Why my office has a nursery

The following is brought to you as part of a series supported by Patterson Dental.

In elementary school, I started telling my mother I wanted to be a dentist when I grew up. I’m from a family of 5 active kids so I also dreamed of having kids and being an involved parent at their sporting events. Being the planner that I am, as I grew older, I couldn’t help but imagine the perfect career. I knew I wanted to have a dental practice of my own that would allow me to have my kids there and to set my own hours so I could be present in all their activities.

Managing work-life balance

One of the reasons that many of you have chosen dentistry as a profession is to establish autonomy. You’d like to set your own schedule, take vacations when you please and not answer to a boss. However, patients want to be seen early in the morning and late at night, so your workdays will be long. Patients want to be seen during the weekend, so your weekends will be short. While it’s tempting to believe that you will be able to schedule your patients to meet your needs, you may not be able to meet your financial obligations if you do. If you learn to balance your work and your life while you are in dental school, it may be easier for you to continue to do so once you enter the profession. We have some simple suggestions that might help.