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A Word from the Wise w/ Dr. Bob McNeill
68 Plays1 year ago
Dr. McNeill and I had the opportunity to connect at Voices of Dentistry. We discuss leadership, finding a melody, failure, and aging. Dr. McNeill is a seasoned oral surgeon who shares some wisdom that he has gained in his journey.
Robert G. McNeill, DDS, MD, MBA, FACD.
Dr. McNeill is an oral & maxillofacial surgeon in private practice in Garland, Texas. He is an adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Dentistry. He currently serves as on the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners and is an examiner with the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons. Following his MBA graduation, Dr. McNeill had the opportunity to be a Senior Executive Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a former president of the American Student Dental Association.
For fun he loves hockey, motocycles, and adventure.
Thank you to Between Two Teeth for sponsoring this episode!
Between Two Teeth Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BetweenTwoTeeth/featured
Connect with Bob McNeill: @bobddsmd
Connect with Between Two Teeth: @b2teeth
Connect with New Dentists on the Block: @newdentistsontheblock
Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds
Full video on Youtube
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to New Dentists on the Block, a podcast featuring new dentists sharing their experiences in the world of dentistry, successes, challenges, and life in between, navigating dentistry together one experience at a time. Today, we have something a little different, a seasoned dentist excited to share some wisdom with new dentists.
00:00:27
Speaker
Dr. McNeil is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in private practice in Garland, Texas. He is an adjunct assistant professor at Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
Dr. McNeil's Experiences and Achievements
00:00:39
Speaker
He currently serves on the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners and is an examiner with the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
00:00:48
Speaker
Following his MBA graduation, Dr. McNeil had the opportunity to be a senior executive fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a former president of the American Student Dental Association. He also hosts a podcast Between Two Teeth with Dr. Stephanie Ganter, whom we featured a few episodes back. Shout out to Between Two Teeth for sponsoring this episode.
00:01:09
Speaker
For fun, Dr. McNeil loves hockey, motorcycles, and adventure. Dr. McNeil and I had the chance to catch up at Voices of Dentistry where we recorded this episode, live and in person. Let's check it out.
00:01:22
Speaker
Bob McNeil. Yes. Welcome to New Dentists on the Block. Oh, thank you. So happy to have you here. As a new dentist, I am very happy to be here. How many years are you out? It's been touched, 9.6. Very good, very good. So Dr. McNeil is a oral surgeon who trained in Cincinnati. Is that right? Close, Cleveland. Oh, I thought he said Cincinnati. My bad.
Oral Surgery Practice and Collaborations
00:01:47
Speaker
Yeah. Very good. So tell me a little bit about your practice setting.
00:01:51
Speaker
So I'm a oral max facial surgeon in Dallas, practiced with a periodontist. We have that YouTube channel between two teeth. Steph, go check it out. Yeah, check it out. And part of why I, you know, I love what you're doing with new dentists on the block. I've been teasing you a little bit about, you know, it's nice to have some non new dentists just because I think I can learn a lot from you. Absolutely. You can learn some from me.
Leadership and Mentorship in Dentistry
00:02:16
Speaker
But part of what I want to talk about is our ASDA experiences. You and I are both past presidents of the American Student Mental Association. I was 1998, 99, touch a time ago. I was being born around that. Yeah, you were. Wow. Not really, but just about. Part of what I want to talk about is just our individual experiences that, you know, I was, I am so grateful for those experiences and the connections and the people that I had a chance to work with.
00:02:46
Speaker
Now I am on the regulatory side as a board member with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. That's been a different experience and coming from organized dentistry side of the equation to now being on the regulatory side of the equation. It's nice to have both of those experiences. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. What were one of your big takeaways from your experiences with ASTA?
00:03:11
Speaker
So I just want to throw it back to when I became president of ESSA, you were very kind to reach out to me. I don't know. Did you just you found out that I became the president? Was that right? I did. I did. And for several years, I've always tried to reach out and just be a connection to say, hey, yeah, that that was really great for me. Why?
00:03:33
Speaker
I think it was nice when you, you were a fellow Texan, you're a previous past president as well. But I think that it was a very formative year for me in my leadership. And just to have that support, knowing that somebody was there and reached out to support me, I thought was excellent. Yeah, it was, it was really impactful for me, probably more than you'd probably know.
00:03:55
Speaker
Oh, that's really, that, that warms my heart to hear. And I think there can always be such positives by reaching out and connecting to people. And sometimes it's as simple as that. It's just saying, Hey, I've been in your spot. I'm here for you. And I'm here for you. If you need anything, just reach
Emotional Challenges and Support Systems
00:04:12
Speaker
out.
00:04:12
Speaker
Absolutely. And so, you know, I had some challenges during my time in NASA. Overall, it was an exceptional experience. I made a lot of friends, a lot of memories, but I had some challenges. Like I said, it was tough for me as a leader. I think I could have been stronger at that point, but I don't think I had the tools in my toolbox to be stronger than I was. We had an excellent year, an excellent group, but I feel like we could have done a little bit more.
00:04:40
Speaker
And I think that's always the way it goes. And I certainly had my own challenges. I look back now and say, Oh my gosh, you know, in my twenties, trying to help lead an organization, trying to figure out how to work with a board of trustees, how to work with, with all types of leaders all across the country. Wow. I am so different now based on my collection of experiences.
00:05:06
Speaker
And, and I think that's where there's some value there, reaching out and helping someone else. But also I find energy, you know, I'm on the YouTube channel, the 2 Teeth, and with Steph Ganner, and she's a newer dentist. The interaction there really kind of helps out because you get to see and hear where other people are. And I know we've talked before you and I about mentoring up and mentoring down and just how important that is.
00:05:35
Speaker
Oh, it's super important. I think that it's important to get mentorship from all areas. And even if somebody is younger than you, that doesn't mean you can't learn from them. And of course, you can get valuable mentorship from somebody who is obviously older than you and somebody who will tell you your truths. Are you clear and kind?
00:05:55
Speaker
I try to be, I try to be. Oh, I didn't ask if you try to be. I try to eat salads twice a day. Well, it helps. It does, but I try. I don't do it. So I'll get back to the question. Are you clear and kind?
00:06:11
Speaker
Not always. And I try to be. I'm not. I'm not either. I'm often very clear and I'm working on the kindness and sometimes I'm not mindful that emotional. I think that's what it is, is the mindfulness of the kindness. And sometimes, you know, our emotions can can run high, especially in dentistry. Dentistry is tough. It is difficult. And I think that's one of the one of the great things about you having a venue like this with your podcast.
00:06:40
Speaker
new dentist on the block. And it gives a venue, it gives a chance for people to hear stories and say, oh my gosh, that person struggles with that. I do too. You don't feel so lonely. Certainly from a regulatory side of the equation, we see a lot of challenges that dentists and dental hygienists and dental assistants can have when they get isolated.
00:07:03
Speaker
substance abuse issues, mental health issues. That's probably some of the more difficult things that we see on the regulatory side. And that's something I'm quite passionate about to just try to do what I can to help people connect and to feel as though they belong. And that's been one of the blessings with Between Two Teeth as a YouTube channel and podcast.
00:07:26
Speaker
Yeah, I know that you all have connected with quite a few people along the way and have made it. We have five subscribers, so that's kind of a big deal. You're one step's mom and then I've subscribed twice. That's right. If you build it, they will come. That's right. And people will come. But going back to your leadership experiences, would you say that as it was a catalyst for that?
00:07:52
Speaker
Yes. And I think I've been very fortunate to have various different experiences moving along, but it was such an intense experience. And I think I look back now and see what ASDA does as far as the National Leadership Conference. It's huge. And I look at this, you know, you didn't have social media back in my day and the internet was just kind of starting off. It's amazing. Yes. Okay. I am not a new dentist. Yeah.
00:08:20
Speaker
Yes, and I look and see what ASDA has become, and it's absolutely amazing. The advocacy is huge. I know at the state board level,
00:08:34
Speaker
We've had representatives come and talk to us at the state board and I'm just like, oh my gosh, I'm so proud of how these leaders are.
Balancing Expectations, Failures, and Growth
00:08:42
Speaker
And I don't think you should be an exceptional leader when you're 20 or 25 or 30 or 40 or 50. It's a continual evolution. When I did my MBA program, it was really cool to hear some of the professors and faculty say,
00:08:59
Speaker
You should be working on these things constantly. And you're going to continue to evolve as far as your communication skills, leadership skills. Part of that, unfortunately, is going to come from failing and having big failures. You'll learn a whole lot from failure.
00:09:16
Speaker
It's a whole lot of lessons compressed in. Failing is good. Failing is good. Failing is important. Are you afraid of failing? Oh, for sure. Come on. Oh, for sure. Why? Why? Why are you afraid of failure? I think because of the emotional connection to it.
00:09:33
Speaker
Why? What is that? You know, so I think that when you fail, though it is a stepping stone to learn and become be better, I think that in the moment that failure can be very
00:09:49
Speaker
very clear to you that there maybe you're not the best so say like you fail in something in dentistry that can almost feel like that is reflective of all of your dentistry when maybe that's not true but it could feel that way so i think that the emotional connection to failure at least for me can be a little extreme i try to do everything i can to remove emotion as much as i possibly can and sometimes that serves me really poorly
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah, I was saying, you know, oftentimes, and I don't want to offend any oral surgeons out there, but there are many times there are a lot of surgeons who I think because of their experiences, especially in a hospital setting, who have had to remove that emotion piece from things. And I think it's more of a training thing than a than a personality trait. Perhaps I've seen things go really wrong and really bad. Oh, yeah.
00:10:39
Speaker
And that helps, I guess, sort of balance certain things out where you're like, okay, this happened, but it certainly could get worse. That's actually one of the toughest things about being on the state board is just, you know, how bad things can get. And so that's given me perhaps a different perspective on things, but also just, you know, I'm a big fan of looking at expectations versus reality.
00:11:07
Speaker
And the further they get apart, the, the greater that Delta between expectations and reality is almost setting yourself up for
Time Management and Relationship Focus
00:11:16
Speaker
failure. And that's tricky. And I think certainly as you start off as a new dentist, perhaps sometimes there is that larger Delta and life kind of teaches you, unfortunately, life comes at you fast, life comes at you fast and being okay with that. Yeah.
00:11:36
Speaker
and being okay with failure. I had to deal with just dealing with fear on my side of the equation. I mean, and part of why, frankly, part of why I ride motorcycles and part of our Italian motorcycle adventure that we did. Yeah, super cool. Parts of it were, why am I doing this? This kind of scares me a little bit. And being a little bit scared
00:11:59
Speaker
is not a bad thing, I think, to fully live. You don't want to take unnecessary risks, but just feeling alive sometimes can be something to do. What do you need to do? What do I need to do? What do you need to do? I need more rest. We'll get more rest. I know. I think I need to scale back with some of my projects and maybe a little bit with work as well, too, so I can have more time for my projects.
00:12:26
Speaker
It is hard to find the time as I get older. You know, when I was your age, I wanted to do absolutely everything. Now I still kind of want to do abs. It's okay. I haven't changed. I've learned nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But being mindful of your time, being around the people that you want to be around. You know, I have been so lucky in life to be surrounded by some really amazing people.
00:12:53
Speaker
I've been fortunate to be around some people that I'm like, I need to kind of disassociate myself from them and figuring out when the juice is worth the squeeze on
Communication and Personal Growth
00:13:05
Speaker
certain relationships. My favorite quote from you. Oh, is it really? Yeah. I think about that whenever I want to take on a new adventure. I love that quote. I did that Harvard Public Policy Fellowship through the Harvard Kennedy School.
00:13:18
Speaker
And one of the Department of Defense folks that was in one of my small groups taught me that saying, and it just, it changes how I look at what I'm doing.
00:13:29
Speaker
moving forward. It really is pretty impactful. The other thing I like from SmileCon though, you and I were at the ADA annual session SmileCon. Join us at this year's. That's right. That's right. It's going to be awesome in Orlando. I knew it was in Florida where it was in Orlando. But Brene Brown was the keynote and she spoke about being clear and being kind. That's right. I love it because it's so simple.
00:13:59
Speaker
And it is so much easier to be effective if you can be both of those things. So it's given me some clarity. How have you changed the way that you deliver your message to those that you communicate with, keeping that in mind with what Brené shared being clear, kind, and concise? I think I've done a great job at being clear
00:14:26
Speaker
But I think I struggle coming across as kind. In part, it tangles into that emotion or lack of emotion. And oftentimes, you really have to meet people where they are.
00:14:41
Speaker
and being mindful of how is my message going to come across. Unfortunately, as you move out of the new dentist phase, and you've been doing this for a long time, there's some disadvantages with that. You've seen this, you've been down that road before, and it's quite easy to say, okay, this is what happened, we actually need this other thing to happen.
00:15:02
Speaker
let's not have this happen again. You know, that's pretty clear, but it may be misconstrued as not being real kind. Well, sometimes you need those truths. Sometimes the difficult conversations and the difficult truths are what you need to be better. You're not wrong, and this is where it gets into lyrics versus melody.
00:15:24
Speaker
the words, you know, obviously... Oh, there we go. With the words, you can say things like, nice hair or nice hair. You know, it's perceived differently. And so I've gotten better at that. I've gotten better at sort of my nonverbal communication. And also as I talk to see how the other person is reacting. When we're in a patient room, when I'm in a patient room,
00:15:51
Speaker
I try to have it that every word I say, I'm looking at how they're reacting, their entire body length. Usually the forehead will tell you various things if they're picking up what you're putting down, but also if they're not understanding things. And so constantly kind of looking at the person assessing the situation and modifying things. I think coming up with a good melody can be very difficult. It really can. And it just takes practice and time and no one is perfect.
00:16:20
Speaker
I think for a new dentist coming out of school, finding that melody is tough because you don't get any of that training in dental school. You're kind of just thrown into seeing patience. Yes. And we're so heavily focused in the technical aspect of care. And you get into private practice and you start, oh my gosh, it's tough because you're not used to... It's different. Yeah, it's different. It's different. You're not used to the assistants. You're not used to...
00:16:47
Speaker
the environment that you're in, and then you're trying to have appropriate, excellent communication with the patient while you've got all these other things going. Yeah. There's a lot of moving parts in a dental practice. Part of that is just being patient with yourself and having a desire to continue to work on that.
Mentoring and Its Impact on Education
00:17:09
Speaker
That's probably helpful. I think so. I think so. I think that if you're in a rut or you find yourself in a tough place in dentistry, seeing what that issue is, trying to identify it and then trying to grow from there, but giving yourself the practice and the patience to grow from it. What advice would you have for non new dentists?
00:17:29
Speaker
season practitioners, wise practitioners. Yes. What advice do you have for me? Me and people? Mentorship, more than anything else. What do you mean by that? I know you do a lot, but for those who don't mentor already, serving as a mentor to students, to new dentists is huge. Sharing your story,
00:17:49
Speaker
Having an open door policy for those who want to learn more about what your specific career entails within the realm of oral surgery and how your practice runs. I think it's huge. I don't think we have enough of that and involvement in organized industry. We're only as strong as we are as a unit together and you know numbers are power.
00:18:10
Speaker
That is good to hear. I've enjoyed it. I know both of us are faculty members at different dental schools. Are you a faculty member? Yes, I'm a faculty member. Oh, I didn't know that. Yes, I am. At A&M? Yes. Oh. Yeah. Hard time. Yeah. Everything. Yeah, I've done a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of this. But it's actually been fantastic. It's been a bit of a shock for me because dealing with students is different now than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
00:18:40
Speaker
But I've enjoyed it. It's made me a better teacher. It's made me a better board member. In fact, when I'm working with students, I'll actually ask them to pull up State Board rules on things. And it's helped us. We've actually modified our State Board website based on input that I've received from the dental students. Oh, that's not bad. It's okay.
00:19:01
Speaker
It's a government regulatory website, but finding the rules can be tricky. And so we actually modified and made things easier for people to find the information. And that was all because of the feedback that you received. The feedback that I received from dental students.
00:19:16
Speaker
That's great. I think that's good that you're in a, if you can find yourself at a dental school, I would encourage you to do so. The amount of fun that it is, in my opinion, is huge, but the amount of impact that you can have is
Pursuing New Opportunities
00:19:28
Speaker
also huge. I am a product of those who taught me. I very much practice through their philosophies that were instilled in me. Totally. We totally stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.
00:19:41
Speaker
Well, any, any final thoughts that you want to say, do you want to know what advice I would have for you? Yes. Absolutely. Should I do advice? No, you know, obviously surrounding yourself with great people.
00:19:56
Speaker
Um, not being fearful to ask, to ask for help, to say, I don't know how to do X, Y, Z. And, uh, surrounding yourself with good people has always been a blessing to me and help me move directions that I never thought it would go. And maybe even going on an adventure where the universe is trying to take you.
00:20:21
Speaker
I think, I think this is one of them. It is. In my opinion. Yeah. What do you mean by doing a podcast? Absolutely. Yeah. So this has been something that I have sat with for, for years, for years. Yes. And, you know, I was going to launch last year. Yes. You and I spoke about this. Bob was pushing the launch and I feel like there's never, never a right time. And so I finally said, you know, January, January is going to be it. I had already recorded a few. Um, and it's been fun. There's been some, some traction, not a lot.
00:20:51
Speaker
Thank you for listening and watching it ten times. Everything starts small and great things can happen. I like to push people, which is good and bad. Part of my why is to push myself and others to fully live, laugh, and love and just get out there and make it happen and know it's not going to be perfect. It's going to be a little bit messy, but you never know
00:21:19
Speaker
what your message is, is how it's going to impact someone else.
Appreciation for Authenticity in Podcasting
00:21:24
Speaker
And I know we've had that on Between Two Teeth with our show that several people reach out and just say, you can't imagine how meaningful it was for me to hear this message, because I need to hear.
00:21:35
Speaker
I think that y'all just have this sense of authenticity. I think that that's just what makes you all real and makes between two teeth real. It's very organic. I mean, no. Steph is the brains of the deal, obviously. Yeah. I'm just there for the. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.
00:21:50
Speaker
You're there to take all the cool tech toys in. Exactly, exactly. Well, I appreciate you having the time to talk to me. Thank you so much. I know you kind of forced me to do this, but... Yes, I'm like, I am going to be on this new Dennis. Well, I always enjoy chatting with you, so I'm glad that we're able to share this message. You are one of the nicest people I've ever met.
00:22:10
Speaker
And I love the way you get across a message and there's always a special bond with ASDA leaders. I have a good melody. You have an exceptional melody. Thank you. I appreciate it. So thank you. Well, thank you and cheers to everyone. Tune into our future episodes and we hope to see you then.
00:22:30
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on this episode of New Dentists on the Block. If you'd like to connect with Dr. McNeil, you can find them on Instagram at BobTDSMD. If you'd like to connect with Between Two Teeth, you can find them on Instagram, b2teeth. Shout out to Between Two Teeth for sponsoring this episode. If you'd like to connect with New Dentists on the Block, you can find us on New Dentists on the Block on Instagram. And if you'd like to connect with me, you can find me at tsmiestas.dds. We'll catch you next time.
00:23:00
Speaker
you