Hurdles of a First Year Dentist

Early in my fourth year of dental school, I started thinking about options post graduation. I knew within 10 years I wanted to be owner of my own practice. Yet that wasn’t something I wanted to jump into my first year as a new dentist. I felt confident that my education at San Antonio trained me to be an excellent clinician and gave me a solid foundation to build upon. I was also acutely aware that I lacked the experience that years and thousands of patient interactions provide. In addition, I knew dentistry in the “real” world would be a different experience than the sheltered world of dental school. Speed of my skills, independence in making treatment decisions, and working with assistants, hygienists and front office staff were

all areas that I knew I needed to acclimate in order to become a more proficient dentist.

With those concerns in mind I began looking at options and

speaking with recent grads about their experiences employed as a new dentist. I was surprised to hear of the number of people that had changed positions after only a few months at a job, or had to work in several offices in order to get a full work schedule. When we are trained to do a job as specific as a dentist there shouldn’t be that many variables, right? As I’ve learned over the past year there are differences in every position, and it can be challenging to find a job that is a match long term.

Naomi Server, DDS

After a lot of research and interviews I accepted a position in a private office as a full-time associate. There was a verbal agreement that over time as the practice grew I would buy in as a partner. I relocated back to the west coast and started working full-time in the office. After only a few short months it became apparent that there was not

Naomi Server, DDS Prologue

the patient base available in the practice to keep me busy full time, nor provide enough financially for me to cover my student loan payments that would be starting any day. I was down to three days a week and more than half of my schedule was booked with recall prophy appointments. More importantly, I began to learn more about the practice philosophy and values and was having internal battles because those values did not align with mine. I was starting to define my own values of highest ethical standards and patients as priority. I was seeing how these were not the same values of the practice on a daily basis. I knew it was time to move on and look for another position that would be a better fit.

Dentistry in Wichita for about six months where Dr. Kreg Boynton was my mentor. The experience is exactly what I needed to regain my love of dentistry and realize that there are practices where my values will align and that I don’t need to compromise those values.

After this long, crazy trip with several stops over the past year and a half, I have finally found a home, both personally and professionally. I landed in Colorado Springs, Colo., and am an associate at the Center for Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, working for Dr. Andrew Miller. We share common values and future goals. I enjoy every day at work, which allows me to provide the best patient care. We have begun discussions of partnership because I know this is an excellent fit for me and my career.

As I explored different opportunities, I opened up my search to more locations and types of practice. That allowed me to find a community health clinic in rural Kansas. It was full-time, I was the only dentist with an experienced staff, consistent salary and potential for loan repayment. I took the job as an adventure and a chance to provide for patients that otherwise would not be able to receive care. In less than a month at the clinic, my skills improved exponentially. My speed increased, my comfort working with assistants, my ability to see patients out of multiple rooms and my patient communication skills became even better. And I felt a sense of personal happiness providing dental care to the lower income population. As the months went on, burn out began to set in, and disagreements about treatments started with the administration. My direct supervisors had no background in dentistry and would repeatedly raise objections about treatment provided and prescriptions written. After several encounters, I started a job search to return back to a private office as an associate. The community clinic was a wonderful experience and helped me solidify that I wanted to work with and learn from another dentist.

In my last years of dental school, I never would have thought I would take this route to finding a permanent position. Yet, I am grateful for the experiences I have had because it reinforced my core values and helped me to define who and what I want to be in my profession. If I could go back to my fourth year of dental school and give myself a piece of advice in the job search it would be to not compromise and be patient. The right position is out there. It just takes time and knowing yourself to find the proper fit. ■

Dr. Naomi was born and raised in Southern Oregon; from there she went to Medford Massachusetts and completed her undergraduate education at Tufts University. After several years of a career in dental product sales she went on to obtain her Doctorate in Dental Surgery from the University of Texas at San Antonio graduating with distinction in dental education and research. Some of her professional memberships include: American Dental Association, Colorado Dental Association and the Colorado Springs Dental Society.

I filled in as an associate at Boynton Family

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