$500,000 to specialize?

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InspiredDDS

Full Member
10+ Year Member
I'm considering applying to endodontic residencies next year. If I were to be accepted, I could be looking at $500,000 in student loans between dental school and residency. I'm finding it hard to justify so much debt.

Anyone else willing to discuss similar concerns/ justifications?

Thanks!
 
InspiredDDS said:
I'm considering applying to endodontic residencies next year. If I were to be accepted, I could be looking at $500,000 in student loans between dental school and residency. I'm finding it hard to justify so much debt.

Anyone else willing to discuss similar concerns/ justifications?

Thanks!
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Ouch. 500K is a lot. At 7%, that looks like it'll be close to 4K/month for 20 years...

Do you know any endodontists/what the average starting salary for a freshly minted endodontist is? Maybe from shadowing or from your dental school professors?
 
InspiredDDS said:
I'm considering applying to endodontic residencies next year. If I were to be accepted, I could be looking at $500,000 in student loans between dental school and residency. I'm finding it hard to justify so much debt.

Anyone else willing to discuss similar concerns/ justifications?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

500K is the cost of private dental schools WITHOUT specializing. With specializing at many private schools you are looking at close to 800K-1 million.
 
InspiredDDS said:
I'm considering applying to endodontic residencies next year. If I were to be accepted, I could be looking at $500,000 in student loans between dental school and residency. I'm finding it hard to justify so much debt.

Anyone else willing to discuss similar concerns/ justifications?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It's not worth it, not much more to say
 
If this is what you want to do then don't think about the debt and go for it. Or you could go the other route like me, work few yrs after dental school pay substantial chunk of your debt off and then apply to residencies of your choice. Also working will help reinforce your decision if you really like endo or not. Hope this helps🙂
 
I think its important to know about how much debt you will be in from just dental school. I think there is a big difference from going from 400k after to school to 500k with residency, versus 250k to 500k after residency. For me, from a financial standpoint I think I would much rather be starting out as a GP with 250k of debt, instead of a specialist a few years later with 500k debt. Also, while it does seem most endo programs charge tuition, some do not or at least not a huge amount. And I have heard that endo residents can potentially make some ok money moonlighting. Regardless 500k is a lot of debt to be starting any dental career with, and it is good you are trying to determine the costs/benefits of a endo residency before jumping in.
 
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Silent Cool said:
500K is the cost of private dental schools WITHOUT specializing. With specializing at many private schools you are looking at close to 800K-1 million.
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Tack on a practice and you are looking at 1.5-2 million in debt. I know they say you have to spend money to make money, but this is a dizzying amount of debt to take on just to begin your career.
 
kiddentist2013 said:
If this is what you want to do then don't think about the debt and go for it. Or you could go the other route like me, work few yrs after dental school pay substantial chunk of your debt off and then apply to residencies of your choice. Also working will help reinforce your decision if you really like endo or not. Hope this helps🙂
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Yes, it would! It is a tough decision to make with the minimal amount of Endo experience you get before the application cycle rolls around.

Did you decide on Pedo? I was interested in that in the beginning of dental school. I enjoy working with kids.
 
johnho771 said:
I think its important to know about how much debt you will be in from just dental school. I think there is a big difference from going from 400k after to school to 500k with residency, versus 250k to 500k after residency. For me, from a financial standpoint I think I would much rather be starting out as a GP with 250k of debt, instead of a specialist a few years later with 500k debt. Also, while it does seem most endo programs charge tuition, some do not or at least not a huge amount. And I have heard that endo residents can potentially make some ok money moonlighting. Regardless 500k is a lot of debt to be starting any dental career with, and it is good you are trying to determine the costs/benefits of a endo residency before jumping in.
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Never thought about it like that. Thanks for your input!

I am looking at 300,000$ for dental school, $200,000 for residency. I think your comment helped me understand my own hesitations. $300,000 is a lot but manageable. Adding $200,000 more just seems crazy.
 
Incis0r said:
Ouch. 500K is a lot. At 7%, that looks like it'll be close to 4K/month for 20 years...

Do you know any endodontists/what the average starting salary for a freshly minted endodontist is? Maybe from shadowing or from your dental school professors?
Click to expand...

No I haven't asked. I haven't felt comfortable crossing that boundary with anyone, although it does seem like a very pertinent piece of information.
 
The issue is that the cost of your dental degree is a sunk cost. It's really ideally something considered prior to thinking of specialising or even starting your dental degree.

Unfortunately that's not how life typically works. The alternative of course is to do GP work to pay off your existing debt and apply after a few years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CanaDMD said:
Or become a GP who does a ton of endo...
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The benefits of private practice combined with the procedures you really want to do. This is what I might end up doing one day.

I'll tell you- the BEAUTIFUL thing about dentistry is that as a general dentist, you can do anything you feel comfortable with.
 
InspiredDDS said:
I'm considering applying to endodontic residencies next year. If I were to be accepted, I could be looking at $500,000 in student loans between dental school and residency. I'm finding it hard to justify so much debt.

Anyone else willing to discuss similar concerns/ justifications?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can still apply to Endo InspiredDDS, but you need to make smart decisions during application cycle. The same thing applies to any person with same amount of debt who applies to Endo or even other specialty. You need to be very selective and apply to programs that pay.
 
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InspiredDDS said:
Never thought about it like that. Thanks for your input!

I am looking at 300,000$ for dental school, $200,000 for residency. I think your comment helped me understand my own hesitations. $300,000 is a lot but manageable. Adding $200,000 more just seems crazy.
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May be crazy, but at the same time may not be. If you do not care at all for general dentistry and really love endodontic procedures it makes more sense. Also with potentially taking on 500k it is ever more important to have a general understanding of the compensation of endodontists. I know I hear stories about endodontists doing 6 to 7 root canals a day at $1200 a pop and with low overhead, but I am not so sure if that is norm or that it is that straightforward. A 2013 ADA compensation report shows the average endo earning about 265k (http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/data-center/dental-practice), which is great but may not necessarily warrant taking on another 200k from a pure financial sense. So it would be good to get a better sense of how endos are doing.
 
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