Transitioning from Residency to the Real World
By Drs. Rebekah Lucier Pryles and Dan Tran
Residency prepares you with the knowledge, skills, and experience to provide exceptional clinical care for your patients. Clinical talent and academic knowledge, while foundational for success, aren’t the only ingredients for successful careers. Today, we’ll share the lessons we’ve learned outside the dental literature about running our practices and building relationships with referring providers and patients alike that smoothed our transitions from residency into clinical practice.
Good relationships with referring dentists set the stage for excellent patient encounters. Historically, developing those relationships meant business lunches and dinners or bringing treats to referring offices. While for some providers this approach is still necessary, many younger dentists don’t have the time or energy to devote to this practice. Often, a better place to meet referring dentists and develop those relationships include study clubs, organized dentistry functions, or teaching together in local residency programs or dental school settings. These venues are a great place to connect over shared interests and values, and feel less forced than introductory dinners. These venues help you learn from one another. As an endodontist, it’s essential to understand how your referrals treatment plan and provide clinical care. This is also an opportunity to educate your referrals about diagnosis and treatment.
Thankfully, for many providers, clear, concise, and timely communication about their patients that you’ve treated is a relationship builder itself. At a minimum, clinical reports should be sent on the day of treatment or consultations. Phone calls or text messages when interesting findings or treatment planning questions come up are also helpful in this regard. By better understanding you as a clinician, your referrers can not only explain to their patients why they need to see an endodontist, but more importantly why their patients are being referred to you specifically. In a field where your time to develop patient relationships is limited, this foundation sets the tone for a positive appointment with your patients.
Focusing on the patient experience is crucial for success in private practice. Positive experiences should begin before patients set foot in the office, and your staff sets the tone. A welcoming environment begins with that first call to your practice, so ensuring that your front office staff are trained to properly triage and schedule is essential. In this regard, don’t be afraid to set your own schedule to avoid running late. Patients want to know that their time is respected. Building a strong bond with your team is essential for smooth operations throughout the day. Regular communication through daily huddles or chart reviews helps in streamlining schedules and ensuring referral slips and their preferences match the treatment plans. Sharing insights about cases and involving staff in the decision-making process empowers them and improves patient care.
During their appointment, communicate well and often with your patients. Not only does this mean communication about diagnosis and treatment (with diagrams, drawings, photos, or CBCT reviews), but also clear communication about finances. Not only should the latter information come from your staff, but also from you. For example, explanations regarding cracked teeth, root fractures, and questionable prognosis can help to manage expectations and prevent patient management issues before they arise. While it goes without saying that during treatment, providing profound anesthesia is essential for comfort, other comfort measures can be offered like noise canceling headphones, weighted blankets, and pillows, among others. Anticipating and addressing their needs before treatment begins, informing patients about the treatment process and assuring them about what to expect, such as explaining bite blocks or rubber dams, helps to alleviate anxiety for certain patients. These details can turn a much-dreaded experience into a comfortable, practice building event.
While clinical efficiency will continue to improve throughout your careers, your first few months in private practice are critical for adapting to work alongside dedicated chairside assistants. Once again, communication with your assistant is important to maintain a consistent flow in the operatory that will not only reduce chair time, but will also impress your patients with your professionalism and expertise. Anticipate your next move, and your assistant will learn to do the same. Constructive feedback, before or after the procedures, can help to smooth out any wrinkles in the delivery of care to your future patients. As you develop a rhythm with your assistant, your clinical efficiency will improve, and your patients will be grateful to be in your chair.
Residency is the foundation upon which to build your professional success. Good communication, though, is what can set you apart from the rest. Your ability to communicate with referring dentists will not only build your schedule, but more importantly will cement your place as an important part of their dental care team. More importantly, though, your communication with your patients is what will set you apart as an exceptional specialty provider.
Dr. Rebekah Lucier Pryles is with Upper Valley Endodontics, White River Junction, Vt., and is a Diplomate, American Board of Endodontics, as well as an instructor, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; Instructor, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. She is also co-author, Endodontics Review: A Study Guide. Dr. Dan Tran is with Endocare, Pinole, Calif., and is a Diplomate, American Board of Endodontics.