Business profile - Harker adds dentist to Hope office

For more than 40 years Dr. John Harker has offered Hope-area residents the best in dental care from his office on State Road 9. Harker and Dr. Jarod Gearhart, who joined the practice earlier this year, recently talked about what brought them to the field of dentistry, what they enjoy about dentistry and what the future holds for the practice they share.

Where did you go to school and how long have you been in practice, Dr. Harker?
I graduated in 1971 from IU School of Dentistry. I did my undergraduate studies at Purdue University in Lafayette and practiced from 1971 to 1973 in Albuquerque New Mexico. So I’m starting my 46th year here and 48th in practice.

What brought you to Hope?
My wife, Barbara, and I were both raised on a farm and we didn’t want to raise kids in a big city.

How has the practice changed in the 40 years since you opened?
We have been busy since the day we opened the doors. There’s been a lot of people from the community and, then, the fact that we are close to Shelbyville, Columbus and Greensburg has made it very easy to attract patients to the office.

Why dentistry?
I can’t really tell you. I started in mechanical engineering at Purdue and got a wild hair and decided I didn’t want to sit behind a desk my whole life and switched.

How many office staff and assistants do you have?
We usually run three assistants, two hygienists and three front office personnel.

What do you enjoy most about it?
The people you deal with. There are a lot of nice people out there and families. I am going into the fourth generations now. I’ve watched families mature and come and go and that has been the best part.

What do you enjoy most about Hope?
I just like a small town. I can’t tolerate a lot of large populated areas anymore. I’m not sure if I am too impatient or what. I just like being in a small town, in a rural community and I like the rural people.

Do you anticipate staying in practice or do you see retirement on the horizon?
I am going to stick around for a couple more years and help as much as I can.

What are some challenges you’ve faced as a dentist in a small town?
The biggest challenge we have in dentistry today is one of money because of the cost of everything and the dictation of treatment by insurance companies. The insurance companies interfering with patients is one of the biggest challenges we have faced, because that interferes with your relationship with your patient.

When did you join the practice, Dr. Gearhart?
In May of this year.

What brought you to Hope and joining the practice?
I’m like Harker, I grew up here and graduated from Hauser. I wanted to come back to my hometown.

Why dentistry?
My first experience was in here. I got to see what this was and that was my limited experience and I liked it from the start. Just being able to work and talk to people at the same time, kind of a dynamic situation.

When did you graduate from dental school?
I graduated from IU School of Dentistry this year.

How has the transition been from student to practice?
It has been pretty smooth because I’ve been familiar with the area, the patients and the office. I worked here as an assistant for several years during breaks from college. I was familiar with the staff and patients so it wasn’t a big culture shock or anything.

What does the future look like, what are your hopes for the transition, Dr. Gearhart?
We’ve talked about it amongst ourselves. Eventually Harker is going to retire, but we are going to make it as smooth of a transition as possible for everyone. We want to make sure Hope always has someone to take care of dental needs because it is a huge demand and service the community really needs. The main thing is that we take care of our patients. I think we have a good plan. Eventually he will have to retire and go on vacation.