As someone making a first reply, I really enjoyed reading this whole discussion thread; seeing the humor, the anger, the confusion, and some really heartfelt postings.
I, similar to bubgump is confused between the two programs. To me, I enjoy the biology, the chemistry and the occasional physics involved in the classes I've took. It's really hard to decide exactly what it is that I want to do. As long as I'm involved with sciences, dentistry, medicine, or optometry all seem the same to me. (Yes, feel free to make a incision 1 cm anterior of my rectum) Even some of the shadowing I've done, I've felt that the shadowing experiences that I had that were the most meaningful for me, were professionals who are ethuasiastic about what they are doing. It doesn't matter to me what profession that I was shadowing, whether dentistry, optometry, or medicine. What really matter is that the person I am shadowing is energetic, and legitimate. I've seen dentistry offices that had bad vibes, and I've seen excellent orthodontic offices. I've interviewed an optometrists, that was absolutely exciting for me, not because of the nature of the job, but because of the enthusiasm, and love that the person had. I have yet to seen a devout doctor, but I've only observed couple of them.
What's my point? My point is that it is hard, at least for me and some others, to really know what it is that we want to do. You are certainly welcome to disagree. Perhaps, you knew all along it was dentistry that you wanted. Perhaps, your parents really let you be who you are. Perhaps you have relatives in a health profession who helped you with your decision while you were in junior high. But for the rest of us, we don't have that luxury, and that translates into more work, anxiety, self-reflection, and time in us.
