VET school VS. DENTAL school

[kimnewcom]

between vet school and dental school, which one's harder to get in?
and is it true that the people respect veterinarians as a doctor more than dentists?

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[stick91]

Can't say I know much about dental school but getting in to vet school is on par with getting into med school (some say harder). So, if you think getting into med school is harder than getting into dental school then vet school will be harder too.

I've never really thought of dentists as doctors per se so I guess it is hard for me to compare them. I would certainly think of your average clinical veterinarian as more of a doctor than your average dentist, but that doesn't mean I don't respect them. Last dentist I went to actually majored in Zoology and was trying to decide whether to become a vet or a dentist. Dentistry pays waaaay better and I think that kind of made up his mind.

 

[Mosin]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc. A person should become a dentist if he or she wishes to work in other people's mouths doing RCT, doing fillings, or pulling teeth, etc...

Who cares whether people think you're more or less of a doctor, as long as you're good at what you do and enjoy it. What's with all these people asking if this or that profession is going to make you more popular at school with the cool kids or allow you to wear a white coat without being a poser???

I'm not trying to flame here, but I'm not sure I understand why people want to go through all kinds of hardship and go into a career based on whether or not people will look at them as a "real doctor"... geez luiz folks...

 

[Bill59]

Besides being pointless, claims about which type of school is harder to get into (medical, dental, veterinary, whatever) are very difficult to substantiate because the application pools and criteria for admission are so different.

As for respect as a doctor, I think dentists are every much doctors as veterinarians. Just like veterinary dentists are still veterinarians.

 

[rugbychick16]

Dental students often go through the first two years of dental school at a med school with the med students, taking the medical classes PLUS extra dental skills classes learning how to work with the teeth and tools. They are doctors, and I respect them as that.
I've never heard of someone picking between dental school and vet school thought. I do know two chiropractors who chose between going to chiropractic or vet school when in undergrad.

 

[BlistexWorks]

Vet school is to dental school as tiramisu is to a melted popsicle...

 

[nhsvs]

My guess is that the overall acceptance rate for veterinary school applicants is probably lower than the overall acceptance rate for dental school applicants, but that is very likely due to the fact that there are fewer veterinary schools (28) than dental schools (57) and not because veterinary school applicants are any more academically qualified than dental school applicants. In terms of how veterinarians and dentists are viewed as health professionals by the public at large, I don't think that either profession is any more prestigious than the other, although if you want to get technical about it, my view is that there are only three kinds of "medical doctors" -- MDs, DOs, and DVMs.

 

[cRose]

My roommate is a second year dental student. It's hard to get into. If you consider the fact that there are more U.S. dental schools in existence as compared to vet schools, I guess you could say that it is "easier" to get into, but I really think that is a silly question, to be frank. Both are professional schools. Both are not only difficult to get into, but feature programs with rigorous coursework.

And really, the two professions have pretty much nothing in common, so trying to figure out which road to take based on the path of least resistance is not really a good idea, in my opinion. Choose a career that you would enjoy for the rest of your life, because if you're really passionate about something, you should have enough in you to overcome any obstacles that stand in your way, and if you choose a career because it was "easier" than something you really wanted to do, then you may end up unhappy in your profession.

 

[chris03333]

, my view is that there are only three kinds of "medical doctors" -- MDs, DOs, and DVMs.

Ah but DMD= Doctor of Medical Dentistry

They are also "medical doctors" but limited to the mouth.




I agree 100% with what Bill said.

 

[nhsvs]

^Point taken, and no offense to dentists or dental students intended. By "medical doctors" I was thinking specifically of MDs, DOs and DVMs because they are educated and licensed to diagnose and treat illnesses and diseases which compromise a patient's general health, whereas dentists are limited to treatment of the oral cavity (and in some cases maxillofacial surgery). I acknowlege that dentists receive similar medical education to MDs, DOs and DVMs in terms of their understanding of body systems and disease.

 

[Trilt]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc. A person should become a dentist if he or she wishes to work in other people's mouths doing RCT, doing fillings, or pulling teeth, etc...

Who cares whether people think you're more or less of a doctor, as long as you're good at what you do and enjoy it. What's with all these people asking if this or that profession is going to make you more popular at school with the cool kids or allow you to wear a white coat without being a poser???

I'm not trying to flame here, but I'm not sure I understand why people want to go through all kinds of hardship and go into a career based on whether or not people will look at them as a "real doctor"... geez luiz folks...

Really? "Sicky-poo"?

My dentist was also a zoology major, and also had first intended on pursuing vet med. It may be more common than people generally think.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc

I'm trying to type through laugher, but in all honesty, do you have ANY idea what veterinarians actually do aside from a few part of general practice SA folk? That's like saying all doctors do is give vaccines and ask if there is blood in your stool. Next time you eat ground beef and don't get BSE, or trich from pork....thank the USDA food safety vet and the ambulatory FA vets. The majority of new drugs that come on the line from animal testing? Thank the boarded lab animal vets and veterinary pathologists. Next time there's a threat of Nipah, Hendra, or F&M, the vets are the first line of defense.wow. that level of ignorance about the profession is pretty impressive....I'm hoping this is a trolling post, because otherwise I don't know how to even categorize it.....haha....oh my...

 

[lailanni]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc

I'm trying to type through laugher, but in all honesty, do you have ANY idea what veterinarians actually do aside from a few part of general practice SA folk?

that level of ignorance about the profession is pretty impressive....I'm hoping this is a trolling post, because otherwise I don't know how to even categorize it.....haha....oh my...

WHAT? You mean I'm not just going to play with puppies and kitties? Dang?! What have I gotten into?

Yeah, I wish there was a way to educate the public about the many different things vets do. Sigh.

 

[StealthDog]

My corgi woke me up at 6 this morning with some sicky-poo.

 

[projekt]

Dentists get paid more. If you aren't committed to serving animals and their owners, I'd say you should go to dental school.

 

[projekt]

Next time there's a threat of Nipah, Hendra

I can't say that's much on the mind of people in the US, but I see your point. Perhaps avian influenza, where we are actually on the front lines here, is a better example.

 

[chris03333]

^Point taken, and no offense to dentists or dental students intended. By "medical doctors" I was thinking specifically of MDs, DOs and DVMs because they are educated and licensed to diagnose and treat illnesses and diseases which compromise a patient's general health, whereas dentists are limited to treatment of the oral cavity (and in some cases maxillofacial surgery). I acknowlege that dentists receive similar medical education to MDs, DOs and DVMs in terms of their understanding of body systems and disease.

Dentist also "are educated and licensed to diagnose and treat illnesses and diseases which compromise a patient's general health"

Just that they focus on diseases of the arcade...

For instance, if you get a tooth root abscess, it will be the dentist that will diagnose and treat your illness and disease which is compromising your general health.

 

[chris03333]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc.

On that statement I really made the wrong career move.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Me too

 

[bunnity]

I think what people are meaning by "medical doctor" is physician. A veterinarian is a physician. A dentist is not a physician. Both get called doctor. Not that it really matters when you're trying to choose a career.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Just semantics, but I wouldn't exactly call veterinarians "physicians..." it's just that the term is colloquially used to describe human medicine. we are health professionals, of course, but I think the term physician is a little misplaced.

 

[bunnity]

Wikipedia has veterinarian as "a physician for animals." I get what you are saying that it doesn't quite fit, but I can't think of a better word.

Over on some of the other forums there is a lot of debate about DrNP and DPT's calling themselves doctor, and the term physician is used to differentiate between what an MD / DO does versus what another doctorate-level health professional does. I think in that particular dichotomy a veterinarian fits more with the physicians than the non-physicians.

 

[nhsvs]

^I think that the issue being discussed in the other forums is whether certain medical professionals with clinical doctorates like DPTs are appropriately called "Dr.," whereas the issue being discussed in this forum is whether a dentist is actually a medical doctor like MDs, DOs and DVMs. I think the general consensus is that a dentist is a medical doctor who specializes only in treatment of diseases of the oral cavity and, in some cases, in maxillofacial surgery (where the DDS would also have an MD degree).

 

[jglovicz]

A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc

I'm trying to type through laugher, but in all honesty, do you have ANY idea what veterinarians actually do aside from a few part of general practice SA folk? That's like saying all doctors do is give vaccines and ask if there is blood in your stool. Next time you eat ground beef and don't get BSE, or trich from pork....thank the USDA food safety vet and the ambulatory FA vets. The majority of new drugs that come on the line from animal testing? Thank the boarded lab animal vets and veterinary pathologists. Next time there's a threat of Nipah, Hendra, or F&M, the vets are the first line of defense.wow. that level of ignorance about the profession is pretty impressive....I'm hoping this is a trolling post, because otherwise I don't know how to even categorize it.....haha....oh my...

AGREED! I'm glad someone posted a response like this (or else I was going to). I'm hoping that any pre-vet person would be prepared to answer the question "what kind of career can you pursue with a DVM?"...

 

[VAgirl]

AGREED! I'm glad someone posted a response like this (or else I was going to). I'm hoping that any pre-vet person would be prepared to answer the question "what kind of career can you pursue with a DVM?"...

The person who posted the comment that got most of us riled, though ("A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc.") isn't prevet or a vet student...they're going for a DO. So while it's annoying to see our profession described in this way, they're not entering it, so it's reasonable that they don't know as much about it as we do...

 

[chris03333]

I think what people are meaning by "medical doctor" is physician. A veterinarian is a physician. A dentist is not a physician. Both get called doctor. Not that it really matters when you're trying to choose a career.

The definition of "physician" usually refers to human medicine, therefore vets are NOT physicians. I will never be a physician.

 

[jglovicz]

The person who posted the comment that got most of us riled, though ("A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc.") isn't prevet or a vet student...they're going for a DO. So while it's annoying to see our profession described in this way, they're not entering it, so it's reasonable that they don't know as much about it as we do...

Haha, fair enough...good catch

 

[Trilt]

The person who posted the comment that got most of us riled, though ("A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc.") isn't prevet or a vet student...they're going for a DO. So while it's annoying to see our profession described in this way, they're not entering it, so it's reasonable that they don't know as much about it as we do...

I don't think it is reasonable for anyone to demean someone's 8+ years of education to something like "make fido not feel sicky-poo." I know most of this forum's pre-meds would be pissed if a similar saying was applied to them. ("Make Johnny-boy not feel sicky-poo"?)

As this topic is saying... veterinarians are doctors, too.

 

[VAgirl]

I don't think it is reasonable for anyone to demean someone's 8+ years of education to something like "make fido not feel sicky-poo." I know most of this forum's pre-meds would be pissed if a similar saying was applied to them. ("Make Johnny-boy not feel sicky-poo"?)

As this topic is saying... veterinarians are doctors, too.

I didn't say it was reasonable to demean. Just that it's reasonable they don't know as much as we do. If you find it demeaning, fine. I just find it uninformed. But then it doesn't make me mad when people ask if vet med is a certificate program, either. Maybe they think the same thing of human med.

 

[nyanko]

The person who posted the comment that got most of us riled, though ("A person should become a veterinarian if he or she wants to fix fluffy or make fido not feel sicky-poo, etc.") isn't prevet or a vet student...they're going for a DO. So while it's annoying to see our profession described in this way, they're not entering it, so it's reasonable that they don't know as much about it as we do...

Not only that, but I think that it wasn't really meant to be taken seriously and that there's no real reason to get all up in arms and defensive about it. And I'm saying this as someone who has no desire to go into small animal or any other kind of clinical medicine dealing with sicky-poo clients....errr pets.

 

[ratbandit]

You guys SERIOUSLY NEED TO CHILL about the sicky-poo thing. It was just sarcasm, hole eee crap. Inferiority complex anyone??

 

[sunnex3]

i was going to say the same thing...
everyone's making too big a deal!
i think the person who made that comment was being sarcastic and drastically oversimplifying in order to make his/her point...

 

[kimnewcom]

Can't say I know much about dental school but getting in to vet school is on par with getting into med school (some say harder). So, if you think getting into med school is harder than getting into dental school then vet school will be harder too.

I've never really thought of dentists as doctors per se so I guess it is hard for me to compare them. I would certainly think of your average clinical veterinarian as more of a doctor than your average dentist, but that doesn't mean I don't respect them. Last dentist I went to actually majored in Zoology and was trying to decide whether to become a vet or a dentist. Dentistry pays waaaay better and I think that kind of made up his mind.

so..what's the avg gpa of the people who get into vet school?
3.7-3.8 ???

 

[twelvetigers]

I'd estimate a bit lower than that. We do one of these threads every year:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=589279

But really, each school will list the average applied and matriculated GPAs for several past classes. Just go to the website of the school you're interested in, and they should have a page showing average GPAs, GREs, ages, etc. of previous years' applicants.

 

[Airborne Vet]

In regard to the OP, I have no idea...but if you're interested in both fields, consider that veterinarians do learn dental skills along the lines of cleaning, extractions, and root canal surgery among other things. I don't think it works the other way around with dentists though.

In regard to not considering a dentist a quasi form of a medical doctor simply because they specialize in one area... That's like saying an ER nurse is more of a "medical doctor" than a dermatologist, proctologist, podiatrist, or any other specialist. Comparing vets to dentists is like comparing apples to oranges. No objectivity, purely subjective.

 

[WildZooVet]

Vet school is to dental school as tiramisu is to a melted popsicle...

Vet school is to med school like a rose is to a carnation...

...anyone want to keep this going

 

[BR549]

The definition of "physician" usually refers to human medicine, therefore vets are NOT physicians. I will never be a physician.

On the contrary. The Veterinary Dictionary(Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition, by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier) defines a physician as: "A veterinarian who devotes him or herself to work with medical rather than surgical or reproductive diseases."

Not that I care one way or the other. I'm not interested in the title, except for Veterinarian. They can keep the Dr., I just want the career and profession!

To the OP: You could calculate the acceptance rates to each. Total number of admitted/Total number applicants. That might give some insight to your question (It would be a little work, compiling data from all of the schools, as well). As far as respect goes, it is relative to the issue at hand. The vet I work for has M.D.s' pets as patients. The M.D.s do not feel any more qualified to diagnose their pets as the vet feels to diagnose herself or her children(In fact, the regular clients are the ones who "know" what is wrong with their pets because they "looked it up online"). Of course, the medical training of each would give them similar knowledge and skill sets, yet each respects the other for their specialty. I would view a dentist in a similar manner.

 

[chris03333]

On the contrary. The Veterinary Dictionary(Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition, by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier) defines a physician as: "A veterinarian who devotes him or herself to work with medical rather than surgical or reproductive diseases."

Not that I care one way or the other. I'm not interested in the title, except for Veterinarian. They can keep the Dr., I just want the career and profession!

To the OP: You could calculate the acceptance rates to each. Total number of admitted/Total number applicants. That might give some insight to your question (It would be a little work, compiling data from all of the schools, as well). As far as respect goes, it is relative to the issue at hand. The vet I work for has M.D.s' pets as patients. The M.D.s do not feel any more qualified to diagnose their pets as the vet feels to diagnose herself or her children(In fact, the regular clients are the ones who "know" what is wrong with their pets because they "looked it up online"). Of course, the medical training of each would give them similar knowledge and skill sets, yet each respects the other for their specialty. I would view a dentist in a similar manner.

I was referring to legally. Anyway no matter what the vet dictionary says, I would never call myself a physician. That just leads people to think I care about sick people

 

[projekt]

In French, "doctors" are "médecins" and veterinarians are "médecins vétérinaires". Dentists are "dentistes".

 

[No Imagination]

Can we just get a "Are vets real doctor's" Sticked already?

As far as I know, there are two kinds of doctors traditionally recognized.

"Real (traditional)" doctors = PhD's

"Professional" doctors" = Everything else, MD's, DVM's, DO's, DMD's, JD's, ect.

As far as how much "respect" you get. I don't give any respect to anyone until it is earned, and having "dr" in front of your name, or "PhD, DVM, ALO, DMD, ect" after your name doesn't grant you any more respect then the guy who changes the oil in my car or waits my table when I go out.

This sense of entitlement people think they derive from their degree is disgusting. Act professionally, treat people with respect, and live life with a bit of pragmatism and modesty, and you will have all the respect you will need

 

[CatVet2Be]

This sense of entitlement people think they derive from their degree is disgusting. Act professionally, treat people with respect, and live life with a bit of pragmatism and modesty, and you will have all the respect you will need

A client at work who was upset about having to wait for his appointment promptly told us that he makes more money than any of us combined including the doctors therefore his time was worth more than anyone else's. All we'll remember of him is what a pompous a-hole he was, not what he does for a living or his level of education.

 

[musicplease]

between vet school and dental school, which one's harder to get in?
and is it true that the people respect veterinarians as a doctor more than dentists?

not sure which is harder probably similar, only if you take the DAT and apply to both will you know.
UPenn's vet school average GPA is a 3.64, while their dental school is a 3.67, both very similar.

they are both doctors, and both vets and dentists will face the stigma that they are not real doctors, do what you love
not what you think will bring you more respect.

 

[rockatiel]

Holy six year necrobump

 

[twelvetigers]

I was like, wait, when did I post in this thread? Oh, 2009. Okay.

 

[twelvetigers]

I miss VAgirl and some of the other folks in here...

 

[last_rnd]

I have a good friend that is a dentist. Dentists are a totally different type of person than a veterinarian. I am not a dentist. Couldn't pretend to be one for a day even if they gave me a free pass.
They are both highly competitive, stressful jobs. Years ago, an ADCOM person from Case told me, all people come into medical school thinking they are going to specialize in this or that and 90% change their mind, because the fact is you don't choose it, it chooses you.
It doesn't matter what your choosen profession is you have people who have superiority complexes about their title. Chemists dismiss biologists, chemical engineers dismiss chemists. Biologists seem either oblivious or bitter towards all of us. The irony is, none of these things really have anything to do with each other in function.