since I mentioned rural practice, please explore smaller towns when looking for an associateship. Small towns with lower incomes usually have a ton of dental needs, very little competition, and the people there typically won't have dental insurance. Fee for service practices are alive and well in smaller towns.
 
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I'm a 4th year student and after exploring many options, I have decided to buy a practice outright when I graduate. I don't recommend this for everyone, and I don't want to post too much about the transition yet until I'm a little further along in the process. Basically, I want to practice in a rural setting but with modern equipment and materials. My Patterson rep put me in contact with a dentist retiring that has a fully digital office with Cerec, soft tissue laser, lateral ceph, etc. It was well run and well equipped. The owner is also offering financing, so it's a no brainer for me.

In general though, I would say work as an associate for a year or two while you seek out practices to purchase (if that's your goal). Some people may not be ready for ownership for a long time, and they probably know who they are. But if you're like me and just digested business books and non-clinical CE throughout dental school, jumping into ownership sooner may be better for you.

Any books and CE you would recommend? I have been digesting a lot of business stuff as well.
 
Shared Practices for sure! If yo go to Dentaltown and go to the Blogs you can find basically ALL of the 40 something Dental podcasts! Dr Costes and Dr Farran have great podcasts
 
Any books and CE you would recommend? I have been digesting a lot of business stuff as well.
I agree with @cacajuate, Shared Practices has been my favorite as of late. Join the FB group as well. Also Gary Takacs' podcast, Tarun Agarwal's, Mark Costes', Howard Farran, the list goes on and on.

For books, all the ones you'be probably heard before. Robert Kiyosaki, Jayme Amos' book (Choosing the Right Practice Location), How to Win Friends and Influence People, Never Eat Alone, The Truth About Managing People, Uncomplicate Business, etc. There's so many.

For CE, I've watched like 120+ hours of CE on DentalTown and it's all pretty good. The first non-clinical courses that come to mind are Howard's 30-day Dental MBA, Productive Dentist by Bruce Baird, Making it Easy for Patients to Say Yes by Fred Joyal, Thriving FFS Practice by Steve Rasner, Dental Marketing Summit Series by Howie Horrocks and Mark Dilatush, Chris Griffin's videos, Imtiaz Manji's videos...there's a ton.
 
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Owner financing? How did you manage that? If I was selling .... no way I'm financing the purchase. If the purchaser cannot get a loan .... what does that say about that person's ability to pay back the loan.

Works out perfect for the purchaser. No so much the seller.
 
Owner financing? How did you manage that? If I was selling .... no way I'm financing the purchase. If the purchaser cannot get a loan .... what does that say about that person's ability to pay back the loan.

Works out perfect for the purchaser. No so much the seller.

I typically would agree with you. The seller says he is in a financial position to make this work to our benefit. New grads typically can't get loans because of no work history to show production, and not enough capital. There are still ways to get loans, typically an SBA loan, with a Max of say $325k or so.
I don't want this thread to be about my journey, I'll be happy to talk more about it in the future. I just want students to see that there are good opportunities out there, even if they aren't apparent yet. Networking is the key.
 
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I typically would agree with you. The seller says he is in a financial position to make this work to our benefit. New grads typically can't get loans because of no work history to show production, and not enough capital. There are still ways to get loans, typically an SBA loan, with a Max of say $325k or so.
I don't want this thread to be about my journey, I'll be happy to talk more about it in the future. I just want students to see that there are good opportunities out there, even if they aren't apparent yet. Networking is the key.


In all seriousness .... you've done well here. The practice owner will have a vested interest in making sure you succeed. You're starting and owning your own practice. Well done.
 
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Thank you everyone! Any CE in particular that we should go to as a dental student (since there are discounts as a student)?
 
I think one of he benefits to the seller holding the note that the buyer often pitches is taxes. You get one big lump sum for your practices and youre gonna get nailed, as opposed to splitting it up into smaller payments then balloon payment later on
 
Also, what does it say about the buying dentist?...
A) an eager young gunner trying to buy a practice right out of school
B) someone who already owns multiple practices and is having a hard time getting further traditional financing
C) someone who has tanked their credit via personal spending or filing bankruptcy on a practice, possible multiple practices

I would say A and B would be most common with C being pretty rare
 
Please make sure you have a qualified broker, qualified tax/dental accountant and a qualified attorney whose specializes in dental practice sales AKA Asset Purchase Agreements. A practice sale is usually broken down into tangible assets and intangible goodwill. As a seller .... you want most of the purchase price to be goodwill. As a buyer ... you want most of the price to be tangible assets. Asset sales are taxed for the seller and a write off for the buyer (depreciation). Goodwill is different. Goodwill is the intangibles revolving the reputation of the practice owner. More goodwill means less of a write off (depreciation) for the buyer.

OP: even if the seller is financing this .... you should check with professionals on the Asset Purchase Agreement.
 
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