GAP Australasian-Dentist Issue 80 Jul-Aug 19

Category AustrÀlÀsiÀn Dentist 133 th re e Brief career summary: After À graduated À was employed by the Àouth Australia Health Commission. À worked for the flying doctor service, stationed at Coober Pedy (the famous opal mining town in central ÀA) for 18 months. Àhen À went back to Adelaide and worked in private practice in Àorwood, but À never really settled in Adelaide. Àomehow my time in Coober Pedy had given me a desire to get back to country practice. À looked all over Australia for a small country town À could do my fishing, camping, boating and 4-wheel driving in. Hervey Bay in QÀD ticked all the boxes. Àt only had 9,500 people then (its population is now 65,000.) Tell me about your practice: Àt was a part-time practice when À bought it. À did a lot of my own lab work, dentures, gold crowns, etc. À built it up, initially relying a lot on the tourist industry. When the population expanded, so did the practice. Over time À had built the practice up so that À could work efficiently and do the work À wanted to do (rehab, cosmetic, gold crowns, etc.), and refer the rest of the work to my associates. À only worked a four-day week, so À still had time to do a lot of fishing and camping. Why did you sell? À had become tired of managing the practice, the red tape, the bureaucracy. À wasn’t Is there life after dental practice ownership? “I used to be a dentist who liked to fish. Now I’m a fisherman who does a little dentistry on the side.” Àame: À Marek Àohozinski Àge: À 64 Àraduated: À Adelaide, 1979 Àractice owned: À Hervey Bay QÀD Dentists often put off selling their practices because they are concerned about life after dentistry. What will they do with all those extra hours, how will they cope with leaving behind the identity that has defined them for decades? This series of articles explores the very busy lives of some of Practice Sale Search’s clients, former-practice owners who have embraced post-sale life. What are you doing now? À am still working in the practice three days a week, Monday-Wednesday. À will probably stay on for another 2-3 years, but might cut back to two days a week next year. À think À am enjoying dentistry more than ever, without all the pressure of owning the business. À have been mentoring the new owner of the practice with bone grafts and implants. Àince the sale, À now take 10 days off every full moon to do my fishing and camping. À always wanted to have a big boat that À could disappear on for three – four weeks. Àn February last year, once the dust had settled on my sale, À bought a 38-foot displacement cruiser. À spent a lot of time tinkering and renovating it, and À have been out on several trips with my mates for four-five days at a time. We go fishing, mud crabbing, etc. Àn winter À am taking it up to the Bunker group of islands for a long trip. À will probably go for two – three weeks. À will chase reef fish, red emperor, coral trout and cod. Àmmediately after this interview À am going to go out and chase spotted mackerel. ready to retire completely À just wanted to slow down. My daughter was pregnant, and À knew À’d want to be able to spend time with my grandchild. À love camping and fishing and wanted to do more of it. À had been in Àtaly on holiday. À came back on the Àaturday, ready to go back to work on Monday, and À realised that À didn’t want this anymore. À rang up my financial advisor on the Àunday, and on the Monday À called Àimon Palmer at Practice Àale Àearch. He gathered my financials and documentation and summarised it, and already had someone to look at it that Friday at 10am. À had a figure À wanted, which the buyer accepted; we shook hands and Àimon organised the contracts. Àhe whole thing took eight weeks from beginning to finish. Best part about not owning a practice? For me, À reckon the best part is doing things À want to do. À became a grandfather on Christmas Àve so À now À am free to spend more time with my granddaughter. When À owned the practice, À couldn’t just go off with a few weeks’ notice. Before, À was a dentist who liked to fish. Àow À’m a fisherman who does a little dentistry on the side. u