Dr. Rick Workman, HPU’s Dental Innovator in Residence, Mentors Students
Dr. Rick Workman, executive chairman and founder of Heartland Dental and HPU’s Dental Innovator in Residence, offers career advice to entrepreneurship students.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 29, 2023 – Dr. Rick Workman, executive chairman and founder of Heartland Dental and HPU’s Dental Innovator in Residence, recently returned to campus to mentor students and offer career advice to entrepreneurship students.
The Rick and Angie Workman Foundation donated $32 million to establish HPU’s new dental school, which will welcome its first students in the fall of 2024 as HPU celebrates its 100th anniversary. HPU broke ground Sept. 23 on a new three-story, 77,500-square-foot facility that will house the Workman School of Dental Medicine, the state’s only private dental school.
While on campus, Workman had lunch with HPU students in the Wanek School of Natural Sciences and participated in an Access to Innovators podcast with HPU pre-dental student Mikalyn Freeman. He also shared dinner with the Workman School of Dental Medicine’s board of advisors.
Workman shared his personal story of growing up on an Illinois farm and his desire to not work on the family farm. He graduated from the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine, borrowed some money from his parents to open a dental office, opened a second office a year later in a nearby underserved community and a third office the next year. He practiced dentistry for nearly 20 years before founding Heartland Dental in 1997.
While working as a practicing dentist, Workman realized there had to be a better way to balance the business and clinical sides of the field.
Workman polished his entrepreneurial skills through a young professional organization. He implemented an employee stock option plan and allowed dental assistants to be part of the team. With a growing number of offices, dental assistants could advance to become regional managers. Workman said he found this system allowed choice and built loyalty among the best and brightest staff members.
“In my world of dentistry, there were no benchmarks and that is true today,” said Workman. “Of course, you’ve got to work harder and smarter, but ultimately, you’ve got to learn to work together. Your personality and leadership skills are going to be the power ball multiplier of your success in life.”
Heartland Dental, the nation’s largest dental support organization, serves more than 2,700 dentists in more than 1,700 offices across 38 states and the District of Columbia. Workman has consistently been named among Incisal Edge’s Top 15 Most Influential People in Dentistry.
Workman told HPU students he had to learn the importance of teamwork, culture, language and the philosophy of how people treat each other.
“During my time with Dr. Workman, I was allowed a glimpse into the world of Heartland Dental,” said Freeman, a biology major and pre-dental student from Amity, Oregon. “I learned about the incredible work Dr. Workman and his team are doing for dental practitioners everywhere and was also given insight into the future of dentistry, with and without artificial intelligence.”
“I loved the way he discussed what he’s been through, the processes of his entrepreneurship journey and his mission, what he found as the reason why he had to grow to where he is now,” said Reeve Fatuova, a sophomore entrepreneurship major from Ramsey, New Jersey. “That was an eye-opener for me. The meaning behind what drives you is one of the biggest things. For him, being someone who was breaking out of the stereotypes for the community he was in is something that was very crucial for me to hear. That connected with me and resonated. Knowing at the end of the day what’s going to keep you motivated and growing into what you need to be are the morals you hold true to your heart.”
Quentin Barrial, a senior business administration major and entrepreneurship minor from Atlanta, Georgia, found Workman’s presentation personally effective as he prepares for graduation in December.
“As an entrepreneur going into the real world, it’s extremely valuable for me to be able to understand how I can go about making an impact,” said Barrial. “He talked a lot about benchmarks, for example, and seeing how you can differentiate yourself from the competition. Building my own business and looking at what the benchmarks are, I’m able to apply that and create real value. He took a big risk. I’m in a position where I don’t know if I’m going to jump into a job or commit 100% to my own company. Knowing that other people have done it and succeeded is a huge thing for me.”
One of the hallmarks of HPU’s approach to dental education is HPU Health LLC, a network of dental practices owned and operated by the university with locations across the state, including High Point, Greensboro and Chapel Hill. These practices are already fully operational and treating patients and, in the future, will connect dental students with real-world learning opportunities under the guidance of trusted dentists with decades of experience.