Dentaltown September 2017 - 70

Women

in Dentistry

One of my favorite "safe" places, Dentaltown forums,
provides an incredible wealth of information. The message
boards get millions of hits a month because Townies feel
safe posting about anything from patient management
issues to how to treatment-plan the most difficult cases.

Continued from p. 68
be trusting, but also be careful. As an
optimist-turned-realist, I've learned the hard
way to keep some things guarded. Finding a
mentor who's an objective third party, with
no stake in an idea or motivation to steal
intellectual property, is essential. Mentors
should be trusted advisors who truly have
your best interests at heart. No one person
will have all the answers you're looking for,
so seek a board of advisors with different
backgrounds and experiences that you can
draw from.

"Go-o-o-o ... you!"
We all need cheerleaders, and it's critical
that your mentors are your biggest advocates.
I was fortunate that my family was my
own virtual cheer squad throughout my
journey. Case in point: When I was living
and practicing in Australia, my father-in-law
connected me with a periodontist in the
metro Detroit area who offered to help me
fi nd my fi rst position in Michigan. This
periodontist took it upon himself to send
my résumé to all the major players in town,
and vouched for me after we'd met only
briefly, via Skype. He had no personal gain
in doing this-he wasn't ready to retire or
look for an associate, he was just a great
man with a huge heart wanting to help
the next generation. (He and his wife have
since become close friends and role models.
Thank you, Dr. Jim and Stephanie Austin.)

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SEPTEMBER 2017 // dentaltown.com

One such match Austin made was with
Dr. Robert DiPilla, a cosmetic dentist guru
who gave me my first job in Michigan treating
patients at his two boutique practices. Sure,
you could say that DiPilla helped me because it
helped his brand to have an in-house specialist,
but that couldn't be further from the truth. I
was always upfront with him about my goal
to run my own private practice, and he made
it known that he'd work with me wherever I
would land. Now as I make the move to owning
my own practice, he's my biggest advocate,
pushing me to do what's best for me and my
family, even if it's not in his best interest. People
like this make me respect our profession and
remind me that not everyone's in it just for
self-gain. As dentists, we are a fraternity (or
sorority!) of sorts, and camaraderie is what
makes dentistry a profession to be proud of.

Find knowledge
where you least
expect it.
Although learning from mentors is
important, some of the best lessons we can
learn come from our "equals." It's essential to
celebrate and lift our peers, instead of seeing
them only as competition. Connections
are everything, and you never know who's
going to have a critical "in" that you need, or
perhaps even going to be your future partner!
Some of my strongest mentorships have
Continued on p. 72
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