By Dr. Gulia Omene,
Associate Editor
When I was in dental school I was one of
the few people in my class who had no
interest in owning my own practice. It
was a common topic of conversation,
but I never joined in the talks because
the business of dentistry never appealed
to me. I knew I wanted to have children
some day and I did not want to be taking
my work home with me every night
worrying about marketing and overhead.
My plan was to find a nice practice, go to
work, enjoy my patients and go home at
night worry free.
All of my well-intentioned plans changed
after I had my first daughter. The irony
is not lost on me that the main reason
I thought I never wanted to own my own
practice became almost my entire reason
for pursuing one. As my maternity leave
ended and I started getting ready to head
back into work, I found it harder and
harder to leave my house in the mornings.
The thought of leaving this ball of energy
seemed almost impossible. I knew if I was
going to continue to go to work (and my
students loans seemed to suggest that I
must) I had to have a bigger reason than
just an hourly wage. I wanted to be able
to build into something that I would have
equity in and have something in my name
that I could pass on when the time came.
That is how, just two days after my daughter
turned eight months old, I found myself
sitting in a lawyer’s office signing the
transition paperwork for my very own
practice. The first eight or nine months
were incredibly difficult. The hard work
and determination it took to win over a
group of patients very loyal to their previous
dentist was almost as exhausting as it
was being pregnant with my second girl.
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JA NUA RY/F E B R UA RY 2018 | P EN N S YLVA N IA D EN TA L J O U R N A L
There were many times I worried that
I had made a mistake. There were many
times I felt like I just was not good enough
to do everything exactly the way I wanted
to do it. My mom was the voice of reason
more times than I would like to admit
when I would call her crying about
feeding my family Annie’s mac and
cheese again. She told me, “You can’t
do everything perfectly. You have to
figure out what is the most important
and do your best at those things, and if
your house is messy for a couple years,
so be it.”
There are days that go well and there are
days that I have to remind myself over
and over again of her advice. I am learning
with each day that if I have my faith, my
family and my office in a pretty good
place, I need to let go of the anxiety of
the undone laundry, the clutter and the
fact that I should probably buy stock in
Annie’s mac and cheese.
I often feel like I have three kids: my two
girls and the practice. And that can be
rough. When I am with the girls I worry
that everything is running smoothly at
the office and when I am at the office
I worry if the girls are having fun. But I
also think there are a lot of benefits to
the four of us growing up together.
I am proud to bring my daughters to
work and to show them what their
Mommy does when she is not at home.
I’m proud of the work I do and I’m excited
to show my patients new pictures of the
girls at swim lessons or on a trip to the
park. I enjoy being a part of a profession
that is dynamic and challenging and I am
fortunate, and eternally grateful, to have
the benefit of a three-day weekend.