Today we’d like to introduce you to Hector Cabrera
Hi Hector , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I graduated from dental school in the Dominican Republic in 2011. I moved to New York a few months later and studied for my board exams to gain entrance into an accredited dental program in the United States. In 2014, I was accepted into the Advanced Standing Dental Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I graduated from that program in May 2017 and practiced in a rural community in Illinois for a little over a year. I then moved to Florida and practiced in Windermere with a large corporate group.
After 5 years with a corporate practice, I became disillusioned with how the practice was being managed.
I decided to leave a stable income, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, and opened my own private start up practice.
The practice opened December 2021 and has grown at an immensely rapid pace ever since.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a winding road. There have been a lot of challenges to navigate. I spent five years of my career as a dentist….now, all of a sudden I had to be a dentist, an HR executive, a handyman, a marketing specialist, a practice manager, a mentor, a business owner. Dental school does not prepare you at all for the business side of dentistry, so you have to learn the information from outside sources. You have to learn how to manage different personalities on your team, how to manage difficult patients, how to navigate cash flow swings. You can’t just clock out at 5pm and go home like when you were an employee dentist. It has been rewarding, but there were definitely times when the stress took a toll.
We’ve been impressed with Dental Designs at Oakley Seaver , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a full service, privately owned family dental practice. We opened for business in December of 2021. We are known for our extremely relaxed vibe- our practice is designed and made to feel like a cozy living room instead of a sterile and cold medical facility. Our patients love that we remember them and their lives, that there’s virtually no wait time and they all received personalized attention.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I have my own podcast (www.youtube.com/@BehindTheSmilesPod), but I also listen to the DentalPreneur Podcast hosted by Mark Costes. I read a lot of self development books (Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Four Hour Workweek, the Checklist Manifesto, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, The 7 habits of highly effective people
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ddsclermont.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaldesigns.clermont
