58 - Building 20 Practices Without Focusing on Numbers (Dr. Jan Jaffer)

Born in St. John’s Nfld, Jan was only two when the family moved to Calgary. He is the son of first-generation immigrants who had to flee Uganda as refugees, then lived in the UK before making Canada their final home. He was raised in a family that instilled in him strong values of hard work and giving back through volunteering from a young age. Tennis was a big part of his life during junior high and high school. Playing competitively at the provincial level taught Jan the importance of mental strength and the value of positive affirmation during tough matches.

Having decided at an early age that he wanted to follow his father’s footsteps into a career in dentistry, Jan wasted no time in achieving this goal. Right out of high school, he completed the 5-year accelerated dental program at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, where he graduated with his doctorate in 2002 at the age of 22. Upon graduation he was admitted into the OKU (Omega Kappa Upsilon) Fraternity for the top 10% of the graduating class.

Upon graduating from dental school, Jan joined his father’s family dental practice and was mentored on how to build and nurture caring relationships. He took the lead in converting the practice to be totally digital and paperless in 2003. It is this ethos of hard work, integrity and giving back to his patients, staff and the community, that has led Jan to develop the TREC Dental Partnership that operates 18 dental clinics in the Calgary area. All the TREC Clinics have a reputation for being beautifully designed and well-operated leading-edge facilities.

All of Jan’s partners at these clinics share his passion for social consciousness and they are all actively involved in giving back to the community. In 2018, TREC Dental partnered with CUPS to operate a free dental clinic in Calgary providing care to some of Calgary’s neediest citizens.

Jan regularly volunteers with Kindness in Action, Dentistry For All and the Alex Bus. He has been on 14 overseas dental missions to perform dentistry in remote communities in Guatemala, Peru, Tibet, Morocco and Ecuador. Jan is also very active in his local community. He is currently the Chair of the World Partnership Walk Calgary. He is passionate about health and fitness. He absolutely loves Crossfit and is the co-owner of TREC Fit Lab, a gym in Calgary that helps others get fit and healthy.