Practice options

[Mace]

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Has anyone heard of a situation where a GP was able to work in a practice for several months out of the year (with out owning said practice)?

I ask because I anticipate moving to a country where Dentists make much less than they do in the US and practicing for a few months in the US would be very desirable.
Thoughts?

 

[Andrew324]

I would love to hear thoughts on this as well 🙂

For my little input depending on the country you can work as a US trained dentist in that country. Tourists will come see you when they have a problem. There is a market depending on where you are planning on going.

 

[mjotr2]

As a Dentist you will be able to find work. I currently have two part time Dental jobs. You can also go to Dentalpower.com or other Dental Temp agency and find temporary work. Besides you can find work at most public health centers. I even know a few Dentist who are willing to hire Dentist for part time Dentist. Hope this helps, but as Dentist you will always be able to find work part time or full time.

 

[Daurang]

Yes, practicing a only few months a year here in the US and then blowing that money in Montreal, Cancun, Budapest, Thailand, Brazil is my idea of a desireable life, too. But how you gonna pay your for your huge school debt on top of daily living expense?

 

[DrJeff]

There are some practices that would more than likely hire you on as basically a "temporary" for a few months at a time. The biggest issue is continuity of care, both from a patient's and doc's perspective. Patient perspective, well most patients like to see the same face each time they goto their GP for care, if a practice was to hire you on as a temp, expect a bunch of emergency care, which has it's own set of plusses and minuses.

Doc perspective. Treatment Planning, Treatment Planning, Treatment Planning!!! As just about anyone who has made it through the 1st month or 2 of clinic in d-school learns, different docs have different opinions about how to treatment plan a case from start to finish. If you're working a case for a few months and then leave, chances are that the doc that would be taking your cases over may look at things differently (same thing for you when you step in and acquire some cases from previous Docs at that practice), and want to change things up midway through.

Can this be done?? Yup, is it ideal, or necessarily sustainable for a number of years?? Likely not. And while this may put off that ultimate question for you of living in the US and visiting that foriegn country for a couple of weeks each year vs. living fulltime in that foriegn country, it sounds like that it's a question that you'll have to make sooner than later

 

[ddsgurl]

As a Dentist you will be able to find work. I currently have two part time Dental jobs. You can also go to Dentalpower.com or other Dental Temp agency and find temporary work. Besides you can find work at most public health centers. I even know a few Dentist who are willing to hire Dentist for part time Dentist. Hope this helps, but as Dentist you will always be able to find work part time or full time.

Have you or anyone you know used websites like Dentalpower.com, ETS dental, or Nationwide? Are they reputable? I am looking for an associateship, not temp work or IC. I got offered an Independent Contractor job with a flat fee per day (instead of % prodn) of how much I'll make. Does anyone out there know what a typical IC contract looks like? Thanks for the replies!

 

[Mace]

But how you gonna pay your for your huge school debt on top of daily living expense?

Great point.

I was assuming I would need to work for 2-3 years in the US to pay off most or all of the dental school loans. My wife makes enough to pay for daily living expenses.

But if I were to move imediately after dental school, and lets say I go to an expensive private school like USC:
Tuition = ~$267000 at 6.80% for 30 years would leave me with a monthly payment of $1740.64. This is around $21000/year OR $7000 for 3 months. (Hard to imagine a part time associates job could pay that much - or am I wrong? It would have the upside of having little to no tax 👍)
In this scenario it does seem like all of my work would go to paying off student loans.

The other option is to go to dental school there. The problems are that it is a six year program and I will not be able to practice in the US if I ever want to return (or need money!).

 

[Mace]

Dr. Jeff,

Thank you for your advice. I can see how continuity of care would be a big issue. I was imagining having a practice in the place I lived and just working in the US for the purpose of generating more income.

Can you imagine a situation where after working at a practice for several years an associate might have enough rapport with certain patients and be booked solid with these patients for just a few months per year? or am I dreaming

 

[DrJeff]

Dr. Jeff,

Thank you for your advice. I can see how continuity of care would be a big issue. I was imagining having a practice in the place I lived and just working in the US for the purpose of generating more income.

Can you imagine a situation where after working at a practice for several years an associate might have enough rapport with certain patients and be booked solid with these patients for just a few months per year? or am I dreaming

The closest I've heard to something like that is a few docs will work for say 3 weeks straight and then take a week off each and every month. Or especially a few years ago, pre-economic slowdown when some "cosmetic specialists" would have 1 office in their home town and then a satellite office where they'd be a few days a month in places like Miami or Las Vegas.

Also, what would be your plan for "emergency coverage" when a patient of yours has her crown on #8 pop off and you're a few thousand miles away??? Chances are if that happens too much, you won't me retaining those patients very long.

It could work, but you'd almost need to market yourself as say a destination vacation dentist where folks are coming from all over to see you and then as soon as they're done, going back to their hometowns. Possible, yes. Realistically viable? Probably not 99.8% of the time

 

[Mace]

The closest I've heard to something like that is a few docs will work for say 3 weeks straight and then take a week off each and every month. Or especially a few years ago, pre-economic slowdown when some "cosmetic specialists" would have 1 office in their home town and then a satellite office where they'd be a few days a month in places like Miami or Las Vegas.

Also, what would be your plan for "emergency coverage" when a patient of yours has her crown on #8 pop off and you're a few thousand miles away??? Chances are if that happens too much, you won't me retaining those patients very long.

It could work, but you'd almost need to market yourself as say a destination vacation dentist where folks are coming from all over to see you and then as soon as they're done, going back to their hometowns. Possible, yes. Realistically viable? Probably not 99.8% of the time

Interesting. Thank you for the insight.

 

[Demeter]

Great point.

I was assuming I would need to work for 2-3 years in the US to pay off most or all of the dental school loans. My wife makes enough to pay for daily living expenses.

But if I were to move imediately after dental school, and lets say I go to an expensive private school like USC:
Tuition = ~$267000 at 6.80% for 30 years would leave me with a monthly payment of $1740.64. This is around $21000/year OR $7000 for 3 months. (Hard to imagine a part time associates job could pay that much - or am I wrong? It would have the upside of having little to no tax 👍)
In this scenario it does seem like all of my work would go to paying off student loans.

The other option is to go to dental school there. The problems are that it is a six year program and I will not be able to practice in the US if I ever want to return (or need money!).

2-3 yrs to pay off your dental school debt? you must be kidding. It will take 20-30yrs. Unless you want to live with your parents and eat ramen noodles and have every cent go back to debt for the next 2 yrs.

 

[Cold Front]

2-3 yrs to pay off your dental school debt? you must be kidding. It will take 20-30yrs. Unless you want to live with your parents and eat ramen noodles and have every cent go back to debt for the next 2 yrs.

I think what he meant was that his wife will cover his living expenses, and he will focus on paying the debt.

267,000 debt is no joke:

2 years = $11,900/month
3 years = $8,200/month

I think paying off the debt right out of school in 2 yrs is unrealistic. You would have to be making around $200k/yr before taxes.

3 yrs is somewhat doable, with close to $150k/yr salary before taxes - still too far fetched, IMO.

 

[ddsgurl]

Does anyone have experience with websites Dentalpower.com, ETS dental, or Nationwide? Are they reputable?

I am looking for an associateship, not temp work or IC. I got offered an Independent Contractor job with a flat fee per day instead of % prodn. Does anyone out there know what a typical IC contract looks like?

What benefits typically come with associateships?