By: Dr. Noam Green

It’s an exhilarating time. Ortho residency is done and I’m doing my best to piece together plans for the years to come. It’s as though I dove out of an airplane for the first time and I am now looking down towards unfamiliar terrain, searching for a safe place to land. Hitting the ground is inevitable; I’m just hoping that my parachute deploys by then (a graceful landing would be a nice bonus).

I have been asked to guest-write a blog post for hundreds of experienced and capable professionals. Although I am honored, I feel as though I am still “mid-air” and my scope is limited. What I can do is reflect upon the most recent stage of my career – my training – and share some of my thoughts. After all, no matter where you are in your career I think it’s important to step back and reflect.

Three things I wish I had done better during residency:

1. I wish I had been more proactive with new patient exams. Consults are such an important element of the job! It seems as though being a great clinician is simply not good enough these days and developing communication skills is key. If I could do it again, I would do as many consults as possible and even try to generate referrals for the program.
2. I wish I started marketing earlier. I have known which neighborhood I’ll be practicing in for nearly 6 months. I have visited that neighborhood several times since making that decision but could have done more to create a buzz for myself. Especially since many have expressed interest in treatment.
3. I wish I had documented more. I gain so much from looking back at how I treated my patients, especially when the treatment was documented well. Generally, I wish I had taken more progress photos. There’s almost always time to snap a few. While we’re at it, it would have also been nice to have a list of all of my bracket repos.

Three tenets I try to follow that made residency more successful and rewarding for me that I would like to pass on:

1. Find mentorship. Actively surround yourself with people you admire. Constantly remind yourself of the things that you have gained from these relationships and forget the things that you have contributed. Allow this feeling of indebtedness to fuel your drive to give back.
2. Find your passion. Discover the things that you enjoy doing and enjoy doing those things well. Expand your skill set and look for opportunities to apply it to as many areas of your life as possible.
3. Care. Going above and beyond is tiring, but more often than not it builds strong relationships and leads to a great deal of satisfaction. The days that I come home happiest are ones where I feel like I have done the most for my patients. As a parent, it has become remarkably clear to me that it’s human nature to love the people to whom you give the most.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO OFFER ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE IN A STAGE BEHIND YOURS! Please post below in the comment section.

Thank you to my amazing co-residents (UDM c/o ‘14-‘16) for being a huge part of my growth: Brett Bullard, Reem Hallal, Amy Panzok, Susan Rizk, Archana Dahwan, Greg Efros, Renee Nykolak, Mark Parete, Bre Powell, Nikki Shakourian, Avi Sher, Nicole Wax and Jerry Wesley.

Dr. Noam Green was born in Toronto, Ontario. This Canadian headed to Yeshiva University in New York where he majored in Biology and met his southern wife, Rebecca. He earned his DMD from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors in Clinical Dentistry and then headed to the Midwest for orthodontics residency at the University of Detroit Mercy. There he earned his Masters of Science by developing a mid-sagittal plane definition for 3D cephalometric analyses. The Greens are headed to Atlanta, GA where they will be joining Rebecca’s childhood community. Dr. Green will practice in Marietta, GA and will continue his research on 3D imaging and software development.