Everyday Oral Surgery Drs. Rollins, Hechler and Stucki: Life After Residency: The Things That Shocked Me the Most
In residency, it’s easy to romanticize what your life is going to be like when you get out into the world of private practice or academia, but the reality is often different from what you would expect. This episode will ensure that you are better prepared to handle the challenges that you are likely to experience in life after residency! Joining me today are Dr. Paul Rollins, from the private practice side, and Dr. Ben Hechler from the academic side, to share the biggest shocks that they received when they left residency, and their advice for overcoming them. From the importance of communicating your mistakes with your patients (yes, mistakes are inevitable!) to how to lead a team, this episode covers (almost) everything you need to get your head around the challenges of being in practice.
Key Points From This Episode:
- The importance of not romanticizing life after residency too much.
- Why procedures that become easy during residency are a lot more challenging when you start practicing.
- Phases that define school, college, and residency, but not life after residency.
- Value in planning ahead for every procedure that you do.
- Why you shouldn’t place too much emphasis on speed.
- The importance of openly communicating the possible complications of procedures with your patients.
- Don’t expect to be perfect!
- Advice for interacting with patients.
- Parallels between academia and practice.
- How social media distorts our perception of reality, and why this is problematic.
- Words of encouragement for those who are struggling with self confidence after residency.
- What to do when you make a mistake.
- Why you should get your license as soon as possible after residency.
- Factors to take into consideration when starting out in an academic position.
- The importance of doing a trial period before committing your career to a particular practice or academic institution.
- Keys to dealing with referrals in a way that keeps everyone happy.
- Recommended reads for advice on running a practice.
- Thoughts on the digital information sharing era that we are living in, and how the impact of this changes between residency and practice.
- A rapid fire round with Ben and Paul.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Dr. Benjamin L. Hechler — https://www.dukehealth.org/benjamin-l-hechler-md-dds
Dr. Paul Rollins — https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-rollins-25248848/
Uncomplicate Business by Howard Farran — https://www.howardfarran.com/product/uncomplicate-business/
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Cernegie — https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034
The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt — https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion/dp/0307455777
Big Fish — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/
Inception — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown — https://brenebrown.com/book/dare-to-lead/
Dr. Grant Stucki Email — grantstucki@gmail.com
Dr. Grant Stucki Phone — 720-441-6059