Return to Main Menu

Students learn business basics of dentistry by Heather Murphy Public Relations In a professional career, everyone can relate to the moment you wish someone gave you a better idea of exactly what you were getting into.  Some local dentists voiced to MUSC College of Dental Medicine faculty that they wished someone had told them more about the business aspects of practicing dentistry when they were in school. While unable to grant that retrospective wish, MUSC dental faculty sought to provide second-semester senior dental students with the basics of running a successful practice.  “At the College of Dental Medicine, we have predominantly science majors with little business background,” said Joe Thompson, Finance and Administration assistant dean. “We wanted to give them somewhere to start, points of contact. When you’re just starting out, you may have a vague idea of what goes into, say, buying a practice. However, if you know what kind of consultant to call and have that information readily available, you’re in a much better position to make the right choice.” Thompson and Patrick Wamsley, MUSC chief financial officer, co-taught the one-hour credit course for the first time this past spring.  Thompson, who also is on the College of Charleston Board of Trustees, said he enjoys working with students and looks forward to “helping others to avoid potential roadblocks, as well as smoothing over any bumps or hills they may encounter along the way.”  While recognizing the class was only an hour, Thompson and Wamsley still managed to pack as much information in as possible, discussing topics including contractual considerations for association, cost concepts for decision making, buying/selling the dental practice, taxes, personal finances for the soon-to-be dentist, negotiation and resolution of disputes in practice management, compliance issues for dentistry, electronic medical records, risk and insurance, and management of human resources. “The biggest take home point is simply being exposed to the issues,” Wamsley said. “There is no way in a one-hour course to detail all the issues one encounters in practice. After covering the basics on each topic, we provided information on where to go for help and brought in experts in the fields of compliance, human resources, risk management, personal finances and taxation.” Although an informal class, Thompson and Wamsley organized a syllabus in chronological order from buying a practice to federal regulations to daily operations.  Students were given a pass or fail grade determined by a two-page paper outlining why a particular issue is important in practice. “Mentoring or practical experience is good at anytime,” Thompson said. “A little education breaks the surface and after time passes, knowledge may be fine-tuned and more time may be devoted to specific issues.” As for future classes, Thompson and Wamsley plan to offer the course again next spring and Thompson said he’s open to the idea of lengthening it to a three-hour course. “There will be a lot of people out there offering services to these new dentists, some necessary and some superfluous. We felt it was important to expose them to what is important and what’s not,” Wamsley said.  For more information on the course, contact Thompson at 792-2441 or thompsoj@musc.edu.     Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.