CDA Essentials 2018 • Volume 5 • Issue 5

30 | 2018 | Issue 5 S upporting Y our P ractice When deciding between urban and rural, consider the financial risk. The busier your schedule, the more income and cash flow you will generate. You also need to consider that dentists encounter fewer issues collecting co-payments in rural areas than in cities. Finally, you should consider the risks involved in both rural and urban environments. Buying or opening a practice in an urban area has much higher risk, as rent will be more expensive and there will be far more competition. a MY CHOICE Rural Practice After graduating from dental school at the University of Toronto, Dr. Rupinder Dhaliwal decided to buy a practice in Fenelon Falls, Ontario, a town of 2,000 people. Here’s how he explains his choice. As a new grad, choosing between a rural and an urban environment is undoubtedly a tough decision you have to make, because you have to consider both business and personal sides. Either way, you’ll have to compromise. I decided to go rural. I bought a practice in Fenelon Falls, Ontario, a town of 2,000 people about two hours’ drive from Toronto. One of my main reasons for choosing Fenelon Falls was because there is a huge demand for dentistry when we go a couple of hours outside the city. And you usually don’t have to go 10 hours away from a city! It is just a matter of doing the math: where can you go where there are a lot of patients and not enough dentists? For example, where I practise, there is one other dentist who has been practising for 17 years. She’s not taking any new patients, so there is no competition between us. I know her quite well and we see each other often. But if you look around within a 20 km radius, we notice a huge drought of dentists in the area. By choosing to go rural, you get to perform the dentistry that you want and you can pick your hours. It’s financially more rewarding and you get to take more time off. Some of my classmates were working 5 or 6 days in the GTA and had to work evening hours and weekends. Even though you’re living in a city, you don’t really get to enjoy the city. By the time you get home, sometimes it’s already 9 p.m.! I love the people in my rural community. They are very friendly and they appreciate what you do. What I noticed the most is that when you go for lunch or coffee, the cashier or the waiter is also one of your patients. Sometimes they buy you coffee, sometimes you buy them coffee. It’s hard to get those connections in a big city. In a small town, people know who you are. It’s very relaxed, patients are usually on time, and if you keep them waiting they don’t get upset, because that happens! You’re one of the few medical professionals in the area, so you’re well respected, as long as you treat people right. 