Our Story -
Creating Business Education For Dentists
The Schuster Management model was created by a practicing dentist, Dr. Michael Schuster. As a young dentist, Dr. Schuster was frustrated by not being able to communicate with his patients and the inadequate training dental school provided for owning and operating his own practice. He designed our management method for his own practice out of this frustration and the desire to provide his patients the very best care he was capable of delivering.
Over time and through his teaching advanced technical training at the Pankey Institute, he began to attract dentists from all corners of the world who wanted to learn about this model he created. To help them, he documented every component of his model in the hope they would be able to apply it to their own practices. The Schuster Center was born out of his desire to help his fellow professionals achieve the same level of satisfaction in their practice that he has been able to create in his life. Ours is the only school in existence that helps the high quality, technically advanced dentist structure their practice to engage patients in an ethical manner while helping the doctor achieve a high level of financial success.
Our curriculum is designed to teach you everything you need to know about your business and how to create all the structure in your practice to ensure you thrive now and in the future. The curriculum we offer is organized to build a solid foundation for your practice, step by step. The coaching which accompanies each class is individually tailored for each practice. To determine which classes are necessary for you, we complete a thorough exam and diagnosis of the practice. Using the information from that process, we design a program to fit your individual practice needs, help you solve the problems you are facing and accomplish the goals you set for your practice and future.
The Curriculum is supported by a Practice Development Coach to ensure the information learned is tailored and applied by the dentist and team to meet their needs. The Coach acts as a guiding influence, and accountability while offering feedback and support along the way. This ensures the doctor not only achieves what is desired through the training but understands how to do this on their own for a lifetime.
Whether you are starting a practice from scratch or have been an owner of your own practice for 20 years, The Schuster Center team can address your needs and customize a program to accomplish your goals for your practice, your patients, and your family.
Practice Development Versus Practice Consulting:
A traditional consultant keeps you in the dark about how to solve your problems and frustrations and thus guarantees a job for themselves. We believe a different approach is more successful long term. Dr. Schuster’s Management Method will give you the power to be the designer of your practice. Ultimately you understand everything that is involved in operating your practice and hold all the keys to your future. We believe that when we give you correct information, combined with the right coaching and support, you will accomplish all of the goals you set and know exactly how you achieved your outstanding results. You will understand how to apply the foundational knowledge you learn to refine and grow your practice for a lifetime.
Simply stated, we want you to have the power over your preferred future, not us.
Our Founder -
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 s
mall, 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, The University of Iowa. He was one of the original Cadre picked by Dr. L.D. Pankey to carry on the Pankey philosophy. Today, he continues on in teaching as adjunct faculty member for both The Dawson Center and OBI.
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, able to serve one patient at at 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 time available for each patient, handicapping the doctor’s ability to spend adequate time with patients to build relationship, rapport and trust for recommend treatment. This model did not fit Dr. Schuster’s values and it doesn’t fit for many dentists today – especially those with advanced technical training.
Dr. Schuster believes that the dental schools have inadequately prepared its 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.
Our CEO -
The Mission Continues Under Dr. Michael Edwards
Dr. Schuster handpicked Dr. Michael Edwards to continue 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 form an overhead in the high 70’s to one in the low 50’s. 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 teaching 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 no where 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 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 near 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.
Become the architect of your own destiny! Let’s get started!
Michael
“This work has changed so many lives, mine included, and it is too important not to have in the world. And yes — it has a major impact on dentistry as well.”
Our Process -
A Combination Of Dental Management Consulting and Education
The Schuster Management Method allows you to create a practice and life that represents your true self and your true values for dentistry. It enables you to live and practice as you choose; to build a great life and practice, one step at a time, to develop new skills, strengths and abilities as a practice owner and leader. You can’t help but be transformed by this endeavor. Ultimately, you, as the owner of your practice, understand exactly why and how your business functions successfully. You hold the power for your future.
Although every practice is unique and what each dentist needs to be successful will vary according to the current problems in the practice, dentists obtain the best results and outcome when they follow our step by step method and apply the learning in the following order:
The Schuster Model Method:
What each doctor/practice is offered is determined after a thorough evaluation of the practice which occurs over several phone calls and a one day visit to the practice called a Practice Health Evaluation.
Following this process, we create your Management Program curriculum and assign a Practice Development Coach to your practice.
Most fully operational practices (excluding Start Up practices) engage our step by step process, recommended in this order:
Step 1 – Finance: Laying the Foundation
Step 2 – Life Planning: Goal Setting for Doctor and Spouse
Step 2 – Time Management: Mastering the 80/20 Principle
Step 3 – Organization for Increased Profit and Quality of Care
Step 4 – Marketing: Attracting, Converting and Keeping New Patients
Step 5 – People: Accelerating Team Development and Synergy in the Practice
For each module, there is assigned policies and systems to take the principles and tailor them to fit the needs, wants and values of the dentist to create the desired outcomes. Every step of the way, the doctor and team are assisted and advised by their own Practice Development Coach.
As each module is learned and implemented into the practice, the doctor will be submitting practice statistics on a monthly basis to their Coach. The Coach provides Monthly Statistical Data Reporting back to the doctor to allow the doctor to learn all of the critical numbers in his/her practice and further enhance his/her skills as an owner, a leader and an entrepreneur. These monthly statistics will show the doctor how when one organizes the practice around solid business principles, the practice naturally becomes healthier, both from a decrease in stress levels and from a financial perspective. The positive changes in the practice become tangibly visible in these reports.
The end result for our clients is an increase in available time to spend with patients or to pursue advanced technical dentistry or personal activities, coupled with an increased feeling of peace and satisfaction in dentistry while seeing dramatic increases in profitability via decreased overhead, higher case acceptance and a overall control of every functioning system in the practice.