I first met Dr. Brendan Gallagher in dental school because he was 3 years below me when we were at Stony Brook.   He is currently in his last year of oral surgery residency at NYU/Bellevue.  He also co-founded multiple pages on Instagram: @studentsofdentistry, @topdentalpractices, @elitedentists, @topattorneys, and @topwineries in addition to his personal page.  I honestly don’t know how he has time for everything! Recently, he has been appearing on my social media feed with his different podcast clips and Q&A sessions. We made a deal that I would appear on his podcast if he agreed to be interviewed for my article, so here we are!

Dr. Luke Shapiro: So how did you get into social media?

Dr. Brendan Gallagher: We started Students of Dentistry back in the first year of dental school. That’s kind of how it began. And then a year later I had a team, and I brought on Sean Zar, my buddy who went to Stony Brook.  Then we created Elite Dentists and Top Dental Practices. We started with those three. I even went further, and I created Top Wineries. Top Wineries is now my biggest account, and we ran those for four or five years. After I got into oral surgery residency around 2021, I started to post my own content of conversations and podcasting. Little clips of things that would help prospective students and residents like how to interview or study.  

We utilized Students of Dentistry as a base to create the PreDent Mentor Map right around 2020, during COVID, because we wanted to give predental students better access to resources and materials.  It has information like school tuition, class sizes, how many students per class, and average DAT scores. Basically information and data that they can use when they’re applying to schools – all for free.  We connected with all of the students we knew at all the dental schools in the US on a map. We redid the map about a year ago and created a better website where it’s actually a map and not just a portal to connect with students for questions.  It’s a much better visual experience. 

LS: Any advice on using social media?

BG: Use the apps you enjoy most to connect with others. Look for and create positivity in them. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, create it. That’s the beauty of social media. Your reputation builds on the light you put out into the world. Be the change you want to see 

LS: What’s the hardest thing about social media?

BG: The hardest thing about social media is we get influenced and led into thinking we have to do it this way or that way, as far as creating goes, which is entirely wrong. You can do what you want, first, and then use social media to form around your interests secondarily. For example: maybe you’re camera shy but great at audio-only or writing – podcasts are perfect for audio and then LinkedIn, X, and Threads are powerful written-content apps. After using self-awareness to identify your talents and interests, you can then formulate your strategies. And just start, don’t wait for the perfect moment. Start today and just make content true to yourself without having to follow any rules or plans. Just do what you find excitement in.

LS: What direction do you see yourself going in the future?

BG:  I do all this to mentor and educate. I’m not an influencer. I’m not trying to sell products or tell you to buy scrubs or whatever. I want to create things like companies and services and websites and maybe even an app one day. I think the biggest thing that I want to do in the next five years is to create a new dental insurance company that’s truly non-profit. I see gaps in our career space, the healthcare space, and just in the world in general. It’s very fantastical, but I really enjoy trying to attack problems and fix them and trying to make the world a better and brighter day tomorrow than it is today. If everything works, it’ll be compensated such that I can get back to a quality of life that I like. Have some more time for my other hobbies, like producing music, or to spending more time with my girlfriend’s family, and traveling.  Basically, to have a more controlled lifestyle.  

But, it’s really to make things better. And I do believe that I don’t do it for the money. I do it because I think it’d be really nice to see a better tomorrow than today.  Today’s really good, but I think a better tomorrow is always something exciting to look forward to. That’s kind of what drives me to do it. Create a better future than where we are at today.  A stronger foundation for the future.