Any pre-med non-trads now thinking about dentistry?

[brotherbloat]

Hello,

I'm a non-trad pre-med (did a post-bacc and took the April MCAT 3 weeks ago, applying this summer for fall '06) who has recently began to mull over dentistry instead of medicine.

I'm 28, female, married, and am really having a hard time with the decision of whether, after doing a post-bacc, studying for and taking the MCAT twice, I truly want to go through 8 years to be a doctor. I love medicine and patients, but at 28, I'm also thinking ahead to having kids.

I'm wondering if denstistry might be a better fit for me.

Anyone else on the pre-med track thinking the same?

As I really don't know much about dentistry, I need to talk to some dentists, etc.

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[ItsGavinC]

I'm wondering if denstistry might be a better fit for me.

Anyone else on the pre-med track thinking the same?

As I really don't know much about dentistry, I need to talk to some dentists, etc.

I'm not a non-trad applicant, but I am in dental school and have a wife and two kids.

Dentistry is absolutely the way to go, if you have an interest in the work (duh, right?).

Great salary, great lifestyle, etc. Do some research on the topic. Shadow a dentist, ask them about their work ethic and how many hours they put in. Ask them what they dislike. Ask them what they love.

The kicker about dentistry is that you can work 26 hours a week (the AVERAGE for a general dentist) and make $170k (the AVERAGE for a general dentist) or double those hours and double the income, or cut out some hours and moonlight for $400-800 a day as a general dentist (much higher as a specialist).

But once again, do some research and make a well-informed decision. Dentistry will allow you to raise a family and be fulfilled, but it isn't a decision to be delved into without some serious prior mulling. It's still 4 years of crap called dental school, and possible residency on top of that.