Would you rather...

[white fang]

When I am done with dental school I will have the opportunity to work for a relative that will be retiring as soon as I would be capable of taking over the practice. This would likely be a 1-2 year associateship followed by either an outright purchase of the practice or purchasing a majority interest in the practice depending on several factors. Either way, within 3-5 years, I would be the sole dentist and owner of this practice. The catch is, it is in a town of 1200 people and the nearest big town (35,000 people) is an hour and a half away. The beauty of this is that there isn't another dentist in the county.

Would you rather jump into a practice like this that will probably be easier in the short term to own and make some good money or would you rather take a job as an associates job in a urban or suburban practice with no guarantees in place to own the office.

I know there isn't much to go off of on this thread as far as details, it is intended to start conversation about rural versus urban/suburban practice as well as the pluses and minus to working under/with a relative.

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[Lunasly]

I think you already know the answer.

 

[iralex801]

I think you already know the answer.

There's no downside to this, but living in a rural area (actually, maybe not a downside for you, but for me it is). But you gotta make the smart business decision and go where dentists are in demand.

 

[Kahr]

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to interpret your post as you asking what we think you should do, or what exactly we would do in your situation? I'll try to answer both.

For you, it's going to completely depend on what you want with your career and with what you can be happy with. It sounds like a hell of a deal to me, and if you don't mind the small town thing, why not? You could make some huge gains all around in a fairly short amount of time in your career, and then you could move on if you didn't enjoy it, or just wanted to try something different; you'd be set for doing anything new afterward.

Personally, I wouldn't do it at all, but I'm not interested in private practice, at least, definitely not interested in ownership (temporarily as an associate till I found what I wanted, sure). I'm much more interested in hospital, community clinic/clinic, state, federal, etc positions. If that was in a city or a rural area with just a clinic, either would be fine by me, and if I hated it I'd try something different. Though I do tend more toward the city life, we'll see if that's a good option, and what opportunities are out there when my time to decide comes.

In any case, starting as a first year dental student, I'm really not thinking that far ahead, nor do I even want to add that stress.

 

[white fang]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess some downsides I see are that it would feel like I am putting down permanent roots at a very young age and the location is far from great. Does anyone have any familiarity with what it is like to sell a practice mid-career and move on? I have really only heard of retiring dentists selling their practice so I have viewed buying a practice as career long decision. As far as the location, I bet if everyone ranked states they wanted to live in 1-50, this would come up between 48-50 for majority of people's lists. Seriously.

 

[yellowishbluish]

that sounds so sweet

i'd roll in and out of work on horseback

and if you screw up you have your relative to cover your ass

you'll have a few years to feel the place out

if you're not happy just leave

it's not like a career in sports or acting or something where your window of opportunity is so narrow

 

[Shazzam]

Rather than decide now, accept the associateship and work there for a year or two. By the end of it, you'll be able to concretely say whether or not you'd like to spend your career in that area. Worst case scenario, you get some very valuable work experience (which you should be getting anyways) and you'll be able to start up / buy a practice in a more desirable location. Essentially, its a win win.

 

[goffdent]

Urban offices like this benefit the community greatly. The community will respect you and they and the developers will do whatever they have to to keep a dentist in the town because they need that. How often do you need to go out? You make special trips to go to the bigger cities.. I know it's not for everyone. But at practices like that you can make good money and help a lot of people who actually care that you're there. If you fail, they fail. If you're in a town of 100,000 and you fail.. Some dentist will move right in and nobody will know the difference. It could be a very valuable and rewarding experience. Will you have a family by then, at least married? Think future.. not present.

 

[Sublimazing]

Small towns can be advantageous financially...or not so much. Usually the biggest benefit is a far lower cost of living. That is a small practice, and when they get that small you have to start taking into account the make-up of the patients.

The smartest thing here would be, as someone suggested, do the associateship...get a good feel for the practice and lifestyle, and make a decision then. You'll have a really good grasp on the relative's financials, procedures, opportunities for growth, etc.

With a population that small, you could in theory complete treatment plans on everyone, and then be forced to live off of recall/hygiene salaries.

Final note...as a "rural" dentist, you also must be a true General Dentist and do everything. You certainly will refer out some cases, but all the true "rural" dentists that I know have to do their own Molar RCTs, Wizzies, etc...and that might be awful for you...or not