How many weeks vacation?

[IrishTwins]

Seeing as most dentists own their own practice, I'm curious about how taking vacation works. The dentist I shadowed today talked about not being able to take much vacation, due to the large amount of money lost from not working and continued overhead.

Is there an average number of weeks of vacation in general dentistry? Does this situation change much as an associate vs. owning your own practice?

I guess also if most dentists only work 4 days a week, there is something to consider there in terms of vacation, over the course of the year.

Any thoughts? In an ideal situation, I'd like to be able to take a couple 2-3 weeks vacation a year with my family. Just curious if dentistry will allow this, or at what cost. Thanks!

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[Andrew324]

Any thoughts? In an ideal situation, I'd like to be able to take a couple 2-3 weeks vacation a year with my family. Just curious if dentistry will allow this, or at what cost. Thanks!

Well 2-3 seems pretty slim in my mind, I have heard various reports. An ortho I shadowed said he takes about 6 weeks.

 

[omaralt]

Seeing as most dentists own their own practice, I'm curious about how taking vacation works. The dentist I shadowed today talked about not being able to take much vacation, due to the large amount of money lost from not working and continued overhead.

Is there an average number of weeks of vacation in general dentistry? Does this situation change much as an associate vs. owning your own practice?

I guess also if most dentists only work 4 days a week, there is something to consider there in terms of vacation, over the course of the year.

Any thoughts? In an ideal situation, I'd like to be able to take a couple 2-3 weeks vacation a year with my family. Just curious if dentistry will allow this, or at what cost. Thanks!

you can take as little or as much as you want, depends on your situation. i'm the type of guy who doesnt value money above all else. i'm closing for a week in april to go skiing. i'll probably take a week off in july and in december as well. probably 3-4 weeks. you only live once and money does no good sitting in a bank. but ya, when you add up all the money the vacation is going to cost, it can get a little scary keep in mind you still need to keep the office open to schedule patients, etc, so your looking at a minimal overhead. add in the lost income and your taking about a nice chunk of change. and you also need to find somebody to cover your emergencies. what i've learned is to have the local endodontist cover your emergencies. he can get most patients out of pain, and he wont try to steal your patients

 

[IrishTwins]

you can take as little or as much as you want, depends on your situation. i'm the type of guy who doesnt value money above all else. i'm closing for a week in april to go skiing. i'll probably take a week off in july and in december as well. probably 3-4 weeks. you only live once and money does no good sitting in a bank. but ya, when you add up all the money the vacation is going to cost, it can get a little scary keep in mind you still need to keep the office open to schedule patients, etc, so your looking at a minimal overhead. add in the lost income and your taking about a nice chunk of change. and you also need to find somebody to cover your emergencies. what i've learned is to have the local endodontist cover your emergencies. he can get most patients out of pain, and he wont try to steal your patients

Since you take 3-4 weeks, would you consider 6 weeks vacation to be an extravagant or unreasonable expectation? Also, you mentioned that you take your vacations in 1 week stretches. Would it be damaging to a practice to take a 2 or even 3 week vacation?

I agree that money isn't everything. Lifestyle (time off to spend with my family) is much more important to me than the $$ in my bank or the type of car I drive. I would like to be able to make 90-110K and take 6 weeks of vacation, most likely in 3 week stretches and work no more than 4 days a week. Would this be a realistic goal in general dentistry?

 

[charlestweed]

Well 2-3 seems pretty slim in my mind, I have heard various reports. An ortho I shadowed said he takes about 6 weeks.

This orthodontist can enjoy a long vacation time because his/her patients continue to send in their monthly payments….no money loss while he/she is on a vacation.

 

[omaralt]

Since you take 3-4 weeks, would you consider 6 weeks vacation to be an extravagant or unreasonable expectation? Also, you mentioned that you take your vacations in 1 week stretches. Would it be damaging to a practice to take a 2 or even 3 week vacation?

again, it's gonna be a personal call, but my personal opinion is that 6 weeks (especially in the beginning of your career) is a little much. i also personally dont like to take more than one week off at a time because i feel like some of my patients may leave. i may end up taking longer vacations, but as of yet i have no plans to do so

 

[Andrew324]

This orthodontist can enjoy a long vacation time because his/her patients continue to send in their monthly payments….no money loss while he/she is on a vacation.

Yeah it was not 6 weeks at once, he said taking 1 week of was pretty easy but doing 2 weeks was near impossible. He was also not starting out he had been practicing for a long time.

 

[anonymousername]

This orthodontist can enjoy a long vacation time because his/her patients continue to send in their monthly payments….no money loss while he/she is on a vacation.

ortho sounds fantastic! where do i sign up?


oh wait....

 

[HuyetKiem]

4 weeks throughout the year in '09 and gonna be 6 weeks of vacation this year for me. All of my 3 associates will function well without me around

 

[HuyetKiem]

This orthodontist can enjoy a long vacation time because his/her patients continue to send in their monthly payments….no money loss while he/she is on a vacation.

yep... love doing ortho I will most likely do ortho exclusively within a year or two.

 

[Daurang]

Many of us will vacation more next year for this reason...

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/02...00000-a-year-dont-feel-rich/?KEYWORDS=dentist

 

[BiomajorPreDent]

I think 4 weeks a year (1 week at a time) is not unreasonable. Obviously not until you own your own practice. Yes, unless you have an associate there is no money coming in that week, but like others said, whats the point of making money if you dont ever spend it?

Why would she want to lower her income from $320,000 to below $250,000. She would still keep more money even with the higher bracket would she not?

(I used the tax info from this handy website) http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

 

[cjb04]

I think 4 weeks a year (1 week at a time) is not unreasonable. Obviously not until you own your own practice. Yes, unless you have an associate there is no money coming in that week, but like others said, whats the point of making money if you dont ever spend it?

Why would she want to lower her income from $320,000 to below $250,000. She would still keep more money even with the higher bracket would she not?

(I used the tax info from this handy website) http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

She may keep more money, but is it worth it? She is already in her 50s and was probably looking to start scaling back her production in a few years anyway. If i were in her shoes, I would want to spend more time enjoying the benefits of having worked so hard for so many years.

 

[setdoc7]

I take 6 weeks vacation a year, and all national holidays. Sometimes I take one week (Miami) sometimes I take 2 weeks (europe/asia) sometimes I take 2 1/2 weeks. Been doing this over 20 years in my own private practice. Patients don't seem to mind, and you only live once. This is after all a job. I have never missed a school vacation with my kids while they were young, and have great family pictures and memories, not delusions about the money I didn't make while away. People chose dentistry for the quality of life it provides. Make sure there is some quality to that life.

 

[anonymousername]

I take 6 weeks vacation a year, and all national holidays. Sometimes I take one week (Miami) sometimes I take 2 weeks (europe/asia) sometimes I take 2 1/2 weeks. Been doing this over 20 years in my own private practice. Patients don't seem to mind, and you only live once. This is after all a job. I have never missed a school vacation with my kids while they were young, and have great family pictures and memories, not delusions about the money I didn't make while away. People chose dentistry for the quality of life it provides. Make sure there is some quality to that life.

and anonymousername realizes that he has an ochem midterm to study for.





Do you ever work Fridays? weekends? any partners? around how many emergency calls do you get in a year? do you have associate(s)? how many hygienists?

 

[IrishTwins]

I take 6 weeks vacation a year, and all national holidays. Sometimes I take one week (Miami) sometimes I take 2 weeks (europe/asia) sometimes I take 2 1/2 weeks. Been doing this over 20 years in my own private practice. Patients don't seem to mind, and you only live once. This is after all a job. I have never missed a school vacation with my kids while they were young, and have great family pictures and memories, not delusions about the money I didn't make while away. People chose dentistry for the quality of life it provides. Make sure there is some quality to that life.

Thanks setdoc. That's really encouraging. Just to be clear, are you saying that you started taking 6 weeks of vacation pretty early in your career? Also, how many days on average did you work during the week?

I'd love to be able to work 4 days a week, and take at least one 2 week vacation a year, and a week off for Christmas. Anything more would be icing on the cake!

Thanks again for your insight!

 

[setdoc7]

I graduated in 1983 and did 3 years of residency. Bought private practice in 1986 and started taking 6 weeks in 1988. I am a solo practitioner with 1 hygienist.

 

[vasco]

First year grad here. I find it really hard for me to take vacation time at the moment. I'm an associate and I get two weeks paid vacation at a pitiful 1K a week. I'm allowed to take off as much as I want...but with the debt looming I don't think I will take off more than two weeks a year until my schoold Debt is paid off. I made $6,325.12 dollars this week. That opportunity cost makes it really hard to take time off. But once I get the government off my back then I love the six weeks vacation idea.

 

[DrJeff]

Thanks setdoc. That's really encouraging. Just to be clear, are you saying that you started taking 6 weeks of vacation pretty early in your career? Also, how many days on average did you work during the week?

I'd love to be able to work 4 days a week, and take at least one 2 week vacation a year, and a week off for Christmas. Anything more would be icing on the cake!

Thanks again for your insight!

School holiday weeks and the ability to take ALL of them off each year often depends on what type of practice you're in. If your a pedo or an ortho, there's often a very high demand from the parents of your patients to have their kids scene on a day when they might not be missing school, so taking all school weeks off may not work for all types of offices.

Personally myself, I work a 3 and 1/2 day week, (I have Mondays and Friday afternoons off) my partner does the same, except that he takes Wednesdays and Friday afternoons off). We're not open on weekends, we have 1 "late day" a week where we're open until 6 instead of 5 and we take usually 4 to 5 full weeks of vacation plus all major holidays off. I usually work school vacation weeks(typically very good production weeks for me), since my kids currently are in pre-school and a Montessori elementary school where they can take vacations at times when most kids are in school without it being a problem.

In the area that I practice in, this works out fine. In some areas of the country, my schedule may not work out as well.

 

[IrishTwins]

School holiday weeks and the ability to take ALL of them off each year often depends on what type of practice you're in. If your a pedo or an ortho, there's often a very high demand from the parents of your patients to have their kids scene on a day when they might not be missing school, so taking all school weeks off may not work for all types of offices.

Personally myself, I work a 3 and 1/2 day week, (I have Mondays and Friday afternoons off) my partner does the same, except that he takes Wednesdays and Friday afternoons off). We're not open on weekends, we have 1 "late day" a week where we're open until 6 instead of 5 and we take usually 4 to 5 full weeks of vacation plus all major holidays off. I usually work school vacation weeks(typically very good production weeks for me), since my kids currently are in pre-school and a Montessori elementary school where they can take vacations at times when most kids are in school without it being a problem.

In the area that I practice in, this works out fine. In some areas of the country, my schedule may not work out as well.

This sounds about as good as it gets. What do you think it is about your area that allows this schedule? I live in Kansas City, and would probably be practicing here after dental school. Also, how long were you practicing before you were able to attain your current schedule?