Gabriel is the husband of a dentist, and messaged me a few days ago about writing a post on life as a dental spouse. I thought it would be helpful for my readers who have husbands or wives in dental school :) What I love is how Gabriel and his wife are true partners in life and business.
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When I was growing up I never dreamed of being a doctor's “wife.” I expected to a be a teacher like my mother or preacher like my father. During dental school I even had an inkling of the inevitable. Still I didn't realize how much of a typical dentist's spouse I'd become until I introduced myself to a patient as "Gabriel, the doctor’s wife," on accident.
Today, nearly 14 years later, dentist's spouse is a label I wear with pride. My wife and I have been a team since dental school, and it has paid off. As a dental spouse I've been able to supplement those strengths that make her a great dentist such as determination, self-confidence, and attention to detail with my own strengths in communication, people management, and visionary development to create a thriving dental practice.
It is no surprise then that, after years of searching in vain for reliable dental practice management software that would be easy to use, affordable, and work on both PCs and Macs, we would choose to take the challenge of creating such a software together. Two years and a small fortune later, we are proud of the software we've created, Axex Dental. Check out a video of the software in action at video.axexdental.com.
In an interview with The Dental Geek blog about our experience and our software, we were asked if making the transition from dental practice to entrepreneur was difficult for us. The truth is that whether setting up a practice, taking over an existing one, or creating software, all dentists will be entrepreneurs at one point or another. Although we have been very successful in our practice and our software, it has not been without challenges, hard knocks, and harder lessons. But it does not have to be so painful.
Dental school will not prepare your spouses for running a business, and chances are they'll be too busy to supplement studies on their own. As a dentist's spouse you may want to brush up on business and entrepreneurship knowledge. You don't need an MBA. Listen to a podcast on startups every now and then. Read a book or two on business. I recommend "The Personal MBA..." by Josh Kaufman and "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries. I really enjoyed those two, and believe me, what I find fun reading is typically "Good Girls Don't Bite Their Neighbors" by Molly Harper. . .
Huh. Maybe I am a typical doctor's wife after all.
Gabriel Ruiz has a BA in Theology from Southern Adventist University. He taught junior high at Loma Linda Academy, and until 2011, he was a stay-at-home parent of two wonderful children with an unpaid internship at Kimberly Riggs Ruiz DDS, Inc. in HR, IT, and BS (Marketing.) These days he splits his time between the aforementioned unpaid jobs and the equally unpaid job of Lead Evangelist and Co-Founder for Unident Software Company and Axex Dental.
And I agree with his answer on this question “…if making the transition from dental practice to entrepreneur was difficult for us.” At one point to another all dentist will be entrepreneurs as well. It is challenging but with a partnership like they have, there’s nothing that is impossible. Thanks for sharing their story of success with us.
ReplyDeleteBenita