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Supreme Member
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Total 4 year cost: little north of $400k, actual number is about $450k if you include interest accrued during school. At about 6% interest rate, that's $2,250 a month of just interest payment after graduation. At this rate, in 5 years, USC will charge $500k to teach you dentistry. What do folks at USC think of all this? Cater to the rich? |
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#2 |
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Senior Member
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Back away, not today Disco lady.
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The life expectancy of everyone drops to zero; might as well enjoy it. Temple c/o 2015 |
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#3 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: East Coast
Posts: 353
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#4 | |
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Senior Member
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At USC, I have no idea where all this money goes. I know it is expensive to staff a dental school and keep the prices of the clinic competitive with free market rates, but I am seeing alot of inefficiencies here. Before the 35 million dollar donation, prices were spiraling out of control here. Now they are just simply creeping up like every other institution of higher education. Look into military scholarships, school scholarships, whatever to keep your debt down. There are options out there but you have to pursue them aggresively. If you get into a state school, don't even think twice about going. For Californios like me though, all our options are pretty expensive, and our 2 state schools UCLA and UCSF are very competitive to get into. |
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#5 | |
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Smoking Monkey
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UConn - class of 2016 |
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#6 | |
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Senior Member
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#7 |
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Roll Tide!
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Yikes! $120K is about what tuition is for all four years at most public schools! Good luck, especially if you plan to practice in LA where there are dentists literally on every corner.
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#8 |
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Senior Member
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Yup, my MD buddies are amazed at how much d-students accumulate over time. But it sort of evens out if you think about it. They are picking up the same loans as we are, yet if they only want to be a GP, they still go through residency for like 2-3 more years. Then interest piles up and brings them a bit closer to us haha.
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#9 |
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2K Member
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MD/DO degrees can go for as little as 120 at public schools or privite schools (for tuition). Sometimes I wonder if I'm gonig in the right direction as there is a DO school 2 states away that hits that 120k - for 4 years of tuition.
Then consider that some physician can earn major bank. If you're good in DDS school you'll get that ortho residency and make 200-300k; however, if you're talented in DO/MD you have the potential to get into something like radiology - I've seen positions in the midwest that start at 700k/yr. Not a bad investment! Last edited by yappy; 02-12-2012 at 10:38 PM. |
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#10 |
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Senior Member
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that is some insane tuition.
definitely makes you think whether it is worth it or not
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Bill |
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#11 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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#12 | |
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2K Member
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True. But even hospitalists can earn 250k working a 7 on / 7 off schedule @ 10 hrs per day. That works out to 35hrs per week. Once you factor in health benfits, 401k, and covered mal practice it's hard to say it's such a bad gig. I'm actually struggling with it - being a physician doesnt seem as bad as I once heard in terms of life style. Dentistry is great but when tuition is getting this high it makes one look at the value critically. No ones going to bail us out.
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#13 | |
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Senior Member
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DMD 1997 - UCONN, 41 years old |
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#14 |
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OrthoGunner #1
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 197
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Do you think the banks might eventually open up dental clinics and offer repayment and forgiveness plans?
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#15 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 145
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#17 |
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2K Member
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#18 |
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Member
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I really want to go to USC. My mom is only a school teacher, and can't help me out financially. My father died and left me $300K. I tried to go military scholarship, but I have taken meds in the last year that disqualified me. Can I really afford to go to USC? I was planning on coming up with some combination of loans like stafford and grad plus, as well as using some of my own resources. Does this make sense? Thanks!
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#19 |
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Senior Member
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I am a USC grad and I was really happy with the school and the education that I got but if I had it to do over again I would pick the cheapest school that I was accepted to and not have to worry about the $5000 a month loan payments for the next 10-15 years.
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#20 |
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Senior Member
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dentistry is worth it for the right price. OOS is probably 300K+ and in-state is roughly 200k+. It's going to be the difference between paying 3-4k a month after you come out. people that get involved in dentistry tend to be those that see the financial benefits of being a dentist and the autonomy we have. No one grows up wanting to be a dentist. It's the lifestyle and potential income that makes dentistry so appealing. Plus, medicine is going to get raped by obamacare even more, if it hasn't already happened to many physicians around the country.
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#21 |
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Banned
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It'll catch up to dentists eventually as well. Just saying, the universe balances itself out. Whether it be through hygienists or tuition rises such as this one or dental insurance companies saying, "why the hell are we paying them so much?". Although on the other hand the whole "glamour is inversely proportional to money" thing is definitely true e.g. Podiatrists heavy income.
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#22 |
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Senior Member
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Dentistry won't catch up to medicine until the general public realizes that oral health IS important to one's general health. For some reason, probably in our best interest, people and politicians alike have not realized that.
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#23 |
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Junior Member
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Unless I win the lottery I'll never pay off my loans. I'm in over 500. $5it happens. I was just too ignorant and excited when i got accepted to dental school to care at the time. Prob. pretty common. Life is full of exits (yes thats a rip-off from Rum Diary). I'm taking the first one I find. Wish I was Jason Bourne.....my asss would just vanish. Life is too short. I spent the last 10 yrs in post-high school education and have nothing to show for it but one hell of an experience. Unless you get into a state school or your family is loaded and will foot the bill I would go cut the grass on a local golf course. Do you want to be happy, or do you want to pretend your happy b/c you have a degree on your wall that has "Dr." in front of your name? My degree went straight to the fire place....thats how much it means to me. It's the next big bubble to burst. Boom!
What did the five fingers say to the face? |
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#24 |
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www.wiggleyourtooth.com
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I think the key is if you decide to go to USC, make sure you don't live like a Dentist. Try and keep your living costs as low as possible. The good news is, you will have the opportunity to make it back. Look into some public health service, maybe IHS, good way to lower the amount to borrow.
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www.wiggleyourtooth.com - a pediatric dental resident's perspective |
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#25 |
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Senior Member
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Know all of your options: Income based repayment. Public service loan forgiveness. Armed forces. Standard repayment 10 and 25 years. National health service. Graduated repayment. There are lots of options and the options suit different types of people if you don't know your about all of them very well you haven't put enough thought into this process of financing dental school. Learn the options and make a logical decision that suits your life.
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USC 2014 |
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#26 | |
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2K Member
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lol. I'm not sure if you're a troll or not - most of what you say is reasonable. I just dont understand why you would go through with all of it then act as though you're just walking away from dentistry...
lol @ Jason Borne Quote:
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#27 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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#28 | |
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Banned
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#29 | |
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Banned
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It doesn't make financial sense, you are correct. Again, its a glamour vs. salary thing. But my school is only 18k a year and we will get paid more in the future: http://www.aoa.org/x20898.xml "Of note, no MD specialty will see as much as a two percent increase in 2012."
Last edited by Shnurek; 02-21-2012 at 06:19 PM. |
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#30 |
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Junior Member
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....kj
Last edited by CharlieMurphy32; 02-21-2012 at 08:43 PM. Reason: forgot quote |
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#31 |
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Junior Member
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B/c I was ignorant. We are all ignorant about a lot of stuff in this world. Its that simple.
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#32 | |
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Nasal Intubator
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The comparison to MD is a little silly though as a 2% increase in physician's salary would be just slightly more than 20 million ![]() Also I would think that OD would be far more susceptible to corporate take over or government control than dentistry...I'm completely speculating tho |
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#33 |
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Banned
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Yes, about 25% of our profession is already corporate. Its usually those kids that come out of the $33k a year easy to get into new schools and take out $200k in debt. I personally think it is a bit disgraceful but some people say it is the future of healthcare. Private practice ODs and ophthos hire from the top schools and if you go rural you can do a lot of medical eye care and even be an attending at hospitals. There is really a huge diversity of what you can do in opto such as scalpel surgery in Oklahoma or you can just be a refracting "1 or 2" machine at walmart.
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#34 |
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2K Member
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I'm talking about the physician position of Hospitalist. I've read articles and looked at physician recruitement websites that have a shift schedule of 7on 7 off @ 10 hr /day on. Therefore, there work schedule averages out to about 35hrs/wk over the year. Seems like a decent career choice as they're expected to be in greater and greater demand in the future.
It seems that it is a pretty common set up. Check er' out: http://healthcareers.about.com/od/he...talistProf.htm MGMA Hospitalist AVG = $225k/yr not including health benfits, retirement, or malpractice. Last edited by yappy; 02-22-2012 at 05:52 PM. |
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#35 | |
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Senior Member
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#36 | |
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2K Member
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Excellent point. I see this as a huge advantage to dentistry - it is neccesary - yet cheap enough that you can survive without insurance programs.
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#37 |
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Member
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How is this different than someone buying a 400k house? A house doesn't bring in any income but having a profession does. Basic economic theory says tuition will be raised until future income can no longer support the tuition. If USC with 400k tuition still has a full class, than other schools will follow their lead.
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#38 | |
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Banned
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#39 | |
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2K Member
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You can sell, walk away from, or bankrupt out of a home mortage.
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#40 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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I hear a lot of negative things about OD, see the comments above esp with the corporate takeover and such. Its not a bad field, but for 4 years of additional schooling, its not a good field either. |
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#41 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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#42 |
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Banned
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And ODs can't own their own practices? PAs can't. That's the difference. I love learning about vision and eyes and can't see myself doing anything else. Also, ODs have more room to spread their shoulders legislatively in the future (see my signature) while dentistry already owns all of tooth care which is a good thing for now. No MD counter-parts except maybe some small oral surgery competition.
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#43 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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Plus you haven't addressed how corporate stores like Lens Crafters, Wal-Mart, etc are eating away at the OD profession. I hear ODs complaining all the time about the lack of good solid jobs. Where they dont see 40 patients a day in order to make 80K. PAs will save the additional 2 years of schooling + loans since PA programs are cheaper and they can work more jobs in various hospitals to really earn a high paying $$$$. My PA buddy from CT earns 100K for 3 days worth of work. He then picks up another 1.5 or 2 days at a clinic and earns nearly 150K, he's never on call and he's pretty much on the level of an MD (at least in the eyes of his patients, obv not the entire medical community.) Its a fact that on the East Coast, PAs and DMDs out earn ODs. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=optometrist&l1=nyc vs. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=phys...sistant&l1=nyc vs. http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=general+dentist&l1=nyc Last edited by wired202808; 02-23-2012 at 02:29 PM. |
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#44 |
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Senior Member
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wired, your arguments always make financial sense, but sometimes people go into different fields for different reasons. I think income is important to a certain extent. people that live within their means will probably still end up just as happy as people making far beyond them. my lab job right now pays me 33K salary a year. It's pretty crappy but I can enjoy my life. I think the main goal is getting out of debt, having enough for car, house, insurance payments, and other things, and still being able to save up for a rainy day. I think ODs that get into corrective eye surgery make bank. not sure how much though, but i'll probably get my eyes done when i have the money. I do agree that the OD profession becomes scary to think about when it comes to the big box optometry offices that undercharge their private practice competitors.
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#45 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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Before dentistry, I was interested in OD but it didnt make full financial sense to pursue. At least not for me. Last edited by wired202808; 02-23-2012 at 03:44 PM. |
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#46 | |||
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Banned
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https://www.aoa.org/Images/oral.gif https://www.aoa.org/Images/glaucoma.gif https://www.aoa.org/Images/Controlled-Substance.gif https://www.aoa.org/Images/Injectables-12-2011.gif |
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#47 |
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2K Member
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I happen to know an established OD who has two practices and a few associates that work at their practices. They seem to be doing very well. They actually work within a Lens Crafters; though, the optometry practice is seperate from the glasses store front. This is in a medium city. I would bet that their situation is as good as many dentists. It seems that if someone really wanted to be an OD and was hard working they could do quite well.
I would much rather be an OD than a PA. But that's because I'm the type that has got to be the boss. I could never sign up for a terminal education program that is built around the idea I will always be someones right hand man. Okay, working for NASA on a shuttle mission would be an exception. |
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#48 |
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Banned
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#49 | |
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Banned
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,464
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And again I dont understand the point of the pictures above, what are they trying to prove that you can do a lot of procedures even thought you're not really an eye doctor that has an MD degree? |
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