Is it better to do one full-time or multiple part-time associateships?

[I_Love_Huskies]

Just curious what you all think? It seems many people try to do one full time.

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[Mauricio45]

It's best to do multiple part-time gigs as opposed to one full-time. When you work full-time in one office, you're essentially giving the owner all the power. Especially if owner knows you moved to a different city and spend money on apartment/moving expenses. And especially if you signed a restrictive convenant. So, the owner (and staff) can abuse you all they want knowing you're dependent on him/her for a job. You may be forced or pressured to make unethical compromises to keep your job. For example, my first associateship, the staff was pressuring me to do root canals without a rubber dam because "owner doesn't use rubber dams for his endos". They would state this to me in front of patients which was bad. I've also had some patients state to me that "owner never used a rubber dam for my root canal" . It was awkward. But I stayed true to myself and refused the endo.

At least with multiple part-time gigs, the power shifts to the associate and you have more "wiggle room". The owner knows you work elsewhere and not completely dependent on him/her for a job. If it doesn't work out in one place, no big deal, find another part-time gig or increase your hours in the other office. I think it's best to do 2 part-time gigs and no more than that though. When you start to do 3 part-time gigs, it may be difficult for patient scheduling.

 

[yappy]

For example, my first associateship, the staff was pressuring me to do root canals without a rubber dam because "owner doesn't use rubber dams for his endos". They would state this to me in front of patients which was bad. I've also had some patients state to me that "owner never used a rubber dam for my root canal" . It was awkward. But I stayed true to myself and refused the endo.

Please expand on this. Was it the case that the office did not have rubber dams/clamps or that the stuff didn't want to retrieve one for you to place?

 

[Mauricio45]

Please expand on this. Was it the case that the office did not have rubber dams/clamps or that the stuff didn't want to retrieve one for you to place?

Oh, they do have rubber dams in the clinic. Owner never uses it but previous associate before me did, so they do have some around. I had a phobic patient who hated rubber dams and insisted that I don't use one for his root canal because he "hated them". I explained to patient the importance of using them for root canals. Lead assistant (who has worked there for 20-30 years) insisted to me in front of patient that I do the endo without rubber dam because "owner doesn't". Thus, making me look bad in front of the patient. I think it's a "power turf" on her part to establish herself as the "alpha" and me as the "beta". I ended up rebooking the pt to the owner. I don't want to jeopardize my license. But in doing this, I sour the relationship between myself and the staff because I went "against them". This is why I hate full-time in one office. Lots of political abuse like this if you don't do it their way. At least with multiple part-time, you have negotiating power and "wiggle room" to quit.

I also had other patients who said to me "Well, owner never used rubber dam on me for my past root canal". So, it was a very awkward conversation and I ended up looking like a villain because my treatment philosophy doesn't mesh with the owner.

 

[Cold Front]

Just curious what you all think? It seems many people try to do one full time.

It depends.

I would choose the option that pays better with the least headaches (commuting, staff, patients, and employer).

 

[allDAT]

It’s tough to really decide. The trouble with jobs that are less than 3 days is that you have limited availability to deliver cases, so when you only work in an office 1 or 2 days a week, you may be less likely to complete larger cases.

Ideally, I’d want 2 part time jobs - a higher volume 3 day a week PPO gig, and then a 1 or 2 day a week job at a true private office that’s 50/50 cash/PPO or better.

When I first graduated I had a hard time finding a private office that wanted me more than 1 day a week, and I didn’t want to string 5 of them together. So I took a full time corporate gig. Left that job, and had similar issues where private offices just didn’t need many days. So I ended up in public health. Just after signing the contract with the clinic, I was offered a job a few days a week at an office that would have been a really good fit...in hindsight I think that this was a missed opportunity, but the contract was binding so I had to see it through.

Anyways, long story short - I think 2 part time jobs are better in most circumstances because you never know what opportunities will come your way and maintaining some flexibility to take advantage of those opportunities is key.

Good luck!

 

[Mauricio45]

Ideally, I’d want 2 part time jobs - a higher volume 3 day a week PPO gig, and then a 1 or 2 day a week job at a true private office that’s 50/50 cash/PPO or better.

This is similar to me. I work a "main" job at a corporation 3 days a week. I then work a "side" job at a private office 1-2 days where I do mainly endos because owner doesn't do any. That's a good reason to keep an associate if they can do a procedure that owner doesn't do. Plus, it helped build up my confidence in tackling molar endos and owner doesn't need to refer out his endo cases. Win-win for both of us.

It's rare to find a good full-time fit. They almost never work out. Often times those positions just needs a "warm body" to cover the days owner isn't in the office. So, essentially , you're just doing exams and diagnosis on days owner isn't there and owner cherry picks all the high production cases. Happens all the time.

 

[Saddleshoes]

If one would elect to do 2 part time jobs, it might be wise to be paid as an employee (W-2) at one gig and as a contractor (1099) at the other gig.
By doing that you could be the best tax benefits of each.

 

[Rambunctious]

Just curious what you all think? It seems many people try to do one full time.

I would stick to one that has all or close to the same methods of dentistry that you like. No two practices are alike so you will get differences and that's where confusion could arise. You might like one practice doing things a certain way to which you try and bring it over to the other practice, but it might not go well with the staff.