Pride Institute Dental Practice Management

Empowering Dentistry with proven
business solutions for over 30 years

Faculty

Amy Morgan, CEO Amy Morgan, Chief Executive Officer - Amy Morgan is a renowned dental consultant and CEO of Pride Institute. Amy came to the Institute in 1993 and since then has revitalized thousands of dental practices using Pride’s time-proven Management Systems so they become more secure, efficient and profitable.

During Amy’s tenure with Pride she has served in every capacity possible from one on one consultant to CEO, and everything in between. Amy still loves working one on one with doctors and that is why she travels so often to meet and teach those looking to improve themselves. Her greatest joy – “We inspire people to take definitive action every day by giving doctors the tools they are going to need to transform their practice and lives and seeing the results they get by trusting us.”

Prior coming to the Institute Amy ran her own business serving the Architectural, Construction, Dental and Veterinary fields as a Cash Flow Crises consultant. Her duties required she travel constantly throughout the U.S. performing marketing, survey, financial planning, receivables, and statistical management for her clients.

Amy is a sought after as an educator and speaker teaching throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. She has virtually taught at every major dental meeting including the ADA, AGD, GNDM, Yankee, Hinmen, and the list goes on. Amy has also been published in every major dental publication including Dentistry Today, Dental Economics, and Dental Products Report.

Even more important to Amy is the foundational teaching she has brought to several dental schools. Due to her vision Pride has been able to integrate their curriculum in to the dental schools of: Universities of the Pacific, Indiana, Marquette, Tufts, Arizona, Virginia, North Carolina, and Manitoba.

Lou Shuman, DMD, CAGS, President - Dr. Shuman brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Pride Institute in the areas of strategic relations, emerging technologies, internet strategy, practice management and marketing. By enhancing and developing Pride’s growth in these key areas, Dr Shuman with CEO Amy Morgan is creating new methods to reach and teach the essential skills of successful dentists in the 21st century.

Prior to becoming President of Pride Institute, Dr Shuman served as Vice President of Strategic Relations for Align Technology for seven years. During that time he was responsible for the clinical creation of GP and Orthodontic clinical programs, was the professional and clinical lead on multiple concept development projects, and integrated the Invisalign technique into orthodontic and dental school curriculums throughout North America including NYU, Harvard University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Texas at San Antonio, as well as into associations, institutes, and organizations including the ADA, AGD, The Scottsdale Center for Dentistry, The Pankey Institute, and The Dawson Center for Advanced Studies.

Dr Shuman is sought after as an outstanding speaker and educator and has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan, including every major meeting in the US. He has written articles in almost every major dental publication, including Dentistry Today, Dental Economics, Dental Products Report, and Inside Dentistry. As one of the founders of rdental.com Dr. Shuman created the state of the art EEI, Enhanced Educational Interface engine, which ultimately led to providing on line education exclusively for the ADA, AGD, and Drs.Gordon Christensen, Frank Spear, Pete Dawson, Stan Malamed, and Vince Kokich among many others. He is the past owner of a 10-doctor private group practice where he specialized in Adult Orthodontics, and has an extensive background in general dental practice management. Dr. Shuman is a member of the Clinical Advisory Board at Dentistry Today, and was one of only 7 speakers selected nationwide to speak at Gordon Christensen’s Annual LDS Meeting in 2007. This is Dr. Shuman's fourth year in a row to be selected as one of the Top CE Leaders in Dentistry by Dentistry Today magazine.

Mary Lynn Wheaton, RDH, MA - Ms. Wheaton, with twenty-five years of experience in all aspects of dental practice management, serves as consultant team leader at Pride Institute. Utilizing her Masters Degree in Education, she specializes in practice development, team building, group interaction and customer service and is known for providing interactive in-office training and dynamic workshops. She has co-authored articles in Dental Economics on practice management, lectures internationally and provides entrepreneurial management skills to those practicing in the managed care environment of Sweden and Norway.

As former Assistant Professor, Department of Periodontology, University of the Pacific she has taught comprehensive patient care, instrumentation and hygiene utilization. Her current Team Strategies Course is an energetic, thought provoking, and motivational encounter for dental teams. Ms. Wheaton holds a B.S. from West Virginia University and received her M.A. in Education at the University of the Pacific.

Merry Greig Cosgrove, RDH, MS - Ms. Cosgrove brings a wealth of expertise with over twenty-five years of experience in many phases of dentistry. As a senior trainer and consultant, her background is in dental hygiene, dental assisting and practice organization. A former Dental Hygiene Program Director and educator at Chabot College and the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry, she is a dynamic and interactive speaker, which results in effective team training and results oriented practice development. She is best known for utilizing her "you can have fun at work attitude" along with a strong background in sales, marketing, and conflict resolution to help support positive change and continual improvement.

Currently, Ms. Cosgrove teaches practice management at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry as well as Pride's Associates, Partnerships and Appraisals course. Ms. Cosgrove received her degree B.S., R.D.H. from the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry and her M.S. in Health Science from San Francisco State University.

Pam Haffner, M.Ed. - Ms. Haffner has a strong background in the medical field in the arenas of education, program development, and practice management. Prior to joining Pride Institute, Ms. Haffner owned a practice management-consulting firm in Florida, which focused on specialty dental practices.

In addition to co-authoring articles that have appeared in Dental Economics, she contributes to educational newsletters, along with developing systems and communication training programs for hospitals. She brings to Pride Institute over twenty-two years of expertise in marketing, team building, systems implementation and communication. Ms. Haffner received both her B.S. and M.S. in Education from Eastern Illinois University.

Leslie Silverman, DDS - Dr. Silverman excels in mentoring clients to achieve growth and profitability while enhancing their leadership skills to improve team relationships and office operations. Leslie draws on her 12 years of private practice, teaching and consulting to specialize in unique clinical issues as well as decreasing practice stress while increasing revenue and life balance.

Leslie is a graduate of the University of Michigan Dental School and she completed her general practice residency at the Denver VA hospital and an AEGD residency at the University of the Pacific, San Francisco, California.

Wayne Pernell, Ph.D - brings over two decades of management, consultation and executive coaching experience to the Pride consulting and coaching team. Drawing on his background in clinical psychology, Dr. Pernell's private practice evolved to focus on leading change in organizations. He has consulted with such enterprises as Schwab, 3Com, AAA, Whole Foods Markets, and the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinics. Dr. Pernell has helped his client groups build communication skills, develop strategic plans, engage in business process analysis and redesign, and evolve through successful change-management strategies.

In addition to consulting, Dr. Pernell has held management level positions in operations, organization development, and human resources within such diverse fields as healthcare, travel, insurance, and retail goods delivery. With his father having been a dentist, Dr. Pernell grew up with dentistry as a constant presence in his life. He graduated from UC Davis then earned an MS in clinical psychology from San Francisco State University and a PhD in clinical psychology from Alliant University/California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco.

Sharyn Weiss, MA - Ms. Weiss brings to Pride Institute and its clients over fifteen years of experience in training on a diversity of topics, including communication skills, leadership, experiential training, change, and conflict. She is a recognized speaker and workshop presenter in leadership development, simulation and mind games.

In addition to being the published author of two books about experiential training, she is a contributor to the 2001 and 2004 versions of the Training and Performance Sourcebook. At Pride Institute, she serves a dual role in assisting in curriculum development and consulting. Ms. Weiss holds a B.A. from Queens College and a M.A. degree in Training and Development from Ohio State University.

Callie Haynes, BA - has over thirty years of experience in dental practice management and has served as Practice Administrator, Systems Implementation Coordinator and Project Development and Management Director, as well as Clinical Treatment Coordinator.

She is in her ninth year as a Pride consultant. Her previous years of working as part of a dental team have given her credibility and effective collaboration with dental teams. She specializes in relationship building with patients and teams, customer service, and systems implementation. She holds a B.S. degree in Human Services and has completed advanced studies in coaching at Coaches Training Institute.

TerryLynn Tennant, DMD, a 1988 graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, maintains a full-time general dental practice in Eugene, Oregon.

She has been affiliated with Pride Institute for 14 years, completing comprehensive management and alumni study programs and, most recently, working extensively with the Institute’s practice transitions group. Dr. Tennant has mentored associates through their advancement to partnership, and she looks forward to sharing her entrepreneurial skills and experiences with other dentists who are embarking on practice management, leadership, and business development.

Larry Emmott, DDS - is one of the most entertaining speakers in dentistry and he is considered the leading dental high tech authority in the country. He is a practicing general dentist in Phoenix, AZ. He will have you laughing while you are learning.

He has addressed hundreds of professional groups, has been a featured speaker at every ADA Technology Day, a consultant to many other dentists and a professional speaker to thousands of dentists throughout the country every year. He is a regular contributor to leading national magazines, he is the high tech columnist for "Dental Products Report" Magazine and makes frequent radio and television appearances.

Hy Smith, MBA - Director of Transition Strategies Division - Mr. Smith's experience spans from his former career as an airline pilot, to a writer, to the owner and president of a full-service professional practice brokerage and consulting firm specializing in the dental industry. In his years of experience in dental practice transitions, he has successfully overseen every imaginable type of purchase, sale, partnership, associateship, and space-sharing arrangement.

Mr. Smith has published numerous articles in Dental Economics and is a member of the Institute of Business Appraisers. As an associate of Pride Institute for over a decade, he has advised dentists in all critical transitions of their career, from purchasing their first practice to selling their last one. Mr. Smith is the lead trainer in Pride's tremendously successful and constantly updated seminar now in its 16th year, "Associates, Partners and Appraisals."

William Prescott, MBA, JD - is a partner in the law firm of Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Prescott has represented dentists in a wide spectrum of areas including practice sales and acquisitions, succession planning, valuations of solo and group practices, associate buy-ins and owner buy-outs, group practice operations, business and tax planning, compensation planning, dispute resolution, crisis management, real estate, retirement planning and ERISA, employment issues, fringe benefits, and probate and estate planning.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Prescott worked as a dental salesman, equipment specialist, and manager in the dental equipment and supply industry. He is the author of numerous articles on dentistry and the law, as well as three books: Business, Legal, and Tax Planning for the Dental Practice , PennWell Books; The Practice Acquisition Handbook and The Limited Liability Company and Other Entities for Dentistry , Randall K. Berning and Affiliates. Mr. Prescott has had a long association with Pride Institute and its founder Dr. James Pride and has provided legal counsel to Pride dentists.

Mitch Sigler - We are pleased to have on our client service team Mitch Sigler. Mitch has been helping professional clients since 1982 and made the decision to focus on assisting dentists in 1991.

Mitch's skill in understanding numerous aspects of a dental practice has helped hundreds of dentists enjoy greater results. He understands at the core of all change, is the doctor. Mitch specializes in doing conferences with doctors new to Pride, to co-discover, the value Pride can provide to them. Speaking with doctors, through extensive discovery, asking the right questions, he can help bring out the underlying issues that are often not uncovered during a standard assessment.

Over the last 18 years, he has helped hundreds of doctors receive powerful results, which greatly benefited their professional and personal lives. These results are the driving force behind his continued passion to improve the lives of each dentist he works with.