If I shared the quantity of questions that rain in daily asking how to best succeed as a dentist, I’m pretty sure you’d fall over. That said, the answer ties to the title above, and the “why” behind the C in igniteDDS’s CRUSH acronym.
Your Clinical Education is THE foundation to your success! You and I have to walk our clinical talk or all the brilliant business moves in the world become one-hit wonders … and let’s face it, VH1 aside, none of us care about one-hit wonders. So how do you not fail miserably in clinic?
Here are three simple and simply critical rules:
Come Prepared
Set yourself up for success with your faculty and your patients by studying up on whatever it is your patient is coming in for. When a faculty member asks what you’re doing today and you don’t know … YIKES!
As a former faculty member, nothing made me feel better about you than knowing you did your homework. And nothing put you further behind the eight-ball then when I knew you were winging it. Seriously, all these years later, I can name the top 10 and bottom 10 students I worked with based on how prepared or unprepared they were. It matters!
Ask, Don’t Tell
Remember this. You may dominate a conversation by telling, but you control a conversation by asking. So when you want to understand the inner workings of your faculty’s brain, once you’ve showed them that you are 100-percent prepared for the day, ask them a question that shows you get it. Now I’m stoked you prepped, and I’m excited you are, too.
To that same point, if you want your patients to say YES to your treatment plans, stop telling them about their dental problems and start asking them about how you can best help them accomplish their goals. Then do yourself a solid—stop talking, just listen. I promise you they’ll tell you everything you need to know to help them to YES. And I don’t know about you, but yes sounds so much better than no.
Trash the YouTube Videos
What????? Oh yes I did. Seriously, how many hours are you spending searching through hundreds of busted videos to find one winner? Well, if you’re anything like the 5,000-plus who emailed us over this last year, I’m guessing you have better things to do.
So here’s the scoop. I get it—watching a short video is king compared to reading textbooks.
Would you like the best clinical videos in dentistry? From the international leader in dental clinical CE? And the top clinicians in the country? Yeah,, me too. In fact, so much so, I pay $3,000 a year for access.
But, because you’re reading this in Dental Entrepreneur, I have a HUGE gift for you. Go to the link below. It’s your golden ticket … your dental Wonka Bar of sorts … to FREE CE from our friends at Spear Education. We’re so pumped to gift this to you! https://ignitedds.com/app/clinical/
Oh, and if you do the same with this link https://ignitedds.com/app/ebooks there’s even more content in ebook fashion. Our treat. If you want to be a true dental entrepreneur, remember that it starts with the clinical foundations you’re learning right now in school. Be prepared. Ask don’t tell. And trash the YouTube. Until next time … Together We Rise!
Dr. David Rice graduated cum laude in 1994 from The State University of New York at Buffalo’s School of Dental Medicine. In 1995, he completed his general practice residency from the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. With a strong belief in continuing education and mentorship, Dr. Rice went on to complete continuums at the Pankey Institute, The Dawson Center and The Spear Center all while building the Restorative Practice of his dreams and maintaining an associate clinical professorship at the SUNYab School of Dental Medicine.
Seven short months ago, Dr. Rice combined his passions for teaching, mentoring and making a difference and igniteDDS was born. Today he continues to maintain his private practice and travels the country inspiring dentistry’s future to live their dream, have great success and to make that same difference that has brought him so much joy.