The Mission Continues Under Dr. Michael Edwards

Handpicked By Dr. Schuster, Dr. Michael Edwards continues the mission and purpose of The Schuster Center for the next generation.  

From Dr. Edwards:

“I was just ending my first year in private practice when I realized I was burned out. When my partner and I took over the practice of a retiring doctor, we simply continued the structures and systems already in place.  It seemed to work.  We kept the hours, the large team, all the marketing…. 

I was working 5 days a week with one late night, and every other Saturday.  We were squeezing in 5-10 emergencies a day.  Yes, we were making money, but I was working way too hard and would just sit at the end of the day and question — am I supposed to work like this for the next 40 years?

Once we entered the Schuster Management Program, we immediately reduced our overhead and began changing the hours.  As the overhead came down, we didn’t need to work as hard.  Not only did the pressure to produce come down, but we became more relaxed, and everything improved.  We moved from a frenetic and stressed state to one focused on quality and getting to know people.

By the end of the year, our overhead was in model range — that means we went from an overhead in the high 70s to one in the low 50s.  That equated to about 150-170K in additional profit, just from improving how the office operated.  

I signed up for an additional two years of the Mastery Program and not only got into the best shape of my life but ingrained the learning into the marrow of my being.  I became a master at saving and investing, working with patients, and master planning, and began a CE path that has led me to teach at the highest levels of dentistry.

This is the type of program that has a Return On Investment (ROI) that can’t be measured just in dollars.  Because The Schuster Center is a school, you improve your systems and operations over time and it tends to get better as time goes on, increasing the ROI — year after year.  But money isn’t the only measure of ROI or success.  What about our most precious resources?  Our health.  Our time.  The team we work with — the people with whom we spend the most time!  

This program is special and unlike any other in dentistry.  Many places have tried to copy it over the years, but those copies are faded versions of what the program was and nowhere close to what it is today.  The program continues to evolve with the times while maintaining the core principles of the learning.  

Recent grads have reported a decrease in their overhead of 20-40%, increases in net profit that have more than doubled during their program, and in the case of a doctor 5 years out, profit increased from 39K to 400K.  That is a nearly 2 million dollar swing in new money every five years all the while the doctor is doing the kind of work she loves doing!

My wish is to share it with as many of those seeking to practice a different way, to really enjoy the freedom of being a private care doctor, and to live a life in line with your deepest held values and beliefs.”