Preparing to practice and manage: A program for educating orthodontic residents in practice management

The purpose of this article is to describe how the integration of practice management principles into orthodontic graduate programs can help young pra ctitioners avoid many of the mistakes commonly made in developing an orthod ontic practice and to provide guidelines and resources for starting off in the right direction. This article also describes how practice management ed ucation was integrated as one of the 4 principal components of contemporary orthodontic education at a California university. Specific goals, concepts . and components of a comprehensive practice management program are outline d. A structured practice management curriculum can provide opportunities fo r residents and alumni to learn some of the latest developments and techniq ues in orthodontic practice management.