Orthotown December 2014 - (Page 8)

ﬁnance // message board The Future of Our Profession, a Resident's View Editorial Director's note: We, as a profession, are at a crossroads. The following thread represents the frustration and complaints of a body of dissatisﬁed AAO members, scared residents and orthodontists in general. Orthotown.com > Orthotown Message Board > Non-Clinical Topics > Finance > The Future of Our Profession, a Resident's View Golfalldy1994 Member Since: 09/15/14 Post: 1 of 268 I am in my last year of residency and when I graduate I am lucky to have $ 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 in student loans. All I hear from my young colleagues is how difﬁcult it is to ﬁnd a job, and don't expect much. I love orthodontics, much more than general dentistry, but at the end of the day most of us went into this profession to increase our earning potential and have a nice comfortable lifestyle. I feel like ortho will continue to get worse due to oversaturation, economy, etc. My general practice friends are making more than offers that I or my colleagues have seen. I think the future for my generation of orthodontists will be paved with lower fees and lower pay. I would be more than willing to hire a G P or two to offset referrals, make money off of them and market for my patients. With each ortho having multiple practices the pie is getting smaller and smaller for patients. Even in rural areas I look at, there are orthos there already, so now I would have to step on their toes. Was residency worth it? ■ SEP 29 2014 cfortho Member Since: 08/07/11 Post: 2 of 268 Times have deﬁnitely changed but in any ﬁeld that changes, there is always room for innovation and hard work. Take the best associateship or clinic job out of residency that you can ﬁnd, be frugal with what you make, save everything you can, be patient, get some experience and a feel for what the market is actually like, then come up with a smart long-term strategy in regards to locating or starting a practice. If the game becomes chess don't keep playing checkers. The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right. ■ SEP 29 2014 The Firm Member Since: 08/08/05 Post: 3 of 268 There is plenty of ortho to go around. We are feeling the pinch because of these venturecapital-funded corporate chains. When those go away ( already in N C ) , the G P s will have enough work that they won't have to get into ortho. As far as saturated areas, that problem will ﬁ x itself. If there are ﬁve orthos in an area that can only handle three, nobody else will move there. The in-house associate jobs aren't the answer either unless you plan to put three or four of those jobs together. I see jobs all the time, but they are in Wisconsin, Indiana and other places in the Midwest. ■ SEP 29 2014 Golfalldy1994 Member Since: 09/15/14 Post: 6 of 268 The word deﬁnitely has got out that ortho isn't as attractive. In my graduating class those with competitive stats applied to oral surgery or pedo, while people with average stats had matched to ortho. G ive it time though. P edo programs have literally exploded in recent years so they will be very saturated I would think. ■ SEP 29 2014 braaaces Member Since: 10/08/11 Post: 10 of 268 I hate to say it but the reality is we are in a dying profession. I think in time we will be ﬁne, still earn a good living, but there isn't any way I would recommend ortho as a specialty to my kids. I hate the fact the AAO does nothing to crush the general practitioners' ortho continued on page 10 8 DECEMBER 2014 // orthotown.com http://www.Orthotown.com http://www.orthotown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Orthotown December 2014

Orthotown.com Highlights
Wired for Success: Orthodontics for Adults
The Future of Our Profession, a Resident’s View
Intraoral Scanners
Corporate Profile: Burleson Seminars: Cultivating Success with Proven Strategy
Creating the Win-win Incentive Plan
Case Presentation: Interesting Cases with Teeth in the Wrong Places
Does Your Message Resonate with Adult Patients?
New Products
An Arkansas Office Blast from the Past
Ad Index

Orthotown December 2014