To begin with, lately, there have been many comments regarding dental practice burnout on many social media sites. Like any practitioner, some days can be better than others, and that is simply part of the human experience when it comes to our profession or any profession.
I started answering a burnout question recently on a dental social media Facebook group, and I started with this: “To begin a great question and post, I could probably keep writing the answer for the next 2 days. So, I will try to keep it short and sweet; this could be a good topic for my next article for Dentistry Today. So, here it is!
I have been in practice now for 41 years and still love what I do in a major way. To begin with, something that is always so important is finding great mentors. When I lecture, “mentors” are The Pick Group’s No. 1 secret to success. Remember, it is better to recreate genius than to create mediocrity. Also, a great mentor is a trusted advisor; he or she gives awesome support and advice, guides you, and further uses his or her experience to help you super succeed. Don’t also forget the great quote by the one and only Jim Rohn, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”
A Must-Do—The PBR
Right from the beginning of your practice career, you must do something that is never taught in dental school, medical school, law school, chiropractic school, etc. And that is doing a premier Pick Business Retreat (PBR) for teambuilding. By the way, the PBR is a major burnout prevention all on its own. I wrote about it for Dentistry Today in October 2018 in the article “Use Retreats to Become a Fortune 500 Dental Business.” Please read the article as it has so much useful and wonderfully helpful material to help you massively succeed. The retreats must be repeated every 6 months for the rest of your career. For the last 22 years, mine have become 2-day biannual retreats. It is where you and your team go away from the office, and you develop your personal brand, your practice brand, and unique selling proposition (USP); hence, what do you and your team do better than anybody else? Have you figured out your why? It is called the Golden Circle and was developed by the amazing Simon Sinek. All dentists know what they do and how they do it, but most do not know why they do what they do. Also, remember you cannot be everything to everyone. Does your office have a mission, vision, and culture statement, and does every one of your team members know it ice cold? And when you get comfortable with yourself and your team, the team absolutely should do a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis on you.
Do You Have the Right Team?
Everybody I know hears this a lot, but it is so important to always make sure you have the right team members with the right personality profile in the right position, and they must have the “HQ factor.” The HQ factor stands for the hospitality quotient. That is making every patient feel special. I love my team, and I cannot do what I do without them. We have a blast, and I have team members who have been with me for more than 30 years.
The Preclinical Interview and Relationship Building
When you meet a new patient for the first time, do you develop an unbelievable relationship with them? Please don’t ever forget that relationship-building is a major key to success. Do you understand his or her personality profile, and do you even go as far as to meet him or her away from the dental chair in a preclinical interview room doing what is called the preclinical interview at the first visit? Again, this is to separate yourself from everyone else in a major way, hence becoming the Purple-Cow-Wow in all and what you do. Purple-Cow-Wow comes from Seth Godin’s book, Purple Cow! In a quick summary, if you are driving through Wisconsin, the majority of cows are black and white Holstein cows, and you just keep on driving. But all of a sudden, if you saw a real purple cow, there would be a traffic jam, people taking pictures and video, helicopters overhead, and all of the news channels reporting on it. So, the moral of the story is to stick out in an amazing way from the competition. I have added the Wow factor, and in our profession, wow is an amazing word. And remember, everything that you do must always be led and based on ethics and excellence. If you have not already, please visit and join my Facebook group to help dentists massively succeed called, yep, Purple-Cow-Wow!
An Endorphin-High Morning Huddle
Consider doing an amazing morning huddle at the start of the day. When done right, it sets a wonderful tone for the workday and allows you to start the day with an incredible endorphin high. As a fun example, at the end of the morning huddle, I will say to one of my team members, “Vanessa, you got the “3, 2, 1,” then to Angela, you got the “Yo,” and then to Annie, “You got it.” Then we all get up from the conference table where we do the morning huddle, put our fists against one another like a sports team, and Vanessa goes, “3, 2, 1,” Angela goes “Yo,” and Annie says something motivational like, “Let’s have a whale of a Wednesday. We rock.” There is so much more to the morning huddle, but you get the idea. All of the above, from mentors to the morning huddle to the PBR and more, give you wonderful information and protocols. They also help separate you from the rest and will lessen your chance of burnout.
Also, don’t forget to go to major and minor meetings, summits, and events where you can be face-to-face with your colleagues. As all of my close dental friends know, there are so many “things” that exist today that I wish existed many years ago. That would be the incredible power of social media, Zoom, and great Facebook groups. But don’t forget, in my humble opinion, there is nothing more powerful than face-to-face interactions with your colleagues.Please remember every profession has its ups and downs, as that is part of life and being in a profession. I personally could never do what my better half Carmen does—she is a hospice nurse. She develops the most amazing relationships with her patients and, at least every other week, loses a patient. Imagine being an oncologist and telling someone, “you may have less than 6 months to live, and I am putting you on chemo, and you will be nauseated 24/7.” Or—I hope you all have a sense of humor—how about GI docs? They go up someone’s “dupa” all day long! I could not do any of those professions.
Please Crank Your Hobbies
It is so important to make sure you have great hobbies and you crank those hobbies all of the time. Your hobbies are a great stress release. As an example, I have been playing guitar since I was 7 years old, and I absolutely keep a guitar in my practice in my private office, besides those at home. Every once in a while, I will be playing as my team comes in before they get ready and before the morning huddle—and everybody gets such a kick out of it. Patients can also see the guitar as they leave the office hallway, passing my private office (the door is always open), and it is always a great talking topic for them. I also often play most every night when I come home for a few minutes. It is a blast, fun, and a huge stress reliever. From mid-spring to fall here in Chicago, I enjoy my old 1956 Corvette convertible. It is a huge endorphin high and stress release, and it’s a blast to watch the thrill it gives others. There is nothing like it. Between the guitar and the Corvette, what a blast and a major burnout prevention set.
CONCLUSION
Don’t forget there is burnout in any profession and that includes ours. Always try to do the things that help prevent it, and, if you are really down, please reach out for help, as there is nothing wrong with that in today’s world. Also, remember there is always a small percentage of people in any profession that just do not like the profession and made a bad choice. Again, there is nothing wrong with reaching out and seeking help. I hope you all have an amazing day, and I hope you all enjoyed this article.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Pick is in full-time private practice in Aurora, Ill. He is also an associate clinical professor of surgery, Division of Dentistry at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and at the Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the CEO of the Pick Group, a coaching group designed to make your practice unstoppable. He runs the Facebook group Purple-Cow-Wow! Dr. Pick is an international lecturer and was the 1998 recipient of the Gordon J. Christensen Outstanding Lecturer Recognition Award. He also won the 2014 Northwestern University Merit Award for outstanding achievement in a profession. It is the highest award given by the university. Dr. Pick is also one of Dentistry Today’s consulting leaders and an official spokesperson for the ADA. He can be reached at drpick@thepickgroup.com.
Disclosure: Dr. Pick reports no disclosures.
