Many thanks to the author, Dr. Kristy Gretzula DDS, for submitting this article to DMDstudent.com. Dr. Gretzula is a graduate of NYU College of Dentistry and more information about her practice can be found at her website.
After years of preparation, graduation has finally arrived and you are ready to enter the professional world of dentistry. While some new graduates go on to specialty training or become a practice owner,most begin their careers as associate dentists in established practices.
In order to find a job that will be the right fit, it is important to assess not only yourself and your skillsbut also what type of practice will best suit your needs. For example, if you need to build up yourspeed, working for a dental chain or other high volume practice may be for you. If you are looking for amentor or an environment to hone your treatment planning, a larger group practice may be the best fit.
When you are ready to begin your job search, try to decide if you are looking to settle down andestablish yourself in a particular area or if you are open to relocation. Keep in mind that many practicesutilize non-compete contracts that may prevent you from practicing within a particular distance fromthe office. Some areas are oversaturated with dentists. If too much competition exists, the practicemay have to invest a large amount in advertising or not have enough patient flow to afford to keep anassociate dentist. You will be out of a job in no time. A common standard in dentistry is to allow for 1dentist per 2000 people. For example, if you are from State College, PA and your spouse is from theChicago suburbs, the windy city may yield more opportunity.
A clean, short resume will give you the best chance of securing an interview. Just because you have adental degree does not ensure you will receive a call when applying for a job. Take some time to list anyresearch, publications and experience (even if it is volunteer work). Every dental graduate knows how toprep crowns and fill teeth. An owner is looking for an associate to increase profit. Special competenciesthat set you apart from other graduates need to be highlighted. Molar Endodontics, surgical placementof implants or Invisalign Certification are just a few skills that will make you more appealing as acandidate. Be careful to only list procedures you are comfortable doing without the clinic instructorstanding over you. Omit your hobbies and personal interests. Save those for your conversation duringthe interview.
Once you have polished and circulated your resume, you are ready for interviewing. Go on everyinterview you can as it can help you network and meet other professionals. It never hurts to have aconversation as it helps sharpen your interviewing skills, builds your confidence and eases your tension.Strong interviewing takes practice. Dress cleanly and professional. You will be a reflection of theowner, so look your best. Attention to detail is important in dentistry and should not be ignored in yourappearance. The owner of the practice has spent time building the business. He or she does not wanttheir valuable patients interacting with a disheveled individual. Be courteous and polite, the goal is toget an offer even if you do not accept it. After the interview, a thank you letter is appropriate so besure to get the names and emails of everyone you spoke with. If you are not interested, communicatethat with the doctor in a professional, timely way. No one gets upset if you are honest and state thatit is not the right fit. However, ignoring someone after they spent time interviewing you is extremelydisrespectful. The dental world is small, no need to burn a bridge before you start your career.
Your first job does not need to be perfect and may not be your “dream job” but it should provide you anopportunity to advance your career and most importantly provide you with satisfaction and pride.
Join the forum discussion on this post My rotation with medicine is now over and I have started with general surgery for the next two months. I really enjoyed medicine, but was somewhat ready to go. I got really sick of doing H&P’s and writing notes. There are rare opportunities to actually do a procedure of some sort, and pounding the keyboards all day long became monotonous. Despite the keyboarding, I DID enjoy medicine. My rotation started at Provident Hospital, a hospital in South Chicago that is part of the Cook County Health System. Due to budget cuts, the inpatient medicine program was cut from this hospital and moved to Cook County. I saw this as a better move because the complexity of the medical problems is greater at County. I learned a great deal at Provident, but I felt like the learning hit a plateau (not that I learned everything there is to learn), but because you were not exposed to a variety of different problems. At Provident many of the cases were 23 hour observation of asthma/COPD exacerbations, foot ulcers, diabetic mgmt, or chest pain admissions to rule out heart attacks or PE’s. At County most of these patients are admitted to a 23 hour observation area and discharged when the case is controlled. This leaves room for those who are in need of more focused attention. Medicine was great because you learned how to do a very thorough H&P, you were exposed to diagnosing new onset disease, managing exacerbations of disease, and working with other services in the hospital to arrive at solutions to medically manage the disease. I think most OMS’s like to solve problems quickly and efficiently, and myself being no different, used this quality to serve me well to get things done during this rotation.
General surgery is slightly different. The patient list is longer, the hours are subsequently longer, and there is some OR time. We started off slow with about 6 patients on our list. In a couple of days the list grew to 20. We round anywhere from 5:15 am to 6am. We go home at about 7 unless you are on call. The interns take call twice a month and are responsible for taking care of all the busy work on the floor with the medical students. The program is top heavy so we do get some OR time here and there, but mostly the senior residents are scrubbed in. I did make it to the OR once during this first week to remove a lipoma from the inguinal ring. On the floor we write notes (not as much as medicine, we slave the medicine students out to write many of the notes and we addend them), change dressings, make sure patients get consulted by other services, get to their procedures on time, and make sure that labs are drawn, etc. Hopefully the random OR times will keep me sane. It also helps if you have a motivated co-intern with similar interests in getting things done. I got home at 5pm today, somewhat early, it’s a Friday, and it is time to enjoy my first weekend off in 6 weeks.
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Desmoplastic Fibroma surgical planning created by my chief resident.
Join the forum discussion on this post Posted in Pathology, Photo of the Week
While in dental school during my Medicine I class we had the assignment of filling out a medical consult for a make-believe patient. A scenario was given to us about a patient who came in with multiple dental problems and an extensive medical history was given. I don’t exactly remember the patients problems, but the list was long and the assignment was to fill out a consult form for the patients primary care physician. The goal was to figure out which Continue reading
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Along with the new look and new features I have decided to add a forum. I know that there are a couple of other dental forums out there [SDN] and [Dental Town], but why not a third? This will make this website more interactive and it isn’t as ‘busy’ as the other two sites. It also doesn’t have ANY advertising and has better features. Please visit and please add your comments and/or questions to the growing community.
A new feature of DMDstudent.com…PHOTO OF THE WEEK! Each week I will post a random/funny/interesting/etc. photo from the past week. If you happen to have a funny dental related photo (funny, clinical case, etc.) link to it in the comments and it may be featured. Original Content only. Photo AFTER the link! Continue reading
Starting a club from scratch or revitalizing one is a great resume builder when applying to dental school or residency programs. The following tips can be used in a pre dental setting or in dental school to create any kind of club or society you want. I have been involved in multiple clubs and organizations since my pre dental days and I have seen many things that have worked and many things that have failed. The first thing that you want to do is figure out what kind of organization you want to create. A few ideas:
Ask a faculty who you want a letter of recommendation from to be Continue reading
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