Dr. Schuster, A Leader In Business Training For Dentists Since 1978

Michael Schuster, D.D.S. is the Chief Executive Officer of The Schuster Center for Professional Development in Scottsdale, which he founded in 1978 to teach concepts of managerial excellence, economic freedom, and personal growth. The Schuster Center is a state-of-the-art teaching facility dedicated to increasing the level of health and patient care in the United States by empowering dental organizations to freedom and profitability through overhead control, resource management, effective and efficient organizational systems and a team that works and communicates successfully with each other and their patients in an insurance free environment.

Dr. Schuster is a 1966 graduate of Marquette University and as C.E.O. of The Schuster Center for Professional Development, has been involved at the leading edge of dentistry for over 30 years.

He has practiced the concepts he teaches successfully in a variety of environments including a small, rural area of 3500 people, a Midwestern town of 65,000, and a large metropolitan city of 1,000,000+. He has taught at Temple University in Philadelphia and The University of Iowa. He was one of the original Cadres picked by Dr. L.D. Pankey to carry on the Pankey philosophy.

When Dr. Schuster created this business model, he did it based upon certain principles that enabled him to create his ideal practice – profitable, high quality, and able to serve one patient at a time to the very best of his abilities. These principles were proven to be effective in a small, rural town, a mid-size farming community, and a large metropolitan city and have now been learned and implemented by over 3,000 unique practices in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, proving that this model works in any type of community, in any specialty, as long as it fits the dentist’s personal value system for optimal care.

At the time he assembled these principles into a cohesive practice development model, the only other model in dentistry was a high volume, production-driven model. The downside of this type of approach was working harder with no increase in profit. Additionally, this model creates a deficit in the time available for each patient, handicapping the doctor’s ability to spend adequate time with patients to build relationships, rapport and trust for recommend treatment. This model did not fit Dr. Schuster’s values and it doesn’t fit many dentists today – especially those with advanced technical training.

Dr. Schuster believes that dental schools have inadequately prepared their graduates to run an organized, profitable small business. He has spent a lifetime traveling, teaching, and helping dentists obtain the knowledge and apply the skills necessary to bridge that gap.