I received an email recently from one of my best friends from dental school and he possibly hit the jackpot. He is in a small town, a few hours from a larger metropolitan area, and it is tough to find dentists who want to move there. There are only 5 dentists in town but they probably could still use 3 more.
My friend is at a point where 6-month hygiene recalls are routinely scheduled out 8 months, and if you need a crown or filling, it would be 4 months. With these constraints, he is just itching to find anyone who will move back to small-town USA.
Fortunately, I think he hit the jackpot. A young man from his town went to dental school and now is possibly willing to move back to the area. Sort of like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber, “So you’re saying there’s a chance?!”
So, what is the best strategy to help this young future-dentist come back to the small town? Here are a few of the things I recommended:
- Paint a picture of what “Financial Success” looks like if he comes back home
- Tell him the financial gains of working in a practice that has so many patients: income will be almost guaranteed;
- Tell him his base salary and what he could probably make on production in the first year or two;
- And, offer some financial incentives: moving bonus? Car stipend? Student loan repayments?
- Tell him his options on future ownership (if that’s in the picture): What would his income possibly be then?
- Tell him your mentorship program. The difference between working without a mentor and working under a seasoned doctor who can teach how to make $1.5M in revenues each year
Inside the Dental Success Network, we have seen lots of different programs used by doctors around the country. Attracting doctors to a rural area is difficult; however, find the right program to fit the right person and you attract a great doctor for life.
The final note I will say is that the money in a small town just goes a lot farther. Not only can the income be higher than in many metropolitan areas, but the costs of living are much cheaper. These are things that can definitely help attract doctors to move to your town.
And if you find a good doctor, but do not know where to start with the next process like contracts, onboarding processes, and systems, check out the Associate Dentist Manual, or buy the Ultimate Bundle of DSN manuals and save hundreds.
