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Navigating Sick Days and Weather Challenges in Dentistry
8 Plays1 hour ago
About the Hosts:
Dr. Savanah Craig is a passionate dentist navigating her early career. She is committed to sharing insights about life as a dentist post-graduation, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, understanding patient needs, and managing practice challenges. As a podcast host, she connects with peers to offer guidance and support to young professionals in dentistry.
Dr. Ronnetta Sartor is a dedicated dental practice owner and podcast co-host. With a focus on practical solutions and patient care, she brings valuable experience from running a dental office and overcomes everyday challenges in the field. Her knowledge and anecdotal advice are instrumental to the podcast's mission to support recent dental graduates.
Episode Summary:
As dentists, Drs. Savanah Craig and Ronnetta Sartor discuss the realities of balancing health and work responsibilities in their profession. In this episode of "Beyond Graduation," they delve into what happens when illness strikes, especially in a demanding profession like dentistry. They address concerns such as the guilt associated with taking sick days and the impact of snow days on their practice operations, providing personal anecdotes to illustrate their points. Dr. Sartor describes a bout of flu that spread through her office, demonstrating the interconnected nature of working environments.
Both hosts discuss strategies for managing unexpected absences, emphasizing the importance of having supportive colleagues and adaptable scheduling practices. Dr. Craig shares her experience working in a group practice, highlighting the advantages when illness strikes, while Dr. Sartor talks about the challenges she faces as the sole dentist in her practice. Through their candid conversation, they convey the importance of prioritizing health and candidly discuss the guilt that often accompanies taking time off. This engaging episode offers insights into navigating unplanned interruptions in a dental practice, using real-life examples to provide practical advice.
Key Takeaways:
- The challenges of managing a dental practice when illness affects staff or the practitioner.
- The benefits of working in a group practice with supportive colleagues available to help during unplanned absences.
- Both doctors’ personal experiences highlight the importance of communication with patients during scheduling disruptions.
- Insights into handling patient expectations and rescheduling processes when unforeseen circumstances arise.
- The practical considerations around severe weather impacts, particularly in regions less accustomed to snow, and its effects on dental practice operations.
Connect with Us:
- Savanah Craig, DDS: @savanahcraigdds
- Ronnetta Sartor, DMD: @dr_sartor
- FutureDentists Beyond Graduation: @futuredentistsbeyondgraduation
- FutureDentists: @futuredentists
- IgniteDDS: @ignitedds and @ignitedds_coaching
- A-dec: @adecdental and https://www.a-dec.com/find-a-dealer
Listen to the full episode for a deeper understanding of how Dr. Craig and Dr. Sartor navigate challenges in dental practice management and gain insightful advice from their real-life experiences. Stay tuned for more enlightening discussions on "Beyond Graduation."
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast & Sponsor Offers
00:00:00
Speaker
ADEC's Smart Start program offers first-time practice owners their deepest discounts on equipment and furniture for two years, plus other savings and complimentary services. Ask your ADEC rep for details and start smart with ADEC.
00:00:13
Speaker
Join Drs. Savannah Craig and Renetta Sartor as we navigate life beyond graduation. Real conversations about forging our own paths in our early years in our careers.
00:00:24
Speaker
There's a reason it's called practicing dentistry. All right. Welcome back to another episode of Beyond Graduation. I'm Savannah Craig, and with me as always... I'm Renetta Sartor.
00:00:35
Speaker
So this week we are, you know, mitt well end of February. I was going to say mid-February. And the sick is going around...
00:00:46
Speaker
everywhere.
Impact of Illness on Dental Practices
00:00:47
Speaker
So we thought we would talk about what that looks like in dentistry as an associate or a practice owner and what what you do when you don't feel well enough to practice.
00:01:00
Speaker
I feel a lot of guilt about it. How do you feel? For sure. So almost three weeks ago now, the flu got us. And by us, I mean, it started with one of my assistants and then another one got sick. But i I'm pretty sure she a my front desk person got sick from their kids Because flu type A kind of went through the schools pretty bad here. And it snuck up on me because I was feeling fine.
00:01:35
Speaker
And then I wasn't. Yeah. And it kind of got me and, you know, I just was not in any, any shape to argue with myself or, you know, beat myself down for not being able to be there because I just physically could not do it. Yeah. I was just feeling so bad. And so i had my team call all of the patients and let them know that I was feeling really bad, like sick wise. Yeah.
00:02:02
Speaker
And then I didn't want them to get sick or to spread it even worse through the office. Right. Yeah. And so we were going to have to cancel today, but we do our best to get them in work for their schedule as quickly as we could.
00:02:18
Speaker
And, you know, when I got back and saw a lot of those patients, you know, sometimes you you have the thought that the patients might be upset with you because you can't be there. and you know, when I got back, because my voice is still a little weird from it.
00:02:32
Speaker
you know, the patients were really concerned. You know, a lot of them were asking me like how I was doing. And I was like, you know, thank you for your understanding and everything. i would have been no help to you.
00:02:46
Speaker
Like I could barely sit up straight and, you know, a lot of them were understanding and I even apologized to them there. And, you know, For the most part, patients understand that we're humans too, and we get sick just like they do.
00:03:02
Speaker
What about you? What was that process like for you? Yeah, it was funny because it also came on out of nowhere. Like I was at work the night before and all of a sudden getting ready to leave. And I'm like, i think I have a fever. i think I have chills. Like what is going on? And so there's not – this had been my first experience of being so sick that I felt like I was going to have to miss work. and dentistry doesn't really have a good like sick days – You know, like my husband, when he gets sick, he could still work from home if possible. And that's not really a thing. or
00:03:41
Speaker
you know, my friends that are nurses, there's other people to cover shifts. And that's not always the case in dentistry. it kind of worked out in that I do work in a group practice. So some of the other associates and partners were able to divide my schedule amongst themselves. So our front desk called patients and said,
00:04:03
Speaker
you know, if Dr. Craig is going to be out today. Are you okay seeing another provider? If not, we can reschedule you with her when she's back. So that helped out. But I did go to work and everyone was like, you look terrible. Please go home and do not get us sick.
00:04:21
Speaker
So I don't necessarily call it that I called off because I went and they sent me home.
Managing Guilt and Unpredictable Schedules
00:04:26
Speaker
But I think the bigger conversation we should have here, though, is that you felt so compelled that you went to work instead of staying home and calling out.
00:04:35
Speaker
And I think for the most part, most of us, because we understand that some patients had to coordinate with work and all that sort of stuff. And we don't want to inconvenience them.
00:04:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's really tough. It's really tough. Especially, i don't know about, i don't know what they did with your schedule. i want you to tell me about that. But because I'm the only doctor in my office, I feel like it hits us even harder. Absolutely.
00:05:01
Speaker
And i imagine had you not been physically incapacitated, you may have tried to go to work. Oh, yeah, for sure. i would have.
00:05:12
Speaker
I would have. But like, yeah, I couldn't like getting home the day that it hit really bad. do not do this at home, folks. But my head hurt so bad.
00:05:24
Speaker
it was really hard to see to get home. Yeah, yeah. And so I was like, it's not safe for me to try to get on a road. Yeah, absolutely. But there is that, i don't want to say dentistry only, but i think in our society, missing work is such a thing, especially when in our fields,
00:05:45
Speaker
It inconveniences so many people. For sure. But yeah, so the way that my schedule got... So I went to work and the other two docs that were there were like, you look awful and we don't want you sick.
00:05:59
Speaker
But they looked at the schedule. there There was at least enough coverage for hygiene. So we knew we were good there. good but then... It actually kind of worked out the way that my schedule had broken up and their schedules had had some holes. So we were just able to slide the patients into their schedule.
00:06:17
Speaker
And my assistant stayed so that they could run additional columns or you know what i mean? They just sort of absorbed my schedule into theirs. And a couple of patients were rescheduled.
00:06:28
Speaker
Or all I wanted to see you. Yeah. Who were like, it's not ah not a big deal. I'll come back and get my fillings with Dr. Craig whenever. But it was one of those really, you know, thank God for group practice sort of moments because it could have derailed a whole day.
00:06:46
Speaker
But when it happens for us, which this is the first time it's ever happened for me. I was going to say, have you ever had to close the office for sickness? ye But pretty much the people that could work, i allowed them to. So hygiene, they were able to run their schedules. And I just looked at radiographs from home, front desk team, you know, they were able to get caught up on some stuff.
00:07:11
Speaker
Because they had less patients there. so they had some administrative stuff that they were able to get caught up on. So it wasn't a complete waste of a day.
Weather's Influence on Dental Operations
00:07:22
Speaker
But you're in Ohio. so this is a little bit different. But in South Carolina, we got snow like a few, maybe like a month ago. yeah And, you you know, i don't think you had any snow when you were in residency here.
00:07:41
Speaker
But in South Carolina, if it's a if it's an idea of snow, things close down. It doesn't have to be actual. And so we did experience, you know, the the whole situation with deciding whether to close when it did snow.
00:07:57
Speaker
What about you're in Ohio, so snow is a completely different thing for you guys. So most of the time, business as usual, we did get a pretty interesting... i think it was a couple of weeks before you guys got snow because those couple of snow storms were south.
00:08:14
Speaker
So actually the southern part of Ohio and like Kentucky got some pretty bad snow. And it was kind of interesting. Ohio does this thing where it's like county by county snow emergencies.
00:08:28
Speaker
And so... They can set like what they call a level three snow emergency, which is like it's literally illegal to drive in that county because it's so unsafe. And the cutoff was actually the county just south of the city. And so we have a couple of team members that drive from there. And so the office was still open and like where I live was fine.
00:08:51
Speaker
But we had some team members call out. So we were sharing assistance and a lot of patients didn't want to come in. So it all sort of worked out the way. Dentistry is one of those things. And I don't know if you have this experience. I bet you do where even your most chaotic schedule somehow works out where just enough things shift or fall off. Or, you know, even when you come in and you're like, this is never going to work.
00:09:16
Speaker
You know, it's like somebody else is freed up and at the end of the day, you're like, oh, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Don't get me wrong. There are days where you run behind and things are awful.
00:09:27
Speaker
But nine times out of 10, things just shift into place. And on the snow day, that's what sort of happened where – Where I had a hole in my schedule, somebody else was busy. So we shared that assistant and it worked out. Yeah, i think for our snow day snow day, so the schools were closed for two days and then had a delayed start.
00:09:49
Speaker
Okay. And so when it started snowing and it actually stuck, that's when i sent a blast to the patients and was like, hey, we're going to be closed for tomorrow.
00:10:01
Speaker
But we'll we'll resume. it was That was a Wednesday. We'll resume that Thursday because, you know, we have some people that travel that's on our team.
00:10:12
Speaker
And I didn't want, you know, the patients or team members getting hurt, getting to work. Absolutely. It's not that serious. Yeah. And i I do think on those days where the weather is questionable, like people don't want to come anyway.
00:10:27
Speaker
They don't. So you want err on the side of caution. We always laugh. I mean, there's always anyone's looking for any excuse to not come to the dentist mostly. and so you're like, oh, it's raining. Patients are going to fall off the schedule. Oh, it's sunny. Patients are going to fall off. Oh, it's snowing. Definitely not coming.
00:10:45
Speaker
But yes, we do still get enough snow sometimes where we're not totally immune to the weather just because we're in Ohio. Understood.
Engagement with Listeners and Closing Remarks
00:10:54
Speaker
We'd love to hear your experiences and what you do on your sick days or if you have inclement weather in your area.
00:11:03
Speaker
What's your process? What's your protocol? How do you feel? do you Do you feel the guilt that we feel too? You know how there's like mom guilt? Do we call it like dentist guilt?
00:11:14
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Do you feel the dentist guilt? That you're a human? How dare you? Yeah. Yeah. And have to call out because you don't feel well. Either way, we want to hear about it.
00:11:26
Speaker
Let us know how you feel. We'll catch you back next time. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Beyond Graduation. If you enjoyed this week's episode, be sure to share it with a friend.
00:11:37
Speaker
Connect with us on social media at Savannah Craig DBS and at Dr. Underscore Sartor. And remember, you are not alone on this journey. ADEC certified pre-owned equipment is a sustainable, affordable choice that makes genuine ADEC equipment available to every doctor.
00:11:55
Speaker
Each package is sold on a first-come, first-served basis. So if you see one you like, contact your dealer. For more information, go to www.adec.com backslash findadealer. Thank you for listening to Beyond Graduation brought to you by Ignite DDS and Future Dentists. This episode was sponsored by Ignite DDS Coaching. We build self-determined futures. For more information, please reach out to the Ignite DDS team.