Dentalship

The day before gurinder and Dr. Bakhshi celebrated their first wedding anniversary Dr. Bakhshi came home from work and explained to his wife that he had good news and bad news. The good: A difficult employee was no longer with the practice. The bad: Dr. Bakhshi needed his wife to step in and help in the office part-time. Dental spouses become dental employees for a number of reasons. In some cases it is out of necessity, or the office is temporarily shorthanded, or finances warrant that the spouse step in so the practice can avoid incurring additional payroll expenses. In other cases, the couple feels strongly that it is in the best interest of the business for the spouse to work in the practice. In some instances both are dentists and are building their practice together. Some couples readily admit they would not choose to work with their spouse for many reasons. Yet in dentistry, couples frequently run the practice together. In those situations in which the couples work well together a few key characteristics tend to emerge. First and foremost, they genuinely respect and appreciateeach other. They enjoy spending a lot of time together. They can handle dealing with the practice headaches, joys, and frustrations day-in and day-out. A good sense of humor is helpful and a great deal of patience is a must. But, above all else, in those practices in which doctor and spouse work effectively together, practice systems are clearly defined as are employee responsibilities and duties. Clearly defining the role of the dental spouse is one of the most critical elements to building a positive and effective team environment. Dental teams must clearly understand who has the authority in the practice. There are certain things that the staff will go to the spouse for and other things they will go to the doctor for, but both doctor and spouse need to be singing from the same page. They can’t go to one person and get one answer and go to the other and get another answer.