Disclaimer: The opinions
expressed in this blog are the authors own and are derived from the author’s
experiences and observations. This blog is the intellectual property of the
blog owner and unauthorised reproduction of the blog material is strictly
prohibited.
#2 Have I tested the waters enough?
For a
budding dentist, the “locum-period” undoubtedly is the most important phase as
far as building a career is concerned. Testing the waters thus involves finding
a mentor with a practice that closely resembles the one you have planned for
yourself and gaining as much knowledge from them as possible for whatever
amount of time you are under them. While finding the “ideal” mentor and
practice might seem like a tough ask, it is not impossible. Practice planning
for budding dentists should involve a carefully thought out approach towards
the locum-period so that it serves you best when you set out to build your
career on your own. How do you accomplish that? Read more about the locum
approach here; https://gangaspeaks.blogspot.in/2017/10/locum-daily-routine-or-practice-builder.html
#3 What is my definition of success?
The bitter
truth is, no two people will have the same level of success when it comes to
clinical practice. The major flaw with the mindset today is that people tend to
measure success more with money and less with satisfaction. For example, if you
are a dentist who mints around rupees 3-5 lakhs per month, the happiness of
being successful lasts only till you come across a dentist who earns 6-7 lakhs
per month. Does that make the formers 3-5 lakhs less worth? Only in the mind I
say. The budding dentist needs to be aware, identify and accept the compromises
he/she will need to make before setting out on their journey of private
practice. Practice planning here should thus involve setting realistic targets
as far as your financial goals are concerned and re-defining success by
answering two very basic questions, are my patients satisfied? And am I
satisfied? Not only will this approach lead to a much stable mind frame but it
also will help you practically re-evaluate your goals from time to time and
make the necessary changes. To repeat, while it is impossible to not being able
to make a living from your practice, it is very much possible to not be
satisfied just because your practice doesn’t provide you with the lifestyle you
expected. Does that mean you should compromise on your life choices? No! But it
does mean that you do accept these compromises for the time being, realise that
these are temporary and work your way to overcoming them instead of going
through life with a generally dissatisfied and negative frame of mind. For a
budding dentist, the definition of success only comes with quitting the
rat-race and focusing on the basics first, more on that here, https://gangaspeaks.blogspot.in/2017/11/rat-race-dentistry-why-budding-dentists.html
#4 Do I practice Short and Long term
goal-setting?
Successful
businesses generally have quarterly evaluations for profits, losses and future
road maps. The budding dentist with a private practice is essentially a small
business owner, how often do you sit and evaluate the direction your practice
is taking? Is there a critical evaluation of your performance? have you limited
your daily routine to the clinic-home-rent-survival hamster wheel? Practice
planning involves setting short-term as well as long-term goals for your
practice as well as a critical evaluation of these goals every year. How well
is my clinic performing? What kind of patients am I generally attracting? Where
do I see this practice in the next 5 years? Practice planning involves setting
short and long term goals for your practice and routinely evaluating them so
that you reach the clinic with a purpose everyday instead of being stuck in the
hamster-wheel of routine existence. Scheduling is one way to get around that
routine, more on that here, https://gangaspeaks.blogspot.in/2017/11/the-monotonous-life-of-dentists-why.html
When it
comes to the business of dentistry, budding dentists need to adapt a similar
approach to their practice as financial planning. Not only are the basic
principles similar when it comes to planning your practice, defining a road map
and following it while making corrections as you proceed will not only yield
you the desired results, it will also instill a positive outlook thus enhancing
your performance both mentally as well as professionally in the long run.
So what are
you waiting for...start planning today!
Liked
this blog? SUBSCRIBE by clicking on the SUBSCRIBE button on top of the page and
never miss an update. Comment below or share and follow at; www.facebook.com/gangaspeaks and www.instagram.com/gangaspeaks to see
weekly updates in our KEYS TO SUCCESS and QUOTES series with a new MENTOR every
month.
Comments
Post a Comment