A PLEA FOR SERVICE TO THE YOUNGER DENTISTS

If you look at the world around you today, you will likely notice that the world is in short supply of volunteers. Whether that is with youth sports, rotary programs, schools, or even professional societies, we are in desperate need of more people that are willing to step up and help. We are busier as a society than we have ever been before, and it’s easy to rationalize that we don’t have time to volunteer. Believe me when I say that I get it. I am a solo practicing dentist. I have 6 kids between the ages of 12 and 19, and I am involved with multiple organizations outside of work too. Life is busy. Very busy.

So why should we consider volunteering when we are so busy? My simple answer is this- beyond the obvious benefits our service gives to society, we should step up and serve because we receive far more from our service than we give. It’s a paradox, for sure. But it’s true. And it’s been proven to me time and again. If we were to look at it like it were a financial investment, giving of our time would deliver a very good return on investment. The ROI is much higher than most people even realize. It’s such a huge ROI that we would actually be foolish to turn down the opportunity to serve.

In my own life, I’ve been blessed so much from my service. When I was 34 years old, I was asked to run in the house of delegates to be an officer on the Utah Dental Association board. I was really young, but I wanted to give back to a profession that has been so good to me. It ended up being a huge blessing that I didn’t even know I needed. Being surrounded by so many brilliant, successful, and wise dentists on the board helped me during an incredibly challenging time in my life. Shortly after I was elected to be secretary, my wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor. We battled through 3 separate tumors over the course of four years until the cancer took her at far too young of an age. When she passed away, I had four kids between the ages of 5 and 10, and I was trying to run my dental practice at the same time. Receiving the camaraderie and support of the other dentists on the board was a huge benefit to me. They encouraged me, helped me, guided me, and cheered me on as I fought to pick up the pieces as a young widower. That’s not a connection or support group you can easily find outside of service opportunities.

I get that many young dentists reading this will likely never be faced with a situation like that, and I hope you never are. But there is a situation that most every young dentist will face, and that’s a scenario where you are trying to figure out how to be a better dentist or how to run your practice so that it is more profitable. Quality mentors are hard to find these days. Guess where you can find some amazing mentors? In organized den- tistry. Whether you are serving at your local district level or even at the state level, you will easily find some incredible mentors that you can lean on.

If you’ll allow me to be vulnerable for a bit, I’d like to share a specific example of how my peers on the UDA board helped me with my dental practice. Back in 2016 I had just finished up our meetings at the ADA convention. I was sitting in the airport with the other members of the UDA board. I had grown to trust and respect them quite a bit from our time together over the previous 2 years. I felt like I could let my guard down, be honest and open with them, and ask them for some help and advice. I had reached a plateau with my dental practice and couldn’t overcome it. I was struggling financially and wasn’t happy with my lack of financial success. These amazing dentists were gracious and very helpful. They didn’t judge me or mock me for my struggles. In fact, many of them had been through it before too. Some had to learn the hard way over a long time. These successful dentists started to ask questions about my practice, the numbers, the key performance indicators, and what I was currently doing. They dug into the nitty gritty aspects of my office and were able to get an idea of what was holding me back, and they gave me some advice and some direction. After returning home, I put in action some of the things they mentioned to me. Over the course of the 3-4 years after that moment in the airport, I was able to increase the collections of my dental practice by about 60%, and I was able to double my take home pay. I will forever be grateful to them for their advice and help. It was a game changer for me.

Are you a younger dentist that is wanting some direction? Are you wanting to surround yourself with some successful mentors? Are you struggling and feeling like you don’t know where to go or how to take the next step forward in your career? Then please reach out to either the UDA office or your local district and offer to serve. Serving at the district level is really easy. It will only require about a half a dozen meetings a year. Serving at the state level isn’t really even that big of a burden either. Especially when you look at it like an investment. An investment of several hours a year on my part turned into a huge financial boon for my dental practice. It allowed me to make some great friendships that I am still close with today. And it opened my eyes on how crucial organized dentistry is for the future of our profession. The Utah Dental Association could really benefit from your service, so please reach out and become part of this great dental community.

Dr Cody Calderwood 2024 UDA Convention Scientific Chair