Dental schools can better prepare students for a career in dentistry by providing more business education and realistic clinical training, according to Barry Lyon, DDS.
Dr. Lyon is a chief dental officer for the division of orthodontics and pediatric dentistry at Sarasota, Fla.-based DSO Dental Care Alliance. He recently spoke with Becker's about what more dental schools can do to prepare students for their careers.
Editor's note: This Q&A is part of a weekly series featuring Dr. Lyon focused on topics in the dental industry and DSO field. This response was lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: How can dental schools better prepare dental students for their careers?
Dr. Barry Lyon: Dental schools have four years to take recent college graduates and turn them into health professionals capable of practicing dentistry competently. Those four years are made up of studying the basic sciences, exposure to all the dental specialties in addition to general dentistry and then having those student dentists practice what they’ve learned on patients. Most dental school graduates don’t know what they don’t know.
Among the more tangible things with which dental schools can prepare their students is a fundamental knowledge of business. Whether the dentist is a practice owner or an associate, lacking a basic knowledge of business and management will impact them negatively. Dental practices are businesses and operate on those principles. The development and growth of a dental practice cannot proceed without knowing how to run a business.
On the other hand, however, dental education often lacks preparing students for day-to-day life in a dental office. Young dentists soon learn real life dentistry is nothing like academic dentistry. They are often unprepared for the stresses of caring for patients and the expectations that they be perfect. Add repayment of student loans, starting a family or buying a home, stresses can increase exponentially. Dental schools need to prepare their students for the real world of practicing dentistry.