Moonlighting + Ortho residency

[ortho143]

Hello!

Im looking for some advice on moonlighting during my Ortho residency. Assuming that my program would allow me to work as a GP on weekends, I'm thinking of moonlighting in Connecticut area.

1. What does pay look like per day/ hr
2. What is the cost / types of malpractice insurance. Which ones are recommended?
3. What types of offices would be more likely to hire a new grad from dental school who can only work weekends?
4. lastly - Ill take any advice on what to steer clear of / lessons learned from moonlighting.

Thanks!

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[bent_on_ortho]

Hello!

Im looking for some advice on moonlighting during my Ortho residency. Assuming that my program would allow me to work as a GP on weekends, I'm thinking of moonlighting in Connecticut area.

1. What does pay look like per day/ hr
2. What is the cost / types of malpractice insurance. Which ones are recommended?
3. What types of offices would be more likely to hire a new grad from dental school who can only work weekends?
4. lastly - Ill take any advice on what to steer clear of / lessons learned from moonlighting.

Thanks!

I worked Saturdays as a GP my first year in ortho residency. I was an independent contractor working 5-7 hours each Saturday, making 36% production minus 36% of lmy ab fees. I got malpractice coverage through MedPro - it's very cheap when moonlighting because they're only covering you 1-2 days/week. Mine was $200/year. You may be able to get the practice to cover this also, it's worth asking. I wouldn't recommend searching for corporate practices, as you are more likely to be contracted for a period of time. I preferred being an independent contractor, as I could leave at any point with no repercussions. I was making between $500-800/day, it started slow and built as I developed a patient base. I found a lot of patients prefer/can only come in on Saturdays, which was nice for me. Ultimately, I quit after a year due to the office being sold and issues with the new owners. I can definitely say, the money was nice, but I'm much happier not working weekends or doing general dentistry. It gets pretty exhausting being "on" 6-7 days a week while also trying to learn everything orthodontics. I would recommend trying it out and seeing how you manage. Another piece of advice, I would steer clear of doing any work that falls under orthodontics while moonlighting - your program will most likely restrict you from this anyway. I would make sure you establish this with the employer. Some owners may try to take advantage of your ortho knowledge and can put you in some tricky spots (such as reviewing their very questionable ClinChecks from Invisalign for them), so I'd recommend having this conversation before starting. Hope this helps!

 

[2TH MVR]

One of my Ortho attendings had 2nd yr residents come into his private office on sats. We did all the grunt work on his patients. Made a little money. Kind of cool being in the REAL world treating Ortho pts.

 

[dolfin]

Thanks for the info guys, any other input?

 

[sonotsure]

I would love to know more about this too!

 

[vk223]

Pay kinda varies with different offices. For my area if it's a typical private office/small DSO they offer $75-80/hour or 28-30% production whichever is higher. This is actually surprisingly low to me when I started looking for moonlighting. Some places might offer a day rate of $500-600 /30% production a day.

If it's DSO they usually have their own malpractice insurance for all doctors. You need to get your own malpractice insurance for private office. Medpro and some other companies have a special rate for first year dentist, like $0 - $50 for first year claim- made policy.

It a 50/50 mix of people I know moonlight for DSO/private offices. From the experiences I heard so far usually private office it's a more chill working environment while the DSO pushes on patient volume. I personally don't really know how to get in touch with private offices, especially right now during COVID time.. but it's pretty easy to get in touch with DSOs in the area.

 

[PerioDont]

Has anyone tried those emergency dental ERs? I know there are some in my area that are open at weird hours. I wouldn't mind working nights once or twice a week and I like doing extractions/pulpotomies.