Dental organization Benevis added more than 20 new dental graduates across seven states and Washington, D.C., during the past year.
Benevis CEO Bryan Carey recently connected with Becker's on the company's initiative to hire young dentists and dental school graduates.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: Why do you feel it is important to be hiring young dentists/dental school grads and adding them to your network?
Bryan Carey: There are two areas and reasons why it's particularly important to us. One is that it's a great opportunity for a recent grad because of the strong mentorship and support that comes with joining Benevis. Second is that it's sort of an additional area of diversity, so by having a diverse group of dentists in terms of their age and experience we feel we'll be able to provide even better care and better patient experience. Our families in particular really seemed to appreciate having a diverse workforce that represents the diverse population that we serve.
Q: How valuable is that mentorship for new dentists and being able to work alongside more seasoned and experienced dentists?
BC: We think it's particularly valuable and that it's something that comes with our model. The reason why I say it comes with our model is because we are focused on underserved communities, and they tend to be in clusters; we have a number of offices in inner-city Baltimore, for example, and that clustering results in an amount of clinical oversight that we're able to provide by having a district dental director. For the graduates, particularly graduates from this year and next year who went to school during periods of COVID, there's an opportunity for just much more real world experience.
Q: Is one of the big advantages for dental grads joining Benevis instead of going into private practice or joining a different organization the ability to focus more on the clinical side?
BC: Yes, definitely. By joining Benevis, a recent grad is coupled with an experienced dentist in the office they work in but then have that additional oversight because of our clinical operating model that would not exist in a private practice environment. Because we are mission-based and serve a particular need in the community, I view it more as we want to be the right choice for selective candidates. We're the right choice for grads when there is a combination of our mission resonating with them and where that mentorship and support is going to be part of their first clinical job.
Q: Is this program of bringing in young dentists something that you see continuing at Benevis each year going forward?
BC: Absolutely. This is something that we aren't just committed to — we are looking to expand. For example, with the two dozen new graduates that we are onboarding, I've directed to our teams we wanted to be such a valuable onboarding experience that not only do they get everything that they would expect, but they will [speak] to colleagues at their schools and say this was the right choice and I had a great experience. We actually now are looking to expand this even further because we do think it's a great alignment in terms of what we have to offer and what particularly this cohort of graduates are looking for. We have a near-term goal by 2025 to treat 1 million kids, and to do that we would have to hire close to 100 grads within the next two years. Based upon our desire to treat the number of unserved children, we really want to build upon what we've done in 2023.