Dr. Marcus Hwang @dr_marcushwang - Dose of Dental Podcast #162 x Dr. Gallagher's Podcast

Top 5 Topics:

- The Dark Side of Surgical Training: Gatekeeping, Arrogance, and Burnout

- Why Orthognathic Surgery Is an “Expensive Hobby”

- DSOs and the Death of Private Practice: Is Dentistry Becoming Too Corporate?

- From Pager Trauma to Parenthood: Balancing Surgery and Real Life

- How Social Media Is Changing Surgical Education, Forever!

Quotes & Wisdom:

"Experience is something you get just after you need it."

- A perfect summary of surgical training: sometimes you only truly learn after the moment you needed the knowledge!

"Residency doesn’t have to be a Greek tragedy." — Brian Alpert

- A reminder that you don’t have to martyr yourself—there is (sometimes) a space to enjoy the process despite the hardship.

"Your job isn’t to prevent mistakes, it’s to watch learners make them and counsel them afterwards."

- A powerful mindset shift about mentorship and parenting—accepting that people must learn by doing.

"The more specialized you become, the more vulnerable you are to becoming someone else’s employee."

- A reflection on professional autonomy and the trade-offs of deep specialization.

"If a system relies purely on generosity, it will eventually fail."

- A candid observation about why reimbursement and incentives are critical to sustain care.

"Confidence isn’t self-affirmation—it’s the irrefutable evidence you’ve accumulated over time." — Alex Hormozi

- A beautiful distinction between shallow bravado and true earned self-assurance.

"Life shouldn’t have to stop because you’re doing something you enjoy.”

- On the importance of preserving joy and creativity even in demanding professions.

"If you can start a project or hobby during your chief year, you’ll be able to start anything whenever you want for the rest of your life."

- A call to action not to let circumstances delay your passions.

"When your pager goes off, it’s like fun time is over. But it shouldn’t have to be that way."

- On the unseen costs of professional life bleeding into personal moments.

"I think humility is important. Arrogance has burned me every single time."

Questions:

(04:10) - How do you best treat your chief year while satisfying your own self-interest, looking good to attendings, and also taking care of your underclassmen?

(11:22) - How I can get back into podcasting, focusing on surgical education and concepts?

(19:16) - What are your thoughts on the @omaxface posts and the board-style question content approach?

(37:22) - What are you looking to do after graduation—hospital setting, academia, or private practice?

(43:50) - Could you imagine trying to find a partner now, at this point in your career? How different would that be?

(45:31) - Tell me about your program’s structure—trauma weeks, call schedule, and how you split duties with ENT and plastics.

(49:40) - Do you remember any recent times when you were a little too confident or arrogant in surgery and it burned you?

(53:22) - How do you teach colleagues about rare cases or critical pearls if they literally weren’t there for the experience?

(56:47) - Have you noticed the Pavlovian response when your pager goes off—how everyone around you immediately goes quiet?

Now available on:

- Dr. Gallagher’s Podcast & YouTube Channel

- Dose of Dental Podcast #162

My watch in this episode = Citizen Promaster Diver Day Date

- 7.2025

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