Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022 - 61

Practice Management
MyStyle
An Interview with Amir DadgarYeganeh,
DDS
Juliana Panchura (JP): Now that you have been
practicing for 6 years, would you reflect on your
anxieties and concerns prior to graduating and
while you were looking for work? What opportunities
did you find, and what guided your
decisions to take jobs?
Dr. Juliana Panchura
Los Angeles, CA
PCSO Bulletin Contributor
Dr. Amir Dadgar-Yeganeh
Glendale, CA
Amir Dadgar-Yeganeh (AD-Y): The last year of
residency was stressful in many aspects: finalizing
a master's thesis, getting my cases ready for ABO
oral board, planning to move back to Los Angeles,
and finding a job in a different geographic location
than my dental school and residency. At the time,
I would get very excited if someone offered me a
job even within 2 hours of driving distance of LA.
In fact, I was willing to accept a corporate job offer
in San Diego and commute from LA to San Diego
3 days out of the week. However, I was very lucky
to find an opportunity with amazing mentors of
mine, Dr. Juliana Panchura, and her wonderful
husband, Dr. Vince Quas. My first job offer was to
work with them at a cleft lip and palate program
within a community dental clinic for 1 day a week,
which was extremely rewarding. They advised me
to be patient, not to take the 2-hour commute, and
strive harder for better opportunities. They were
right. Soon after relocating to LA, I realized that
there are many job opportunities if you do good
work and have a good personality. I found many
job opportunities through clinical assistants I was
working with. However, most of the job offers
were for corporate offices. The environment of
some of these corporate offices were very toxic
and working for them was extremely difficult.
Early on, after I started working in some of these
offices, I started being very picky about the work
environment, the quality of care, the philosophy of
practice owner, and the opportunity that the specific
job would provide me in the future. As a result,
I ended up changing many jobs and was willing to
work at multiple offices and even work on some
Sundays if the opportunity was better.
JP: With such varied experiences from corporate,
nonprofit, and private practice, what are the key
take-away lessons?
AD-Y: I realized the preciousness of having caring
mentors is far beyond any amount of high pay. I
tell residents to find a mentor they value, respect,
believe in, and make themselves available to
spend time with them, to learn as much they can,
even if that means a pay cut. It is truly worth it. I
realized that I could not work in practices where
patients are only referred to as chart numbers
and the owners solely care about production,
regardless of all the other great things that are
achieved on any given day. Also, being true to
myself, not forgetting we are doctors, and that
we have sworn to have patients' best interest
in mind while making clinical decisions. And,
recognizing that there are many correct ways of
treating a case, and my way is not always the only
correct way.
JP: If you could redesign your first years of practice,
what changes would you make?
AD-Y: I would not accept a job just for the sake of
having my days filled. There were times I found
myself working in offices that made me question
my decision to become an orthodontist, and it
was because those offices had high-pressure,
low-quality work environments. It would have
been better to spend more time without getting
paid, shadowing my mentors, and working
toward starting my own practice during my first
year out of residency.
JP: Clearly the graduate program's main mission
is to train residents for clinical competency,
critical thinking, and lifelong learning. How might
universities or the AAO aid residents making the
transition from residency to the real world of
clinical practice?
AD-Y: I believe the AAO should work closely with
the ABO and the Commission on Dental Accreditation
(CODA) and be involved in the approval
process of starting new orthodontic programs
as well as influence class sizes. In addition, there
should be a solid and regulated mentorship
program though the AAO where residents can
Winter 2022 PCSO Bulletin
61
Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Winter 2022
