Ignite DDS

Is Your Social Notworking or Networking?

Huge fan of the KISS principle over here. Most times in life, we simply overcomplicate. Who knows why? I blame our parents. Clearly, it’s on them …

That said, whatcha say we take a break from complex and keep it simple? At the end of the day, you have three missions to accomplish as a dental student:

No. 1 is obvious. Graduate!

Your social networking success relies on taking home that DDS/DMD. Is graduating easy? More than you’d think. You got into dental school because you deserve to be there, AND because everyone in admissions knew you would CRUSH it.

So how do you make graduation an automatic? Repeat after me: “I do what I ought to do, when I ought to do it, like it or not, no debate.”

To put it another way, some days, dental school stinks. Some days, you don’t want to put in the time. One solution is to focus on friends. You’re not alone. Get with your peeps, put in your time and power through. You’ve got this!

No. 2 is not what they’ll tell you. Make time for you!

Between studying and burning enamel (or typodont teeth, depending on what year you are), I’m guessing you fee like your free time is past time. Overwhelmed is an easy place to live in dental school. #stillhavenightmares

Do what dental school forces you to do well. Schedule your personal time. Recharging is critical to your success and your sanity. Ask me how I know :) Just like you focus on friends to power through, focus on fun in between and your social notworking will shift to working very, very well.

No. 3 is THE winner winner chicken dinner…Build YOUR personal brand!

Some say that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. We at Dental Entrepreneur and igniteDDS say that it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.

If the ultimate mission accomplished in dental school is crossing the stage with diploma in hand. The ultimate mission as a young dentist is CRUSHing your career. And when dentists like me look to bring you into our practices, your energy and your personal brand precede you!

Tips I wish I knew:

• Do well enough in school to nail a solid residency. Debt is the preverbal elephant in the living room. I get that. However, ugly as it is, it’ll be gone in 10 years if you want it to. If you take home one thing from this, do a residency. The old mindset of “I wont hire any new dentist without five years experience” goes away with just one year of your time.
• Show me your passion. Get involved with clubs, ASDA or whatever fuels your passion. Don’t do it because it looks good. I’m way more interested in seeing consistency in your actions and your eyes light up with excitement when you talk about what you’ve done.
• Start NOW. Don’t worry about not knowing exactly who you want to be when you grow up. I didn’t either. Work with what you know. Seek out a few outstanding mentors who willingly give you their time. Get live in their practice. Skype or Facebook video chat when you can’t go live. Build your social network now.

Social notworking … it’s just not working. Connect with me at igniteDDS. I am always happy to help. And always remember #TogetherWeRise

D5 is here to help you:

• Start and manage your own private practice
• Receive tips and guidance from practicing dentists
• Find freedom and flexibility in creating your schedule
• Control your dental career — and your future

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ADA Annual Session 2016 October 20-25, 2016 Denver, CO http://ada.org

Greater New York Dental Meeting November 25 - 20, 2016 New York, NY www.gnydm.com

Yankee Dental Conference January 25 -29, 2017 Boston Convention Center

2017 Mid-Winter Meeting of the Chicago Dental Society February 23-25, 2017 McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting March 23-25, 2017 Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia