Everyday Oral Surgery Dr. Aldrich Sy: How to Thrive in a Super Densely Populated Urban Area
San Francisco is a densely populated area, thus a highly competitive market, but there are still ways to establish yourself as an oral surgeon if you decide to set up shop there. Today we talk to Dr. Aldrich Sy, a past classmate of Dr. Stucki’s, about his experiences practicing in the San Francisco area and how he has managed to get his name out there and succeed in this tough landscape. For Dr. Sy, San Francisco is a great place to live, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to make headway in the first few years after graduating from residency. After chatting a bit about Dr. Sy’s education and reminiscing about college, we jump right in and hear about the steps he took to start practicing professionally. He talks about receiving an offer from an assistant professor from UCSF to come and join him at his existing practice. We speak about how well this relationship has been going and the importance of trust in maintaining it. From there, Dr. Sy describes all the things he did to start receiving his first few patients, from literally knocking on the doors of other dentists in the area, to giving lectures at medical and dental schools and more – anything to get a foot in the door. The main message we get from Dr. Sy is that as a young oral surgeon hoping to make it in the Bay Area, you need to be willing to leave your ego at the door, be a good person, and give freely of yourself without expecting anything in return. As we discuss today, oral surgeons depend on general dentists for referrals even though they are more qualified, so the better your reputation in these circles, the more you’ll thrive. For some great insights from Dr. Sy about the value of doing good for others when trying to make it in a competitive landscape, tune in today.
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Dr. Sy: His career ambitions, education, and current practice.
- How Dr. Sy’s current practice partnership is going and the place of trust in this relationship.
- What Dr. Sy does in such a densely populated area to keep his practice thriving.
- Finding a niche, building relationships, giving lectures: How Dr. Sy got his name out there.
- Oral surgeons depend on general dentists for referrals even though they are more qualified.
- The need for oral surgeons to swallow their pride while building their early careers.
- Being a good person and a go-giver to survive in competitive San Francisco.
- Remembering that you can’t please everybody and not feeling bad for saying no to some referrals.
- Trying not to squeeze money out of patients and only doing what is necessary to help them.
- Being generous with one’s phone number and communicating frequently with patients and dentists.
- How to handle big quantities of follow-ups with patients after surgeries.
- Being flexible with your plan for how to make it as an oral surgeon.
- The idea that many surgeons don’t end up having the right personality for San Francisco.
- Tradeoffs about living in San Francisco: Expenses, lifestyle, tax, and more.
- Qualified oral surgeons are adaptable due to many being weeded out during residency.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: