Meeting with business client and attorneys

What Questions Should You Be Asking Prospective Dental Practice Associates?

Are you looking to bring another associate into your dental practice? It can be an exciting time as you look to grow your practice and bring in fresh talent. Hiring a dental practice associate can also be, however, a particularly arduous task. The long slog through resume piles and the narrowing down of that pile to select candidates that will move on to the interview process is not exactly something many look forward to. Taking the necessary steps and care to select the right dental practice associate, however, can be critical to building your practice. The interview, in particular, can help you gain valuable insights into prospective associates and whether or not they would be a good fit. To help you out, we’ve rounded up some of those key questions you should be asking when interviewing a prospective dental practice associate.

What Questions Should You Be Asking Prospective Dental Practice Associates?

Asking the right questions in an interview with a potential associate for your dental practice can be an important part of determining whether the person would be an asset to the practice. To start off the interview, it is usually best to keep in line with standard professional interview questions such as asking the person to walk you through their resume and tell you a bit about themselves.

There are then questions about the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses and why they want this particular position. You could ask them why you should hire them as well as what attracted them to your particular practice. This can give you insight not only into the person themselves, but also into whether or not they have done any research on what sets your practice apart from the rest.

You should move into some pretty extensive questions regarding the candidate’s experience. Many of these may be follow-up questions from their resume walk-through and others will be more industry-specific. For instance, you will likely want to get a sense of how they work in their capacity as dental professionals. How do they approach their job? Consider asking things like:

  • What is your process for diagnosing and treating oral structure injuries?
  • Walk me through your process of examining teeth and oral health issues?
  • Do you have any experience performing oral surgery on the mouth?
  • Do you have experience with diagnostic equipment such as x-ray and other dental instruments?

Getting a sense of how they will interact with patients should also play a significant part in your interview questions. After all, a dental associate position will likely mean significant interaction with patients. How would they handle a patient disagreeing with a recommended treatment plan? What would they do to help a new patient experiencing anxiety in the dental office setting?

It is also likely that you are looking for a dental associate who will be with your practice for the long haul. Associate turnover can be a real headache for a practice and cause disruption in the running of the practice overall. Consider asking about the candidate’s long-term goals and career plan. You may even go so far as to ask whether they would ever be interested in buying the practice sometime in the future.

Dental Law Attorneys

The team at Mahan Dental Law is here to help with all of your dental practice legal needs. From hiring to firing and everything in between, we provide trusted legal counsel. Contact us today.