Who Decided Dentistry over Medicine

PD3 · Oct 30, 2006

Hello all,

Here is my situation. I have strongly been considering medical school for the past six months. However, due to the fact that I would be ~30 when I enter school and the fact that I have a wife and two beautiful daughters, I have been weighing all of the facts. I will be in my late thirties when I am through with residency and my girls will be nearing college and I feel I would miss too much of their youth by going into medicine.

Someone suggested recently to consider dentistry because one can enter a practice right out of school or do a residency to specialize. Some of the things I loved about medicine is being able to perform procedures (work with my hands), problem solve, and helping people solve issues. These are all items I believe I would be able to satisfy with dentistry. My family is also at the top of my priority list and from what I can tell dentistry can allow for a much more normal social life than medicine when night shifts, call, etc. are considered.

I realize that dental school itself would still take a huge commitment, as medical school would, but it appears that post-graduate life would be much better and the money would also be reasonable. So, has anyone else been through a similar thought process and if so, how did it turn out. I would love to hear thoughts on this as I am just starting to look into dentistry and understand how the whole residency system works, so any thoughts on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

scalpel2008 · Oct 30, 2006

PD3 said:
Hello all,

Here is my situation. I have strongly been considering medical school for the past six months. However, due to the fact that I would be ~30 when I enter school and the fact that I have a wife and two beautiful daughters, I have been weighing all of the facts. I will be in my late thirties when I am through with residency and my girls will be nearing college and I feel I would miss too much of their youth by going into medicine.

Someone suggested recently to consider dentistry because one can enter a practice right out of school or do a residency to specialize. Some of the things I loved about medicine is being able to perform procedures (work with my hands), problem solve, and helping people solve issues. These are all items I believe I would be able to satisfy with dentistry. My family is also at the top of my priority list and from what I can tell dentistry can allow for a much more normal social life than medicine when night shifts, call, etc. are considered.

I realize that dental school itself would still take a huge commitment, as medical school would, but it appears that post-graduate life would be much better and the money would also be reasonable. So, has anyone else been through a similar thought process and if so, how did it turn out. I would love to hear thoughts on this as I am just starting to look into dentistry and understand how the whole residency system works, so any thoughts on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I chose dentistry over medicine because I liked the idea of not having to do a residency and not being a call. Then I came across OMS and screwed up that plan. But after being through both medical and dental school, it's obvious that dentistry has a lot of advantages, most of which you have already listed (time, no call, no residency, good money, very respectable, independence)

nvpremolar · Oct 30, 2006

I chose dental school over medical school after several physicians I shadowed shared their discust about the insurance industry and how they would have chosen dentistry if they had to do it over. I'm sure this isn't true of all physicians but this was enough to make me investigate dentistry. I think I made the right choice.

rambo2006 · Oct 31, 2006

Just a comment on the whole "dentistry vs. medicine" issue:

I personally dont believe in "the one and only fit" belief that dentistry is the only way I could ever go. Medicine and pharmacy are great areas that I seriously considered for a while also. I think that in order to be fair to your self and make sure you are making the right decision, you spend some time shadowing if you already havent. It seams like you have done your homework when it comes to knowing what special qualities dentistry has. I wish you the best.

Rube · Oct 31, 2006

I have been through this myself. In your case though, I think you laid out all the issues pretty well. Now at the end where you think about specializing in dentistry, you should know that dental specialities are competitive and usually pretty demanding. Maybe not at 3 in the morning, unless of course you're OMS, but you will work 10-14 hour days for 3 years or more. You won't have loads of family time and that seems to be a high priority for you. Just giving you the info, but I would start by looking into general dentistry to see if you'd be happy with that. There is plenty to keep you busy.

dentalman · Oct 31, 2006

Once premed, then predental. And I liked the idea that school would be over in 4 years. Funny how I later ended up signing on for another 2 years for specialty training. But at least its not like the crazy OMFS people.

PD3 · Oct 31, 2006

Thanks for the info. For those of you who have gone onto specialty training, what is that like in terms of study/clinical regimen and hours worked? Is everyone seeing those 14 hour days as Rube mentioned.

Dentalman, what specialty did you enter and could you tell me a little bit about your postgraduate work.

Thanks again.

OceanDMD · Oct 31, 2006

Why specialize? As a general dentist, if you chose to place implants, perform root canal therapy, or even bone augmentation you can become trained for these procedures. One thing nice about general dentistry, you are not confined to a particular craft, but are able to pick and chose what you want to do in your practice.

medicineman1 · Oct 31, 2006

I've poted the question before, and really didnt get a concrete answer- and a friend of mine and I were actually chatting this morning- and he had the same question- (based on his dissatisfaction with primary care)- what would it take and how much time to go to denatl school after having completedmed school and residency- there has to be (i would think) some programs where one could get a couple of years credit for all the medicine-?? Anybody have any new info? thanks

evagutz · Oct 31, 2006

It was in my 3rd year medschool when I decided to switch to dentistry due to the fact that they have a stable schedule, no emergency calls and the money was way better.

OceanDMD · Oct 31, 2006

Don't kid yourself if you think there are no emergency calls. Depending on the size of practice, if you are a lone practitioner you may be busy some evenings and weekends.

scalpel2008 · Oct 31, 2006

OceanDMD said:
Don't kid yourself if you think there are no emergency calls. Depending on the size of practice, if you are a lone practitioner you may be busy some evenings and weekends.

you can't compare that to medical call , which blows whether it's in house or home call. "I'll see you in my office in the morning and in the meanwhile I'll call you in some vicodin" is a lot different than "what do you mean he's not breathing" or "what do you mean I have to come in and remove an appendix for little to no compensation".

OceanDMD · Oct 31, 2006

When an eight year old avulses a permanent tooth playing basketball, and fractures the alveolar bone around the tooth, I don't think I'm going to call in vicodin and see him in the morning. As a matter of fact, I'm sure there are plenty of dentists who do handle emergencies this way but it is unethical. Most physicians tend to be in group practices as well. This usually means being on call maybe every third or fourth weekend, or covering evenings one week a month.

scalpel2008 · Oct 31, 2006

OceanDMD said:
When an eight year old avulses a permanent tooth playing basketball, and fractures the alveolar bone around the tooth, I don't think I'm going to call in vicodin and see him in the morning. As a matter of fact, I'm sure there are plenty of dentists who do handle emergencies this way but it is unethical. Most physicians tend to be in group practices as well. This usually means being on call maybe every third or fourth weekend, or covering evenings one week a month.

i wish the general dentists here covered alveolar fractures.

rambo2006 · Oct 31, 2006

OceanDMD said:
When an eight year old avulses a permanent tooth playing basketball, and fractures the alveolar bone around the tooth, I don't think I'm going to call in vicodin and see him in the morning. As a matter of fact, I'm sure there are plenty of dentists who do handle emergencies this way but it is unethical. Most physicians tend to be in group practices as well. This usually means being on call maybe every third or fourth weekend, or covering evenings one week a month.

GRRRRR.....I had an ethics and professionalism exam today.

Lesley · Oct 31, 2006

PD3 said:
Hello all,

Here is my situation. I have strongly been considering medical school for the past six months. However, due to the fact that I would be ~30 when I enter school and the fact that I have a wife and two beautiful daughters, I have been weighing all of the facts. I will be in my late thirties when I am through with residency and my girls will be nearing college and I feel I would miss too much of their youth by going into medicine.

Someone suggested recently to consider dentistry because one can enter a practice right out of school or do a residency to specialize. Some of the things I loved about medicine is being able to perform procedures (work with my hands), problem solve, and helping people solve issues. These are all items I believe I would be able to satisfy with dentistry. My family is also at the top of my priority list and from what I can tell dentistry can allow for a much more normal social life than medicine when night shifts, call, etc. are considered.

I realize that dental school itself would still take a huge commitment, as medical school would, but it appears that post-graduate life would be much better and the money would also be reasonable. So, has anyone else been through a similar thought process and if so, how did it turn out. I would love to hear thoughts on this as I am just starting to look into dentistry and understand how the whole residency system works, so any thoughts on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I think you should decide what suits you best medicine or dentistry? Can you see yourself practicing in that field for the next 30+ years? You are going to be going to school for a long time. You are going to be borrowing/spending a lot of money regardless. If you have a preference, you should pursue it. You could end up specializing in either medicine or dentistry. With medicine if you specialize, you will get paid a stipend during that time, with dentistry, most often, you continue to pay the school for another two years. Oral surgey is an exception. You can have emergencies whether you are pediatrician or a dentist. With dentistry, no matter what the area, you will be using your hands a lot. With medicine there are more options that do not involve such heavy hand skills. Understandably the life style issue is important, but if you want to practice dentistry over medicine that should be of primary consideration. Good luck figuring it out.

TKD · Oct 31, 2006

medicineman1 said:
I've poted the question before, and really didnt get a concrete answer- and a friend of mine and I were actually chatting this morning- and he had the same question- (based on his dissatisfaction with primary care)- what would it take and how much time to go to denatl school after having completedmed school and residency- there has to be (i would think) some programs where one could get a couple of years credit for all the medicine-?? Anybody have any new info? thanks

Basically, the only schools that'll give you advanced standing are the ones that have integrated the 1st and 2nd year curriculum with med school. i.e. harvard, uconn, columbia, mcgill and a few others. it is difficult to do this however. 1 guy at my school did this because he wanted to do OMFS. he was saying that 1 school gave him the option of going straight into the middle of 2nd year, and the other said he had to take a few classes here and there then enter 3rd year - so it depends on the school. however, i've read on SDN that the majority of MD's applying for advanced standing have a tough time getting admission - I don't know - this may be because they were doing poorly in med school or something. Or maybe because the dental schools were asking for too much time. Be prepared to work your behind off though, lots of dental specific courses and lab work will be thrown at you and you'll be playing catch up.
So if you're serious about this, ask around and find all the dental schools that have years 1 and 2 integrated with medical school (not just 1 or 2 classes, but all of them, or at least the majority). contact the admissions office and plug away. it can be done but you have to persevere through it.

TKD · Oct 31, 2006

PD3 said:
Hello all,

Here is my situation. I have strongly been considering medical school for the past six months. However, due to the fact that I would be ~30 when I enter school and the fact that I have a wife and two beautiful daughters, I have been weighing all of the facts. I will be in my late thirties when I am through with residency and my girls will be nearing college and I feel I would miss too much of their youth by going into medicine.

Someone suggested recently to consider dentistry because one can enter a practice right out of school or do a residency to specialize. Some of the things I loved about medicine is being able to perform procedures (work with my hands), problem solve, and helping people solve issues. These are all items I believe I would be able to satisfy with dentistry. My family is also at the top of my priority list and from what I can tell dentistry can allow for a much more normal social life than medicine when night shifts, call, etc. are considered.

I realize that dental school itself would still take a huge commitment, as medical school would, but it appears that post-graduate life would be much better and the money would also be reasonable. So, has anyone else been through a similar thought process and if so, how did it turn out. I would love to hear thoughts on this as I am just starting to look into dentistry and understand how the whole residency system works, so any thoughts on that would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

More and more graduates are entering GPR (general practice residency) or AEGD (Advanced Education in General Dentistry) residency programs in order to enhance their practice of general dentistry, so if you want to be a general dentist, think going in that the education may mean 5 yrs, not 4. In fact NY State has mandatory residency requirement in order to get licensed, and more are on the way. Secondly, you may want to specialize so be aware that's 2-6 more years.

ashahdc · Oct 31, 2006

TKD said:
Basically, the only schools that'll give you advanced standing are the ones that have integrated the 1st and 2nd year curriculum with med school. i.e. harvard, uconn, columbia, mcgill and a few others. it is difficult to do this however. 1 guy at my school did this because he wanted to do OMFS. he was saying that 1 school gave him the option of going straight into the middle of 2nd year, and the other said he had to take a few classes here and there then enter 3rd year - so it depends on the school. however, i've read on SDN that the majority of MD's applying for advanced standing have a tough time getting admission - I don't know - this may be because they were doing poorly in med school or something. Or maybe because the dental schools were asking for too much time. Be prepared to work your behind off though, lots of dental specific courses and lab work will be thrown at you and you'll be playing catch up.
So if you're serious about this, ask around and find all the dental schools that have years 1 and 2 integrated with medical school (not just 1 or 2 classes, but all of them, or at least the majority). contact the admissions office and plug away. it can be done but you have to persevere through it.

Although difficult, if you want to do OMFS, a couple dual degree programs have accepted MD's, and you get credit for a year of general surgery if you've done it. During the 2 yrs that the dentists go to med school, the MD goes to dental school (for 2-3 yrs). So the OMFS residency + school may take up to 7 yrs instead of 6yrs. PM me if you're confused. One of the regulars OMFS experts on here would be able to give you more info. Now if you're talking about getting into dental school (not residency) right after the 4 year MD degree that's something I don't know anything about, although my guess is you'd get credit for the basic science courses. I'm also very curious about this topic, so please post away!!!! Any news about Case DDS/MD is also welcome.

nanali · Nov 1, 2006

I was going through the same situtation of what I should persue, dental or medicine, since I wanted to be in the healthcare field. Anyway, I seeked advice from my friend and she told me to make a list of what you want in life and what you want in your future profession. And so I did, and most checks were for dentistry and so I am persuing it right now and shadowing to make sure that my decision is right for me. It seem like you already made your list.. but if you have not shadow yet, please do b/c you don't want to get into dental school and not like it.

Chompers · Nov 2, 2006

did 2 years of med-school and switched over. clinical rotations was my turning point. the array of procedures lured me in. and i found it more gratifying. indepedance. mmmm, flexibility. so many things. but you have to like it. some of my friends prefer looking at diseased vaginas, i prefer diseased teeth. lol :laugh:

JamieMac · Nov 24, 2006

Wow...that is quite interesting...two people in this thread went through a couple years of med school and converted to dentistry. Did either of you have any difficulty convincing your respective dental schools of your commitment to dentistry? It seems that D-schools (or any other professional schools) would be skeptical.

Jaybe · Dec 2, 2006

Chompers said:
did 2 years of med-school and switched over. clinical rotations was my turning point. the array of procedures lured me in. and i found it more gratifying. indepedance. mmmm, flexibility. so many things. but you have to like it. some of my friends prefer looking at diseased vaginas, i prefer diseased teeth. lol

I am a dentist, and my friend is in his fourth year of med school. When I was applying, he told me he thought dentistry would have been a decent choice for him, because he was sure they still made okay money. Except that he couldn't stand looking into people's nasty mouths all day.

Well, it turns out the average dentist out of school actually makes MORE money than the average physician. And as far as looking in nasty mouths all day - 3 months into med school, my buddy was elbow deep into middle age male 'standardized patients' doing prostate exams. Even if dentists made less than physicians, which they don't, I would gladly choose it again rather than perform prostate exams on the type of dudes that would actually volunteer to have young med students 'learn' on them.

Mustt Mustt · Dec 2, 2006

I chose dentistry over engineering. I never considered medical school. I chose dental school becasue I like the idea of autonomy, nice lifestyle, nice hours and I like to work with my hands and I like dentistry. You have to make the decision yourself what is right for you. You should never make decision based on what is better but what based on what is right.

Avrelian · Dec 3, 2006

Jaybe said:
gladly choose it again rather than perform prostate exams on the type of dudes that would actually volunteer to have young med students 'learn' on them.

wow... I am kinda confused what to choose, dentistry/med, but I guess its a good reason for dentistry!

joc · Dec 3, 2006

Once going to medical school, then switching to pharmacy school. Then graduating pharmacy school debating medicine again. Then a buddy introduced me to dentistry. Mother practiced ER medicine for 30 yrs. She informed me if she had to do it all over again she would have chosen dentistry. After enrolling in dental school and living with a cousin who was in his last yr of orthopedic surgery residency I am convinced that I made the right choice. Its not about the money or the prestige. Its about the quality of life. As far as specializing in dentistry it is just as competetive as getting into a top medical residency. The most competive field of medicine to get into is dermatology. Why bc no call, 9-5, and you really dont have to deal with insurance companies as much as your peers in other fields of medicine. As a dentist your career will be very similar, but if medicine is for you then go for it. There is nothing more depressing than seeing someone in one career and miserable bc they wanted to be something else. The bottom line is you have to do what makes you happy as a person. For me it just happend to be dentistry.

DDSMAN2006 · Dec 3, 2006

evagutz said:
It was in my 3rd year medschool when I decided to switch to dentistry due to the fact that they have a stable schedule, no emergency calls and the money was way better.

You serious? Can you please elaborate a little? Wow! Did you get any credit for dental school from your med classes? Did your school also have a dental program that would let you transfer?

wizziefiend · Dec 4, 2006

DDSMAN2006 said:
You serious? Can you please elaborate a little? Wow! Did you get any credit for dental school from your med classes? Did your school also have a dental program that would let you transfer?

Columbia....click on the Phys/Med Students Link

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