With all the talk of oversaturated markets, and bleak futures for GP's with high debt loads... I was just wondering what some alternative career options would be. I have geared my university experience towards applying to dental school, and have a 3.8 GPA in a Human Biology major with a Business Administration minor at a large state school. This doesn't really make me very competitive for any other jobs, but I am just curious.
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Alternative careers?
Started by Drew28982898
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Don't worry about it.
Saturation? Sure, some places.
Less income than before? Sure, but still enough.
Debt? Sure, always been.
But it's not as bad as people here say. You'll still be making enough.
flossy_p
Full Member
You’ll hear this with any job.
Best thing to do here on out is at least give it a shot and if it doesn’t work out go with your plan B. Dentistry isn’t the only way to make $$$ and be happy.
I’ve heard this about the pharmacy market, yet all of my friends have still been able to find jobs in great locations perfectly fine. *cough* they just whine and complain too much *cough*
Just keep in thought that life ain’t fair and it’s ****in’ random so you might not get what you ideally wanted, but hey, that’s just life.
Lol
Best thing to do here on out is at least give it a shot and if it doesn’t work out go with your plan B. Dentistry isn’t the only way to make $$$ and be happy.
I’ve heard this about the pharmacy market, yet all of my friends have still been able to find jobs in great locations perfectly fine. *cough* they just whine and complain too much *cough*
Just keep in thought that life ain’t fair and it’s ****in’ random so you might not get what you ideally wanted, but hey, that’s just life.
Lol
What would your plan B be? Just want to learn from you
D
deleted903013
Your business minor will have you more employable than your average biology major. What skills have you learned and how does your resume look overall? Have you done an internship? If you haven't done an internship try to get one for next summer and make connections. If you intern for a company and they like you, they may very well offer you a full time job. Connections will take you a long way.
My resume is fairly weak other than strong academics and extra curriculars. I did a summer internship but it was an 8 week pre-health summer pipeline program, not at all related to business. I will look around and see what internships are available to me, thank you!
I would still do dentistry.
People aren't stupid. Yes the tuition is high but even in the worst markets you're still making a six figure salary right out of school. There's multiple steps you can take to mitigate debt / increase income if you're truly concerned.
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People aren't stupid. Yes the tuition is high but even in the worst markets you're still making a six figure salary right out of school. There's multiple steps you can take to mitigate debt / increase income if you're truly concerned.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN
D
deleted903013
Look into medical sales. I know a couple of people with bio backgrounds who do medical sales full time. They make good money too.
True. There’s a reason dentistry is still relatively competitive, probably the second most competitive graduate program to get into (after MD). Thousands of people try each year for a chance to take out the massive dentist debt.
It's tough to go to plan B if you don't like dentistry, when you have $400k+ in debt and growing with interest. One of the big risks that is amplified with this debt is that you have no idea if you'll like being a dentist until you're working as a dentist post graduation.
As for alternative careers, it really depends on what you like. If you're in a state where anesthesiologist assistants practice, it's a great career if you like anesthesia and the OR. Money is decent with starting salaries around $150k.
Medical sales gets thrown around quite a bit, but he reality is it's extremely tough to break into and you usually need 3-5 years of BTB sales to even let someone give you a shot at it, unless you have a great connection. Then the product you sell is your life, you are compensated very well, but you are working extremely hard and lots of hours every week, its definitely not for everybody
Are you looking to compete in an oversaturated market? In dentistry, there are many markets that are underserved and dentists have found plenty of locations to make a profitable living and pay back loans in less than 10 years. I attend one of the notably most expensive dental schools and we hear of recent graduates who pay off their loans in less than 5 years. Two students moved to Alaska and they're making over a quarter million in income with general dentistry and paid their loans off in 3 years (our program prepared them to do molar endo, implants, CEREC crowns, laser, etc.) It's all about whether you choose to stick to the oversaturated cities, or can you step outside those lines and follow the demand? Also pick your school wisely, if you have to continue developing your skills with an AEGD residency or further CE courses to reach a competent level to provide all these services, you may want to think about how much your school is going to cost you in profit once you graduate. How well will the program set you up to start practicing out of school? This is what you should try to gather at your interviews.
In reference to working in Alaska, I've been told that despite the high salary there everything else also costs a lot (probably due to transporting things from far away) and that salary/costs will most likely break even. The person who told me that said working within the rural 48 states were most likely to fare better income wise.
