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Transitioning from Student to Doctor/Manager

Melanie Crandall, O.D., M.B.A., Associate Professor

Melanie Crandall, O.D., M.B.A., Associate ProfessorThe transition from student to Doctor happens after lots of hard work and many years and yet it can seem so sudden. Almost instantly you are faced with entirely new situations that you have had precious little training for. Any kind of practice brings headaches that come with managing people, employees, as well as patients. While much of the practice management curriculum in school deals with the finances of practice, we need to find a way to be better managers.

There are a number of resources available that you can take advantage of after you graduate. Learning it all on your own from your own mistakes is a slow painful process. Seek out ways to jump start your people skills.

One year after my 1977 graduation from SCO, I joined my husband in private practice. He had opened the office 14months before and had one employee. Within two years we had three employees. We opened a second office and then a third, employing additional optometrists along the way, as well as staff.

Luckily, early is this process, I had the opportunity to take a number of courses presented by Fred Pryor Seminars®. The format was a daylong course on a specific topics relating to employee management. I always went back to the office with a specific idea to implement, and, an understanding of how much there was to learn.

It was about 1980 when I took the 14-week Dale Carnegie Course®. It met one night a week for 3 and1/2 hours. The format and content is basically unchanged from how it began 90 years ago. The course is now given in 12 weeks, but taking the course in 2006 will be about the same as 1956, covering the same core values.

The course is widely misunderstood to be a public speaking course. The format does involve preparing and making three-minute presentations to your class. The topics of these presentations are based on Dale Carnegie’s Principles and how you applied them to your life the preceding week.

If you are nervous about public speaking, completing the course gives you the experience and skills to be a more confident speaker. One of the most valuable tools practiced in the course is how to introduce a speaker. We have all suffered through introductions longer than the talk itself. The 3-step introduction is a skill I have used my entire career.  The course also covers just about every aspect of human relations.

The tools learned in the course enhanced my ability to communicate with patients, their treatment plans and advice. For example, the Principles of “Become genuinely interested in other people”, “Be a good listener”, “Encourage others to talk about themselves.” directly relate to how we interact with patients. Recently my nephew asked me to find him a new optometrist in his community. When I inquired why he wanted to change, he said “This new young doctor talks about himself so much I do not think he is interested in me.”

The Dale Carnegie Course made me a better boss, and it also made me a better parent. The principles regarding leadership, “Begin with praise and honest appreciation and praise in public, correct in private”, helped foster a positive attitude in my office staff.

The course includes the cost of 3 of Dale Carnegie’s books and there is assigned reading. One of the more powerful concepts in the books and course is Dale Carnegie’s plan to overcome worry. Put into action it works, and will save you endless hours of worry. The fundamental principles for overcoming worry are invaluable. The first, “live in day tight compartments”, reminds us to enjoy the moment, and live each day to the fullest. The second is “How to face trouble: a. Ask yourself, “What is the worst that can happen?” b. Prepare to accept the worst c. Try to improve on the worst.”

As simplistic as it seems, that question, “What is the worst that can happen?” is a very powerful tool. My son was prone to worry and I taught him to overcome worry at an early age using the Dale Carnegie Principles. He went on to graduate from college in four years while doing dialysis the last two. I believe with all my heart that not only did the Dale Carnegie Course® change the way I handled his chronic illness, but my son’s attitude as well.

The portion of the course that covers how to deal with an angry person is extremely helpful. This comes up from time to time in any practice. Being able to diffuse the situation, and change an angry patient into a happy patient, is priceless.

I recommended the Dale Carnegie Course® to a colleague of mine right after he was served with the papers regarding an unfounded lawsuit. The case took years to get to trial and the Dale Carnegie Course® not only helped the doctor control his worry, it helped him learn to communicate in a sincere and succinct manner. The lawyers said it was the doctor’s communication style that won the case for them.

The one thing that has changed is that the Dale Carnegie Course® does have a web site, www.dalecarnegie.com. The course is managed locally by individual franchises and is available across the country. The twelve-week course now cost 1675.00$. That is a lot of money, but only slightly more than I paid twenty years ago. The best money and time I ever spent, to improve my people management skills, was the Dale Carnegie Course®. If you are considering hiring a practice consultant, consider making this investment in yourself first.

There is nothing about our optometric education that improves our human relation skills. Certainly some Optometrist are better than others, however, no matter what your “baseline”, the Dale Carnegie Course® moves you forward. It improves your everyday life in big and little ways, and can make you more successful.

So why not just read the books? While the books are a good read, just like the only way to be comfortable with gonioscopy is to practice, by practicing the principles in the books, you cement them into daily behaviors. The course is not only an investment in money, but also time, and it is well worth it on both counts.

After completing the Dale Carnegie Course® you will rarely read a motivational or management book that does not revisit Dale’s principles. I confess I am hooked on this type of book and often read the latest “fad”. Long after Who Moved My Cheese or The One Minute Manager are forgotten, the human relation principles found in Dale Carnegie’s books will endure. The course is a perfect way to help you change them from words on a page to action.

There are a number of companies that offer daylong management seminars. Fred Pryor® has merged with Career Track®. They also have a two-day course in the Art of communicating with Tact and Skill that seems to cover areas addressed in the Carnegie course. Skillpath® and National Seminars Group® also offer topics that relate to your practice. All these companies have web sites with course listings and locations.

Managing the office staff and maintaining staff motivation are both very important aspects of private practice. Payroll is often the biggest expense for a practice, and yet, most optometrist exert little time or effort to enhance their management skills. Just as we commit to life long learning of our professional skills we need to continue to improve our management skills as well.

NB: The author has no association with or financial interest in The Dale Carnegie® organization.

Melanie Crandall, O.D., M.B.A. is an Associate Professor at NSU College of Optometry in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She can be contacted by email at mcrandall@nsu.nova.edu.

 

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