Strategies for Success Acceleration Workshop with Optometric Insights
On Saturday, November 7th, a collaborative group of optometry students from NECO and MCPHS decided to wake up a little earlier, dress a little dapper, and give their future a jump start! With support from ZeaVision, Alcon, and Allergan, NECO’s Private Practice Club join forces with MCPHS’ PPC to play host to Optometric Insights at the Westin Hotel in Copley Square. It was a dynamic and innovative 4 hour workshop that seemed to fly by! Co-Founders Dr. Mile Brujic and Dr. David Kading, both NECO alumni, created Optometric Insights as a means to help prepare and inspire current optometry students towards a brighter future. Dr. Brujic, a partner of a 5-doctor, 3-location practice in Northwest Ohio and Dr. Kading, a solo owner of 2-private practices in Seattle, WA have a vibrant and charismatic aura about them.
The central idea for the workshop was finding and fulfilling our “personal purpose,” both as students and in our future. How can we avoid becoming stuck in the spiral of short-term goals like completing exams, getting out of clinic as soon as possible, and reaching graduating? And instead, transcribe our thinking to long term goals like visualizing where our future practice would look like and the type of practice modality it would be. Is it an OD/OMD shared practice? Are you a partner in a co-managed situation or do you have a solo practice that you started from scratch? Dr. Brujic and Dr. Kading challenged us to begin envisioning our future starting now so that we can start networking and planning as soon as possible and be prepared for the hurdles ahead.
With over 50% of the participants having over $100k loan, it was easy to see why we all wanted to know how we could start preparing for a better financial portfolio while still in school. Dr. Brujic and Dr. Kading were able to create different scenarios and have students work through some of the challenging conversations that might come up during the future hiring process. How can new graduates avoid a sense of “entitlement” and convince an employers that we’ve got what it takes and we’re willing to work hard for it? Some of the different solutions included presenting various non-optometric skills that could benefit your future employer, such as managing the office’s social media portals or volunteering as the representative at the next local Rotary or Lion’s Club meeting to engage the community.
Another tough situation that students will have to face is how to start the conversation of working towards becoming a partner during the initial interviewing process and what type of questions should both sides be asking and answering. Topics like patient demographic, a typical hourly work week, and a rough timeline of the future are all helpful in making sure both parties are on the same page. A role play scenario was posed to students: How would you ask an employer during the initial interview process what your compensation would be and if there is any future opportunity to become a managing partner? A few options came out, including being a straight-shooter because being upfront and honest has the benefit of simplicity, discussing a slightly lower base wage with an added percent bonus for any additional growth through new patients, or accepting an annual fixed wage with a 1 year review to discuss future options. Dr. Brujic and Dr. Kading did an excellent job of not advocating for one option or the other as they are truly a personal preference, but rather provided students with some pros and cons to consider. When given the opportunity to take a lower base wage with an incentive via a percent bonus, what they the employer is providing is an opportunity for you to bet on yourself! If the economy and patient fill-rate is stable within the area and you are looking to join as a managing partner in the future, it surely does not hurt to take on the incentive of a
percent bonus as that can be utilized as a future bargaining tool to your employer to showcase your talents and ability to bring in revenue for the office. On the other hand, if the location is struggling or less predictable, it might be wise to take a fixed income as you will know exactly how much cash flow you will have for your loan repayments and daily living expenses. However, one of the biggest points made is to approach the conversation so that your intention directly translates to the impact you want. This includes approaching conversations regarding upgrading equipment or changing the office’s website layout or opening the topic to managing partner with respect and humility rather than curt, short-tempered rigidity. Always keep in mind the perspective of your employer so that the resolution that’s achieved is both fair and continues to foster good relationships in the future.
This eye opening experience only scratched the surface of what we have to look forward to as current optometry students, but its most valuable part was that it got us all thinking in terms of our long-term goals starting now! Dr. Brujic and Dr. Kading are two doctors who have an obvious drive to further the field of optometry and their dedication to career counseling for optometry students inspires us all.
If you want to learn more about their Optometric Insights and the great resources they offer, check out their website: http://www.optometricinsights.com!
