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Talent Dental Clinic (Gyodae) · 앞니 레진 비니어 장인, 소현수 원장입니다. · March 31, 2026
From submitting your resume, going through interviews, deciding to start work, moving to your workplace right after discharge, and finally showing up for your first day — I know ve...
AI translation notice
This page is an English translation of a Korean Naver Blog archive entry. For exact wording and source context, verify against the Korean archive original and the original Naver post.
Clinic: Talent Dental Clinic (Gyodae)
Original post date: March 31, 2026
Translated at: April 19, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Medical note: This translation does not guarantee medical accuracy or suitability for treatment decisions.
From submitting your resume, going through interviews, deciding to start work, moving to your workplace right after discharge, and finally showing up for your first day — I know very well how nerve-racking each and every one of those steps can be, and how many worries can come with them. Even now, when I think back, I still remember the situation, how I felt, the surroundings, and what happened then, as well as why I was so nervous and so scared. There were many things that caught me off guard on my first day, and many moments when I thought, I can't even do this?
Teachers will probably also have all kinds of worries that change from moment to moment — whether the salary they receive is appropriate for their function, what the working conditions are beyond salary, whether the number of cases they get is too small, whether they will be able to place implants... A whole range of thoughts can trouble you in different ways. There will also be many things to worry about outside of treatment.
"Am I just really bad at this?"
Everyone is bad at first. Really.
Even after passing the national exam and finishing public health service (military duty), the moment you actually decide to start work, your whole body shakes. That is not abnormal. What you learned in school and actual clinical practice are completely different worlds, and most new doctors spend their first month thinking, "Can I really do this job?"
What matters is not the fact that you are inexperienced itself, but how you learn and improve.
One common mistake among new doctors is getting swayed by stories like, "So-and-so from my class placed this many implants," or "This person sees this many patients."
Case numbers vary widely depending on the size of the clinic, patient volume, and the operating policy of the chief doctor. Some first-year doctors place 50 implants, while others focus only on general treatment. No one can say for sure which one will become the better clinician five years later.
What do you think I would have been like?
What matters most at this stage is whether you truly understand the cases you are handling.
If you can explain for yourself why a certain tooth is being treated that way, what went well in the root canal treatment you did today, and what you feel was lacking — then that doctor is growing well.
Many people suffer alone because they think, "If I ask this, will I be looked down on?" But most clinic directors are far more bothered by a doctor who pretends to know and moves on, causing problems, than by a doctor who asks about something they do not know.
If I had to offer one tip for asking questions: ask in the form of, "I thought about it this way and did it like this, but I'd like to ask how you would do it, Director." Rather than a vague, "How should I do it?" showing that you have already thought about it makes it much easier for the director to teach you, and helps you learn faster as well.
Take photos with a camera.
Record everything — the good and the bad. And start a blog. Write down how you thought, why you did it that way, how a well-known speaker practices in this way while what you did was different, what was difficult when you tried to follow it, and what actually happened. Record how the chief doctor does it. What materials are used and what kind of thinking they have.
I do not recommend a pen-type oral camera. You can't see what went wrong. Be sure to use a DSLR or mirrorless camera. However, the process of taking photos must absolutely not harm the patient. That clinic is not your clinic. That patient is not your patient either. I hope you do not become greedy to the point of harming patients and the clinic.
There is no single correct answer. It depends on the situation of the clinic.
The biggest misunderstanding among associate dentists is the belief that salary is determined according to the associate dentist's function. To some extent that is true, but it is also partly wrong. That is because there are other variables as well.
A major variable in salary decisions is always the clinic's system. In some cases, the business model of the clinic you work at is structured in a way that simply cannot provide a high salary. In such cases, realistically, the "clinic system" must take priority over the "associate dentist's function."
You also need to think about what you value most. Do you want a higher salary first, or do you want an environment where you can learn and gain a lot of experience even if the salary is lower, or an environment that meets your surrounding infrastructure and other personal circumstances? First, make clear what you want.
If salary is the priority, but they offer less than what they said, or play games with it —
If you gave up salary to get more cases, but they do not assign you any cases —
You need to set a 기준 for making decisions quickly.
New doctors often sign contracts after looking only at the salary number, but in fact the conditions beyond salary often determine the real quality of life.
Items to check:
Whether the four major insurances are included. It may seem obvious, but there are still cases where people sign without being enrolled. Be sure to check.
Conditions for severance pay. Severance pay is generated when working for one year or more. Check whether this is clearly stated in the contract.
Whether annual leave can be used. Whether there is a real atmosphere where the legally provided leave can actually be taken.
How unused annual leave is handled. Check whether unused leave is paid out or forfeited.
How working days are handled in weeks that include public holidays. Check whether you must make up the day if you do not come to work on a public holiday.
Support for attending academic conferences and seminars. Whether expenses are supported, and how work is handled on those days.
How implant and prosthetics cases are assigned. It is good to confirm before joining when, specifically, and what kind of cases you will be assigned.
Many new doctors are afraid of negotiation itself. Worried that making a request will leave a bad impression, they often accept the conditions as presented, but negotiation is not rude. In the job market for associate dentists in the Seoul metropolitan area, the hiring chief doctor has the advantage, but that is not always the case in provincial areas.
Practical tips for negotiation:
Negotiation before joining is much easier than after joining. Once you have already started working, changing conditions is much harder. The moment you receive an offer is when your bargaining power is highest.
Speak in specific numbers. Instead of "Could I get a bit more?" say "Could we make it OOO won?" That makes negotiation much easier.
Even if they refuse, the relationship does not end. A reasonable clinic director will not withdraw the offer simply because you tried to negotiate. If they do, it may actually be better not to work with that director.
Especially, cases where the explanation is long and many conditions are attached often do not end well.
It is better to be concise and clear, but not to speak vaguely in a "we'll take good care of you" kind of way — negotiate specifically.
Do not act defensively.
The director is your boss, your senior, and in some sense, your teacher as well. It is not easy to define this complicated relationship well from the start.
The practical advice I want to give is this.
Use the first month as a time to observe and adapt. Every director has a different treatment philosophy, communication style, and preferred way of working. At first, rather than strongly asserting your own style, the priority is to understand how the clinic operates.
When conflicts of opinion arise. There will definitely come a time when your treatment direction or patient management differs from the director's view. At such times, what matters is this — rather than immediate rebuttal, it is far more effective to first accept the chief doctor's words. Everyone has their own background. Why they practice the way they do is closely related to the chief doctor's past experiences. First accept it, and if it is too far from your own values, it is better to resign; arguing against it is not a good method.
Many new doctors actually find relationships with assistants and hygienists more difficult than the relationship with the director.
These people often know the clinic's situation much better than the doctor does. They are also the ones who practically shape the flow of treatment.
A few realistic tips:
Show that you are willing to learn first. A simple, "I still don't know this clinic's flow very well, so please teach me a lot," can go a long way toward starting the relationship smoothly.
When you make a mistake, do not make excuses in front of the staff. Quickly admitting it and handling it properly builds trust. Blaming staff when there is a problem is the worst thing you can do.
Do not hold back on expressing gratitude. A simple "thank you" when they support you well during a busy treatment session has a bigger effect on the relationship than you might think.
Do not worry from the start
The moment you start wondering whether "this is the right clinic"
After 3 to 6 months at your first job, many doctors begin to wonder, "Is this the right place for me?" This is a natural process, but what matters is distinguishing whether that concern is a temporary discomfort that comes with growth, or a real warning sign.
Signs of temporary discomfort:
Anxiety from still not being used to clinical work
Fatigue from adjusting to a new environment
Feeling rushed because you compare yourself to your peers
Things that may be real warning signs:
When the director continuously treats you unfairly or unilaterally changes working conditions
When there are absolutely no opportunities to learn, and it is clear there will be none in the future
When the clinic operates under conditions different from the contract
When questions or complaints about working conditions are met only with excuses
You often hear, "You should stay for a year." That is not wrong. If you change jobs repeatedly before one year, it can count against you on your resume, and in fact many people grow fastest between six months and one year.
But that does not mean you must endure a full year even while suffering unfair treatment. Forcing yourself to endure an unbearable environment is neither growth nor experience.
A practical checklist when considering a job change:
Have you learned as much as you can from the current clinic?
Is your direction after changing jobs clear, or do you simply want to escape?
Are you prepared for the job change process (resume, interview practice, research on the next workplace)?
"Am I going to focus on implants, learn orthodontics, or open my own clinic?" — you do not need to decide all of that in your first or second year. In fact, if you fix your direction too early, you may miss fields that end up fitting you surprisingly well.
The best preparation you can do at this stage is:
To experience as many different cases as possible
To attend academic societies and study groups (seminars) in fields you are interested in
To observe for yourself which treatments give you the greatest sense of fulfillment
Whether you open your own clinic, work long-term as an associate dentist, work as a salaried physician, or obtain specialist certification — there is no single correct path. The best path depends on what kind of life you want.
Associate dentists actually hold a stronger position than you might think.
The most powerful weapon an associate dentist has is the fact that they can leave at any time.
Think from the employer's perspective. The director needs a doctor to keep the clinic running. From posting a job ad, to interviews, to the new doctor adapting to the clinic flow, it can take as little as three months and as long as six months. During that period, the director has to fill the gap personally. Losing a good associate dentist is quite a blow from the director's perspective.
Knowing this and not knowing it changes your attitude from the beginning.
Of course, the weapon of being able to leave at any time only becomes truly powerful when you are a person of enough value. If you are easy to replace, it is not a great loss when you leave. They may even be hoping you will leave on your own. They might simply be putting up with you because it is a hassle to hire a new associate.
There are many ways to become an irreplaceable associate dentist.
Become the director's extension. Someone who keeps the clinic running even when the director is away. If you reach this level, you are no longer just an associate dentist but a partner in the clinic's operations. There is no need to think grandly at first. As you observe and absorb the decisions the director makes often, the treatment policies they prefer, and the way they handle staff, at some point you will naturally start thinking, "The director would have done it like this."
The chief doctor at the clinic where I worked as a first-year doctor once gave me this advice.
He said to work with the mindset of, "I will become a better director than that person. I will beat that person." Under the premise that both sides respect each other as professionals, I think that is a very good direction.
Speed and throughput. The ability to see more patients in the same amount of time and carry treatment forward more smoothly. This is partly skill and partly habit. A doctor who constantly thinks about how to reduce chair time is not easy to replace, even if the director wants to change them.
Handling dissatisfied patients. This is as important as clinical skill, and perhaps even more important. A doctor who calms dissatisfied patients and turns them into regulars is worth gold to the clinic. There are far more disputes caused by communication than by treatment results. The ability to quickly understand what the patient wants, what they fear, and respond accordingly — this is not taught in school, but it is the real skill directly tied to clinic revenue.
Building a patient fan base. The moment patients start saying, "I want to be treated by that doctor," your position changes. This comes partly from skill, but also from small habits such as brief conversations before and after treatment, remembering the patient's name, or asking first about what was uncomfortable last time. An associate dentist whom patients specifically request cannot be treated carelessly by the director either, because if that doctor leaves, the patients may leave too.
Speaking in numbers. Someone who can prove their value with data rather than feeling. How much monthly revenue you generated, how many patients requested you by name, what the return visit rate is — if you know these numbers for yourself, conversations about salary negotiation or condition adjustments carry a completely different weight. Saying "I did a lot" vaguely is far weaker than saying "The cases I handled accounted for x percent of monthly revenue."
Paradoxically, the weapon of being able to leave at any time makes you more relaxed simply by knowing you have it, even more than the moment you actually pull it out. That sense of ease shows in your attitude, your attitude changes your relationship with the director, and that relationship changes the conditions.
A person who has a weapon behaves differently. They are not easily dragged into unfair demands, they do not shrink away during contract negotiations, and they do not have to work every day while constantly reading the room.
Whether you like the place you are in now or not — this weapon is already in your hands. Just knowing that will make your attitude in the clinic feel a little different today.
You only find the answer by facing it head-on.
Worry is natural. Having that worry also means that you are taking this job seriously.
Still, do not let those worries stop you. For every worry, there is always "what I can do right now." If salary negotiation is scary, study. If treatment is worrying you, review each case one by one. If relationships are difficult, take the first step toward the other person.
The first one or two years may feel as if you are going slowly, but the difference between a doctor who spent that period well and one who just let it pass will become clear three or four years later.
I believe all of you will do well.
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