Sammy Huynh

Mindset matters because experience and knowledge will only go so far without confidence. As part of my pursuit of a minor in Business Administration, the Entrepreneurship and Small Business class (MGMT 472) had captured my interest for a while as I have the intentions of owning my own private dental practice one day. To run an efficient dental office, it is important to have the necessary skills that it would take to start up, manage, and remain innovative as healthcare veers more towards the business setting. These skills stem from a mindset focused on growth, which arises from questioning and challenging the status quo. One of the major projects of the class was designing a workable business model as a team of four entrepreneurs. At the bottom of this page is our business proposal, and although it is for a rehabilitation center, the same principles can be adapted to open a dental practice. 

 

As learned in my MGMT 472 class, mindset can be described as two types: growth mindset and fixed mindset. The growth mindset fosters the desire to be a life-long learner. It holds the belief that abilities can be achieved and practiced with hard work and perseverance, and brains and talent are only the beginnings of success. Every failure is considered an opportunity to improve. People pursuing growth move forward because they find knowledge in setbacks. Seldom is there knowledge to be found in achievement. A fixed mindset, on the other hand, tends to avoid challenges because there is no chance of failing if adversity is not met. Talent alone is believed to be the key to success. Criticism is viewed as a personal attack and the accomplishments of others are considered lucky. 

 

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MGMT 472 teaches that the best way to achieve the growth mindset is through practice. I have been able to practice the key skills through my experience job shadowing dentists. Shadowing puts me in a position where I am the learner and the dentist is the teacher. If I do not approach my time in the dental office with an attitude open to learning, it would be time not spent growing. The greatest learning moments arose from asking questions such as: Why did you perform that procedure? How do you manage your dental team? What prompted you to make that decision? Often times, the answer to one question leads to further questioning and answers. A book on dentistry can simply be opened and memorized, but growth can only happen by associating those questions asked with what is being observed. 

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There was one instance while job shadowing that I remember vividly during my undergraduate studies. In the past few years, I have spent a lot of time observing a local endodontist, Dr. Mayes McEntire. When asking him about the process of specializing in dentistry, he expressed to me the satisfaction of learning a very specific concept and becoming a master at that one concentration. He said that the most difficult part of it all will not be the actual dental work, no matter what specialty, it will be everything that surrounds the work - managing the staff and taking care of the business. Since that moment, I have made a point to observe and ask about the business decisions that the dentists make in the offices that I visit. It sparked my pursuit of a minor in Business Administration to learn more about the operations and management of a small business. I have learned about the frustrations of the industries and now have a better understanding of the field I am entering. One of the issues that arose from my questioning of business complications was the impact of corporate dentistry versus private practice and how its emergence will affect my generation of dentists. I performed more research on the topic and centered it as a focus for my Social Advocacy and Ethical Life class (SAEL 200). Below is an outline of a speech that I wrote on corporate dentistry for this class. It was only when I asked and was willing to receive information that my knowledge grew.

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The growth mindset is important for dentistry because the field is continuing to progress at a rapid pace. The art of dentistry relies on creative thinking and translating those thoughts into performance. It is up to the dentist to strive for continual learning to stay up to date on the latest dental practices. This ensures the best and most advanced dental care possible for patients. This may involve associating things learned in dental school to current practices, questioning for better methods, observing patients for feedback, researching new materials, and networking with dental colleagues. Although failure is not sought for as a practitioner, dental school is a time where mistakes can be made and improvement in dexterity skills can only be learned from these errors. However, mindset is not limited to dentistry and can be applied to all aspects of life and personal development. Once I understood the power of it, I realized that my potential was limitless. Through practicing the growth mindset, I have found myself asking "why?" more often in settings within and outside the realm of dentistry. This mindset has given me a greater appreciation for my studies and professional goals. I have learned that true understanding can only be achieved if I have the desire to pursue knowledge beyond sheer memorization, and this desire drives the pursuit of life-long learning.

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