USA high school, want to become a dentist in Europe

[EuropeandentistCT]

I am a 16 year old American entering my senior year of high school, looking at colleges now. Little bit of background, I am half Indian, and look it (I don't know if that would be an issue). I know basic High school French, and English is native. Grades-wise, I am competitive for the top caliber of schools, extra curriculars, not so much. If I end up getting accepted to a top-tier school, after financial package+ my parents, I would have to take out a loan around $30k/year. That of course, is w/o scholarships/jobs/workstudy that would be different school to school. My other option would be going to my state school (UCONN), and going through their Honors program. In-state tuition is basically half of what a private school would cost, and with aid, I estimate I would have to take out a loan in the range of $10k-$16k/year.

My endgame is to become a medical professional in Europe, and I'm really leaning towards dentist at this stage. At the moment my plan is as follows:

1. Get a 4 year Biochemistry/whatever premed degree that will prepre me for European dental school, as well as the usual shadowing/research. Try to take language classes, probably minor in French.

1a. Study abroad, hopefully in Paris or SE Asia, so I can either live in Paris and work on French immersion, or so I can travel in SE Asia.

1b. Work on campus wherever I go in order to generate money for spring/winter/summer break traveling.

1. Apply through the Atlantic Bridge program and go to dental school in Ireland, so I am qualified to be a dentist for anywhere in the EU as well as Canada. Take out a loan for this, see if I can get any aid.
   
   
2. Live somewhere in Western Europe as a dentist.
   

This is obviously an over simplification of the process, but as a whole, will it work?

I don't know if I would say my plan hinges on this, but I am also in the process of getting jur sanguinis Italian citizenship through my Great-Grandfather. I'm currently tracking down his naturalization records to see if my grandfather was born before he naturalized. If I get the Italian citizenship, will that make my plan even easier? Will there be issues if I can't get the Italian citizenship? This sub seems to think STEM is the way to get a visa if you're American; does that include medical professionals?

Finally, I have been unable to find a consistent salary area that medical professionals make. On this website, I'm finding they make 50k-60k USD/year in Europe, but Spain has 185k USD, and that sounds wrong with what I know about Spain's job crisis. On this job website, I found that most of these jobs that require 3-5 years of experience offer 80k-120k EUR/year with other perks. I know that European salaries are lower than American salaries, and that is definetly evident here. However, the better standard of living (IMO) makes up for that. I guess what I'm trying to ask, is, what is a dentist's salary and what kind of lifestyle would it allow me to live?

So I realize after reading this, is it's kind of unorganized, but all of this is in my head and I kind of just had to type it out. Oh, and the reason that I'm not just applying to a program such as Charles University in Prague (6 year right out of HS), is that I don't know what the situation will be like in 4 years. Maybe I will really want to stay here, in which case I'm effectivly ****ed if I go overseas. All the people I've asked (dentists, doctors, relaitves, parents, counselors) think that it is too early in my life to make such a big decision, and I agree with them. I want to see how I feel about this idea in 4 years, after I have matured a bit. I am just here to see if my plan is a good one, and if you guys can answer any of the questions I talked about earlier. If I forgot to mention an important detail, or if you have comments/questions, please ask them, as I would like to know from more experienced people than I. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, kind of new to this in general.

Thanks

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[drKJ]

Hey , I see that you have a lot on your mind right now. It's perfectly fine to plan ahead and I think your doing great for your age .
Out of all you stated , I can't really guide you as I am an international dentist, but I had relatives who moved from Italy to the states and they absolutely believe living in Italy was far better. So if you have time, wait for Italian citizenship and visit the place. You can decide everything once you yourself see the conditions.
About studying in SE Asia , countries like India start med/dental school straight after high school. Just something you should know .
Lastly I have to tell you that I have heard an American dentist is payed highest all over the Globe. So even if you want to practice in Europe / SE Asia, American degree will carry most weightage and high salary.
Do look into the info I have given you and confirm it before you decide anything. Also correct me if I'm wrong anywhere and let me know how things work out.

 

[EuropeandentistCT]

Hey , I see that you have a lot on your mind right now. It's perfectly fine to plan ahead and I think your doing great for your age .
Out of all you stated , I can't really guide you as I am an international dentist, but I had relatives who moved from Italy to the states and they absolutely believe living in Italy was far better. So if you have time, wait for Italian citizenship and visit the place. You can decide everything once you yourself see the conditions.

Yeah, the way I see it is, I would rather have a better quality of life, like in Western European countries, and make enough where I can have a decent house, than make bank in the US but not have as good a quality of life

About studying in SE Asia , countries like India start med/dental school straight after high school. Just something you should know .

I meant more like, if I go to 4 years undergrad in the USA, then I might look into taking a semester abroad in SE Asia, like Singapore or something, so I could use that as a "base of operations" to travel around there, check out Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, China, etc, because it seems that travelling a region is easier if you're based in that area.

Lastly I have to tell you that I have heard an American dentist is payed highest all over the Globe. So even if you want to practice in Europe / SE Asia, American degree will carry most weightage and high salary.

Well from all the stuff I've found, is that if I want to become a dentist in the EU, having the EU citizenship is very useful, and realistically, you have to have gone to a dental school in the EU. If I went to an American dental school, and then tried to move there, not only would I be in crazy debt with wages that aren't aimed at paying off said debt, but I would have to go through 2-3 years of additional schooling.

What do you mean when you say, "I am an international dentist"? That sounds kind of like what I'm trying to do, but I'm not sure...

 

[drKJ]

Hey , when I said I am an international dentist , what I meant was I can not say much about pros and cons of staying in the US or Europe as I have no experience as to how things are for a resident.
I was not aware European countries want you to go to dental school their. I thought you could clear license exams. Thanks for the info.
About dental school debt in the US, I was advising that considering you would get in-state tuition which is quite lower fee than ideal , if you decide to come back and forth to US from other countries you cud still work as a dentist in US also and I was not aware of tuition and dental school process in European countries . If after citizenship , you can study in Italy with lower fee than the US , than that seems the right thing to do. You would have better quality of life their than the US because of all the stress and finances (not just study debt , medical facilities + own home + other necessities and less time for quality life) on the other hand its not stressful in Italy. You will live well even if you have average job so guess how good a dentist would do.

 

[EuropeandentistCT]

Hey , when I said I am an international dentist , what I meant was I can not say much about pros and cons of staying in the US or Europe as I have no experience as to how things are for a resident.
I was not aware European countries want you to go to dental school their. I thought you could clear license exams. Thanks for the info.
About dental school debt in the US, I was advising that considering you would get in-state tuition which is quite lower fee than ideal , if you decide to come back and forth to US from other countries you cud still work as a dentist in US also and I was not aware of tuition and dental school process in European countries . If after citizenship , you can study in Italy with lower fee than the US , than that seems the right thing to do.

Well, even w/o citizenship, studying at a European school is around 30-35k/year USD for 5 years, as opposed to 60k/year USD for 4 years here, so if I want to work in Europe, it seems to me that it makes so much sense to go to a reputable Eutopean program (Malta, Ireland, Charles Univeristy in Prague), and go there, then move to the European country I want to live in. As to

You would have better quality of life their than the US because of all the stress and finances (not just study debt , medical facilities + own home + other necessities and less time for quality life) on the other hand its not stressful in Italy. You will live well even if you have average job so guess how good a dentist would do.

YES. That right there is why I think moving to Europe is the best choice. I might make more money here, but in Europe, they really focus on enjoying life, which seems like the best way to live. And yeah, a dentist would make enough there that I could live very nicely.

 

[ncide]

Hey , when I said I am an international dentist , what I meant was I can not say much about pros and cons of staying in the US or Europe as I have no experience as to how things are for a resident.
I was not aware European countries want you to go to dental school their. I thought you could clear license exams. Thanks for the info.
About dental school debt in the US, I was advising that considering you would get in-state tuition which is quite lower fee than ideal , if you decide to come back and forth to US from other countries you cud still work as a dentist in US also and I was not aware of tuition and dental school process in European countries . If after citizenship , you can study in Italy with lower fee than the US , than that seems the right thing to do. You would have better quality of life their than the US because of all the stress and finances (not just study debt , medical facilities + own home + other necessities and less time for quality life) on the other hand its not stressful in Italy. You will live well even if you have average job so guess how good a dentist would do.

Just as a weird note, we have a few Italian medical students in my class for gross anatomy, and it is just wild to think that they don't dissect bodies in Italy and have to come to the US to study on cadavers.

 

[drKJ]

Really? That is weird.