Advice for someone unsure of what field to enter?

[jman128]

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Hi everyone. I am a junior biomedical sciences major. My whole life it seemed I wanted to be a doctor because I liked health care. However, last semester it hit me hard. I was starting to realize what becoming a doctor actually entails. The incredibly long schooling, being in massive debt, long hours, incredibly stressful and risky work. I just don't think its for me anymore. Its a path to healthcare which im pretty sure is not right for me.

Everyday is a struggle now, because as a junior applying to grad schools isnt too far off. A new profession pops up into my brain. I am considering: PA, physical therapy, public health and some others.

For some reason I just ignored dental. It could be partly because my friend and roommate who is pre-dental is the man when it comes to academics. He pretty much has a photographic memory and a 4.0. I never really wanted to compete with him.

I want a career that pays well and will match my level of hard work and intelligence ( can someone give me an accurate salary?), but also leaves me a good amount of time for outside things like family and friends.

Oh and can someone address this whole "but you are staring and going into peoples mouths all day" thing? I mean, its not like podiatrists have a foot fetish, feet are not fun to look at either, but they help people and solve a problem.

thanks

 

[golf05]

You hit the perks of being a dentist on the head, but you have to also have passion for it. Try job shadowing with each of the professions you may be interested in. You will experience first hand the sitting-and-staring-into-people's-mouths thing and may have a better idea if you can see yourself doing that every day. Private practice salaries can run $200-$250K/year in many small cities around the States. More in bigger cities; less in rural areas. Also depends on how many patients your practice has.

 

[sfrice80]

The things you hate about medical are some of the same things you will encounter being a dentist. Its a risk. You have a lot of schooling, not as much as a doctor but a lot of people consider 8-9 years total a lot of schooling. You will be in massive amounts of debt. Im looking at being about $320,000 when Im all done. Then you get out and have to work like crazy to start building up speed and getting ahead. Trust me, most people dont get out of dental school and take it easy. You will have to live a pretty simple life for at least a few years to build up speed and become profitable. You also will have a lot of stress, especially if you go straight into private practice. Now you have to not only learn to be an efficient dentist but you are getting slammed with the business side of it too.

Now I only say all of the above to prepare you and hit on your negative points about medical. It will be no walk in the park but there are a ton of benefits to being a dentist over a doctor. Thats why we all chose this career. In a relatively short amount of time you can be making a lot of money in a career that you could love! For me, although you have the stress of the business, you are also your own boss. Having control over my own work is huge for me.

As far as the money side. You rarely will walk out of dental school and make $150K+, simply cuz you are pretty slow. But you can be making $200K+ in a matter of 10 years I would say. If you specialize, its going to be more. As far as how much you make and where you are. Thats extremely relative! In my state, dentists actually make more in the northern rural areas then they do outside major cities but no one really wants to practice in the rural areas, cuz there is nothing around and Im talking the average salary only goes up by about $20K. It just depends on the location in the country and what those demographics are. I would say the average dentist in America makes about $170K a year. I hope this helps.

 

[doc toothache]

Would you be needing help choosing a bride/groom as well?

 

[jman128]

Would you be needing help choosing a bride/groom as well?

......what......

 

[BiomajorPreDent]

......what......

I think what he means is that only you can make a decision. We can offer insight, but in the end its you who will be putting 4 years of your life into very intense grad school, accumulating approx $200,000 debt, and waking up every morning as a dentist.

You don't need to have a photographic memory with a 4.0 to get into dental school (although of course the higher your grades the better)

As was stated by others, "the incredibly long schooling, being in massive debt, long hours, incredibly stressful and risky work" all applies to dentistry. (Yes medical education is "longer" because of residency, but you can still specialize in dentistry so I think that's a moot point)

I think you have to shadow some dentists to get a better idea of the profession before attempting to tackle the DAT, and start the ridiculously expensive application process.

I would not worry about the high amount of loans. The majority of dental students take loans out and I have never met a dentist who wasn't able to pay them back. It is known as "good debt" because you will be able to pay it off and you will get great credit in the process.

As for earnings, you can only go by surveys. From the ADA surveys I have read, most dentists are private business owners and of course won't put what is actually on their tax returns. Ballpark figures for an associate GP are $100-120.

When you have your own practice, there is obviously a higher earning potential, assuming you are good. The average is about $200. Although specialization tends to have higher income, income shouldn't be your sole reason to specialize, as you can do very well as a GP.

Keep in mind income is based on location and skill.

I don't understand the "working in the mouth" argument. If you don't like mouths, obviously dentistry is not for you. I could never see myself working in a cubicle or sitting behind a desk all day, but if others are into that, then that's what they should do.

You have to find out what YOU like and do that. I have dentists in the family so I have a good idea about the profession. If you have other questions or w/e just PM me.

Good luck and I hope I helped you out. 🙂

 

[newyorkblork]

I want a career that pays well and will match my level of hard work and intelligence ( can someone give me an accurate salary?), but also leaves me a good amount of time for outside things like family and friends.

Oh and can someone address this whole "but you are staring and going into peoples mouths all day" thing? I mean, its not like podiatrists have a foot fetish, feet are not fun to look at either, but they help people and solve a problem.

thanks

Bunches and bunches of threads on this, probably including one or two by myself 😛 I went through a similar problem - I was actually applying to medical schools before I realized I didn't want to do it anymore. I threw away my secondaries and had no idea what to do with myself until a friend randomly suggested Dentistry.

The career pays well (for now), I believe you can look at around 150k for an associate after a few years of practice/gaining speed. If you want to take additional risk by opening or buying a practice, that's more debt, but can move you to 200-250k (or beyond, depending on how much you work, how fast you work, how well you market your practice, and a bit of luck). So "hard work" and "free time" blend well in this profession, by the accounts of all dentists and dental faculty I've spoken to.

However, that aside, what convinced me was actually shadowing and talking to Dentists. A lot of it can be repetitive work - with some dentists, fillings and root canals, all day long. You're a tooth mechanic - you diagnose, you treat. But it's a skill that continually improves as you go, and that's one of the primary pulls of Dentistry for me. You should go see for yourself whether or not the profession appeals to you.