Graduating in a recession

[jheidenr]

---

Members don't see this ad.

For those of you who are approaching graduation, are you worried about starting your practice in a recession? Are you finding it difficult to line up a first job because not as many dentists are looking for associates right now? Are you worried about getting a loan to start a practice or buy a first home? Do you think graduating and starting your career in the middle of a recession is going to be a good or a bad thing in the long-run, or it doesn't really matter?

 

[Tooth]

I took a Navy scholarship and feel quite relieved to know I've got a stable job for the next few years but some of my classmates are stressing about it all. A few people I have spoken to are mostly worried about the credit crunch. Will the banks loan any more money to open a practice/buy a home etc.? Others are going into residencies. I believe that now is the perfect time to take up a dental specialty. While the economy is going down the drain, you're investing in your education. Hopefully by the time you get out, the economy will be on an upswing.

 

[Cold Front]

For those of you who are approaching graduation, are you worried about starting your practice in a recession? Are you finding it difficult to line up a first job because not as many dentists are looking for associates right now? Are you worried about getting a loan to start a practice or buy a first home? Do you think graduating and starting your career in the middle of a recession is going to be a good or a bad thing in the long-run, or it doesn't really matter?

I agree with Tooth, now is a great time to learn new procedures that you didn't learn in school, this doesn't mean you have to specialize. Only specialize if you enjoy that specialty. I know people who associated first year out and did tons of CE courses, yes - this means a lot of $$$, but they loved it as oppose to doing AEGD or GPR for a year. They were learning areas of dentistry they loved; emergency endo, simply extractions, sedation, high speed braces, etc.

Don't let the economy scare you, dentistry is still in the top 5% - so be confident and tweak your plans until things picks up again.

 

[HuyetKiem]

It is depended on each area. Down here in Texas, we haven't experienced any slowing down. I see an increase in number of bread and butter dental procedures during this period. I'm currently interviewing people for 2 more associate positions and couple more dental assistant spots. My associate, a commanding officer for Navy reserve dental unit in Houston, will be shipped out to Afghanistan in May. We are in the rush to find someone to replace him before a busy summer schedule.🙁🙁

 

[JamesOSU]

Scary condition of the economy right now for sure. It's like 10 years have been wiped off. The only good thing is gas prices have also lost 10 years, $1.82 here for 3 weeks! That being said, I am really glad that I will be starting school next year. Maybe the 4 years I'm in class this will all blow over... or I'll miss a fantastic oppurtunity to buy when the market is low. We'll see how it goes, just hoping for the best for all this.

 

[rarm1]

I took a Navy scholarship and feel quite relieved to know I've got a stable job for the next few years but some of my classmates are stressing about it all. A few people I have spoken to are mostly worried about the credit crunch. Will the banks loan any more money to open a practice/buy a home etc.? Others are going into residencies. I believe that now is the perfect time to take up a dental specialty. While the economy is going down the drain, you're investing in your education. Hopefully by the time you get out, the economy will be on an upswing.

I agree excellent time to learn and get paid while looking for the perfect office

 

[USUaggie]

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1879760,00.html

An encouraging time magazine article listing several reasons dentists are still doing well, as well as numbers to back it up. The one discouraging thing was that it said dentists usually lag behind the recession by a few years, so things might slow down a little for us in the near future.