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MATURITY, MENTORSHIP, AND SUCCESS
Yogi Bera, the great seer and sayer, once quipped,
"The future ain't what it used to be." This Bartletesque saying has never applied more to the dental profession than it does today. We are at a time in history when dental societies, study clubs, and outreach programs are dying from a participation crisis.
Dental leaders bemoan the poor participation of young dentists in Organized Dentistry, especially in metropolitan areas and areas with high representation of managed care programs.
The future may not be what it used to be because of a lack of reason. I don't mean insanity. I mean that we have failed to give people a reason to become intimately involved, therefore lowering Organized Dentistry to the level of a social function. I quote from a senior dentist at a recent dental society meeting in South Florida,
"We are all working harder for less. Some of us are failing financially. These meetings are a chance for us to see our buddies and have a drink. None of us want to take on any more work here, too."
Of course this is not the case in every area of the country, in every dental society. But, this is a pervasive attitude that is growing, not regressing, across the country. Most frightening is the fact that these dental societies, with the above stated mission, send representatives to Organized Dentistry to supposedly represent us. Or, perhaps they truly do.
A diatribe without proposed solutions is useless, counterproductive, and part of the problem. What then, are some action steps that could change the face of commitment in Organized Dentistry at the grassroots level?
1. See the Opportunities Afforded by Participation
Participation does not have to be completely altruistic. Specialist have known that for years. They have used their participation in Organized Dentistry to market to general dentists. What can you get from your participation besides warm fuzzies? How about the promotional value that you can build within (or external to) your practice centered on your stand promoting quality, not profit, in dentistry. How about the financial value of building your indelible reputation for stand-up righteousness when you go to sell your practice? The opportunities are only limited by your imagination and foresight.
2. Understand That What is Good for Dentistry is Good for You
If dentistry does better as a profession, you will do better. You are a proxy voter in the future of the "Big Business of Dentistry", a $47Billion dollar a year business (Coca Cola is $18Billion). You have a million- times greater chance of getting on the "Board of Directors" of dentistry and shaping its future than you do with Coke. And the "shares" of dentistry are your income, not just your retirement vehicle. Get out there and "Kick Butt" in the dental marketplace, you will kick butt in your office as well. Invest yourself in your own future.
3. Understand That What is Good for Patients is Good for You
Yes, of course you know what is best for your patients. You have all the right training and technology behind you. Problem is, you can touch only 1,000 to 5,000 people at a time, according to the size of your practice. Organized dentistry has the potential to touch 280 million+ patients. The more people can be taught to appreciate and demand good dental health, the more you will be able to concentrate on your profession and less on "closings" and "presentations" and even bottom line. If your participation in Organized Dentistry at any level can increase "External Patient Education", then you will benefit in the wallet. Patients are not just pathologic casualties from whom money can be extracted. They are our partners and stakeholders in dentistry, and they will do their "jobs" better with better education and information, at the benefit of all.
4. Make Your Dental Organization Stand for Something More Than Dinner and CE
These days CE is a lousy reason to go to a monthly meeting. The best CE is no longer available locally. This is one of the main reasons for the lower attendance noted in most dental societies and study clubs. Dentists don't want to waste time going to meaningless meetings, unless they are stagnant dentists. By reinventing your dental society or study club into an organization that stands for the advocacy of dentists, dentistry, and patients, real dentists will have a real reason to participate. Stand for Optimal Care, and do something about it.
5. Make Your Organization Visible
Visible in the dental community, visible in the lay community. It will be good for each individual dentist, and it will be good for the patients. Improving access, having an indigent patient day, volunteerism, supporting "green" issues, will all increase the value of the "shares" of the stakeholders in dentistry. Be even more visible; create a marketing consortium of Optimal Care dentists. Market that your group has pledged never to compromise quality to profit. And police your group. Be loud, be proud.
6. Make Mentorship a Priority
Zig Ziglar preaches that you can get anything you want if you help enough other people get what they want. Young dentists are dying for direction, and very few entities are offering it to them. When was the last time you took a resident or the new dentist next door to a meeting on your buck? Have you opened your door? Your Mouth? Your heart? Young dentists are being taught that managed care or employee status is to be their future. Create an alternative. A direct benefit to you will be the nurturing of an associate, a potential partner, a potential buyer for your practice. Be an alternative to managed care.
7. If Your Organization Cannot Defend Its Own Existence, Put It Out of Our Misery
If you are a part of a supper club, then for goodness sake get out of the Organized Dentistry business. Close it down. We don't want your representatives with selfish or ulterior motives sitting on our "Board of Directors". You are welcome to still have dinner and cocktails with your cronies, but don't send your by-default representatives to speak for me- I stand for something higher. I represent the best that dentistry can offer. I prepare 40 micron margins, I screen for all head and neck pathology, and I care about my "competitor's" patients at least as much as my own. Eating dinner is not participating.
To summarize, DO SOMETHING !!!!
If you see a fork in the road, take it.
K. Randall Groh, DDS
Acting Chair
The American Independent Dentist’s Association
2745 Ponce De Leon Boulevard
Coral Gables, FL 33134
E-Mail feeforserv@aol.com
March 21, 1998© K. Randall Groh, 1998
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Last Update03/22/98
