The top three questions new dental graduates should ask a potential employer – and what employers really want
by Mike Carroll
Obviously there are more than three questions that any new graduate will want to ask before accepting employment as an associate, but these should always be top of the list:
1) What is the owner/doctor’s philosophy of treatment?
In all my years helping dentists to enter the profession, I have found this to be the most important concern of owner/dentists – they want their associates to treat patients in a way that’s very similar to their own. This will get a great dialog going! The icing on the cake is to be able to present a portfolio of cases you have done. This shows you are organized and care about the quality of dentistry you are doing. In addition it provides the owner with an idea of the type and quality dentistry you are capable of, and backs up your discussion about philosophy of treatment. An owner will be particularly interested in cases demonstrating difficult procedures, especially implants, if this is in your repertoire, since many owners may currently restore but not place implants.
2) Will the associate be treated as an independent contractor or as an employee?
This is where the conversation gets interesting. Most owners would prefer to pay an associate as an independent contractor while most accountants and attorneys recommend the associate be paid as an employee.
Also, be prepared to discuss whether you will be paid on a per diem basis or on a percentage of production or collections. Most owners want to pay an associate on collections and most associates want to be paid on production. The problem for owners paying on production is that if any adjustments are necessary the collections may be less than the production.
3) What is the makeup of the patient base?
Are the patients fee for service or PPO patients? Does the owner have capitation patients? Are they a Delta Dental Premier Provider? in the latter case, most associat
es will only receive PPO fees rather than Premier fees,
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From the employer’s perspective, they are looking for three key attributes in a potential associate:
- an individual who can perform the same type of dentistry as the owner
- someone who has the ability to do some procedures that the owner currently refers out to specialists
- a people person: someone with charisma and the ability to communicate well.
By asking the questions about, you are demonstrating the skills and abilities that they’re looking for. Good luck in finding that perfect associateship! And for more information, please feel free to contact us at dental@carrollandco.info.
Mike Carroll