Creating Success with New Dentist Mentorship Program
By: Dr. Donald Gundlach
When dentists graduate dental school and begin their first job, many times they are left to flounder and figure things out on their own. However, at Dental Associates we eliminate the gap between their new skills and discovering how to apply them in their new careers while seeing patients for the first time.
Dental Associates is proud of our new doctor mentorship program led by our two directors of professional development. We believe that the sooner that our new dentists receive hands-on mentoring and professional guidance, the better they will be able to treat their patients long-term.
New Dentist Mentoring
Here are ways we help our dentists to be successful from the start:
Collaboration
When a dentist first begins at one of our clinics we connect them with other dentists, both veteran and new. We cultivate group environments where dentists can learn from one another the values and mission of Dental Associates and how to provide superior care to their patients.
Video recording and direct observation
Once our new dentists are in the clinic, one of the two directors of professional development will observe the dentist interacting with patients. Our goal through this is seeing how we can help them to better relate to their patients and improve their doctor-patient interaction.
Through video recording, we can help the dentist to determine if how they explain terms and conditions to the patient makes sense from the patient’s perspective. We will often have an objective person watching the video with us to help analyze better. The video recording also gives us a chance to see things from a different point of view. For example, they can watch themselves doing a procedure to point out nuances they’re not aware of and give tips for the future. It’s a great way for new dentists to learn from their own work.
Quality assurance training
We train our new dentists to make sure the work they’re doing is improving consistently. We go over procedures with them to ensure that all our dentists are providing the same Dental Associates quality to each patient. After all, we’re not just “saving teeth,” but creating a restored smile and allowing the patient to enjoy the best oral health possible.
Practical application
We work with our new dentists to help them learn how to apply what they learned in dental school and make informed decisions while working on each patient’s unique circumstances. We teach dentists that there are more ways to treat a case than you may think. It’s important to look at all options, collaborate with other specialty dentists within their Dental Associates dental clinic, and document the conversations so that all dentists are on the same page.
Chart review
Random patient chart reviews are another way we help our new dentists to continually improve. We will review how they note cases and conditions in their patient charts to ensure they are documenting information in a way that will make sense in the event that another dentist at the clinic (like an orthodontist or oral surgeon) needs to review it in the future.
Overall, dentistry is really an art that’s based on science. With the new doctors, we help them take that “cold” science and transform it into the art of practicing dentistry. That’s what the Dental Associates new dentist mentorship program is all about; helping our talented new dentists to see the whole picture and cultivate their skills to become seasoned, caring dentists at all of our clinics.
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Meet Dr. Donald Gundlach
Dr. Gundlach is a general dentist at Dental Associates Sturtevant. Get to know Dr. Donald Gundlach by visiting his profile page on DentalAssociates.com.
Visit him here: General Dentist Donald Gundlach
More information about dentist careers from Dental Associates