Question:
I'm scheduled to graduate from a NYC dental school next year and
I'm contemplating whether I should stay here or move out upon
graduation. There are dental offices on almost each block in the city.
I've even seen one building with five general dentistry clinics. I've
also noticed that most dental offices here aren't busy, as it is easy
to make an appointment for the following day.
I personally wouldn't yet know if it's true, but I'm often hearing that
Medicaid reimbursement in NY state is the lowest across the entire
nation. Also, whenever I search for dental employment in either JADA or
online job sites, I rarely find job listings for NYC. Dental job
listings for NYC are often part-time and are among the lowest paying
positions I have ever found.
Maybe I'm wrong because I haven't practiced real dentistry yet, but I
know few would disagree with me when considering this city at face
value. What do you think?
Anyway, I'm hoping someone knowledgable would suggest locations where
dentists would fare a whole lot better. I'm seeking locations with a
good balance of low dentist to population ratios, high demand for
associates, proximity to CE classes, low cost of dental supplies/office
space, and high insurance reimbursements. I know that such a place is
ideal but I'd like to hear some suggestions of areas that come close.
Answer:
Don't know if you're angling for a medicaid-oriented practice. My
imperfect information is that the reimbursement rates for medicaid are
actually better than many of the union welfare funds with large
memberships in New York.
As far as starting a practice in NY, starting from scratch is tough,
but not impossible. Probably the easiest strategy is an associateship
with a contractually-defined buy-in/buy out over a period of time.
It certainly can be done.
I don't know anything about cost or CE for dentists in my area, but there
doesn't seem to be too many. I live near Ogden, Utah, and the dentists
typically schedule out about 1 week. Granted I wouldn't go to you because I
have a really good dentist that takes about 1 month to get in to see, but if
you are good, you could make it here.
If you want to look for possible employment, look at the Provo, Salt Lake,
or Ogden areas of Northern Utah, or you could go after the Sr. Citizens in
St. George, Utah.
From this an other comments I am reading, do you consider it a good thing
when a dentist is booked far in advance? Would you perceive one dentist who
is booked for a month as "better" than another who is only booked a few
days in advance?
I know that my dentist is good because he does everything he can to make
sure that I understand everything and am relaxed while in the chair.
It isn't the fact that he is so hard to get into that makes me think that he
is good. The fact that he is so good that you can't call and get an
appointment for the next day. I took my 4 year old to see him, and my 4
year old came out liking the dentist. I think that is a rare trait in a
dentist.
I will admit that there are some dentists that are easy to get into, and but
they are just average dentists, nothing spectacular.
