anyone regret their decision?

[jjy2103]

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im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

 

[DrTacoElf]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

Have you considered being a pedodontist?

 

[kato999]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

There are days when I feel the same way. I am thinking "Man, can I actually stare at teeth all day?" I believe almost everyone has reservations about their career choices at some point in their life. I can almost certainly say if I had chosen medicine I would be having similar regrets and envying dentistry. If you love children, you can always become a pediatric dentist.

 

[Yah-E]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

Damn kid, just read your other thread "Which Dental School", you haven't even applied yet and you're second guessing yourself? I would decide first then apply. You can always apply to both medical and dental schools for the heck of it. Here I am thinking when I first read this thread that you're already in dental school, but if you haven't even applied yet, wait until you know what you want.

 

[jjy2103]

ok..here is the thing

i cannot just apply and see because i cannot afford to pay for all those application fees(i know its only $60 per but they add up)
...my parents considering paying for application for something i will not do to be a waste...thus, i asked for advice on dental school because im only applying to those i will for sure attend if i do get in.

so if i am unsure about going to dental school, i should not even apply at all, since it would waste a LOT of money for no reason...

i suppose thats why i am asking

btw...i just took my dats...finished my postbacc program...i guess if i want to do medicine, ill waste an extra year...

 

[cameltoe]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

Shutup, just shutup....


God, every ****ing day I have to read another post by another spoiled brat that can't make up his mind. Look, there is no ideal job out there. Just go out and do something. But please, shutup. Stop whining and moaning all the time.

 

[jjy2103]

if you dont like it, dont read it

 

[cameltoe]

if you dont like it, dont read it

Weeee, look at me, I don't know what to do. Can someone hold my hand and guide me? 🙁

Shut up, ******

 

[Chompers]

volunteer at a dental office and a physicians office. undecided, you probably wont get accepted after the interviews.

 

[iviikoivi]

Weeee, look at me, I don't know what to do. Can someone hold my hand and guide me? 🙁

Shut up, ******

please leave

 

[LAZYGUY]

jjy if you have any questions about medicine you can direct them to me:

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

 

[drhobie7]

I know that your dental colleagues weren't very helpful but many dental folks on this forum have the convoluted outlook that everyone thinks that dentistry is inferior to medicine...they have some personal issues to resolve.

Here's the advice I give everyone who isn't sure: don't apply until you are sure.
How do you become sure? Spend a lot of time around dentists, dental students, dental offices, and dental patients. You wouldn't buy a car without doing tons of research and taking test drives. This is a lot more important than a car.

Regarding the previous post, I don't know anyone here or elsewhere who believes people view dentistry as inferior to medicine. Nor do I understand the point of that comment.

 

[LAZYGUY]

I will not turn this into a me vs. you debate. I have nothing to prove, I love what I do.

If you did not understand the point of that comment, let me clear it up for you. The original poster faced retaliation from some of the dental students on this board because he/she asked if anyone regretted their decision. Some people even got vulgar because of this.

Unappropriate and unprofessional. 👎

Here's the advice I give everyone who isn't sure: don't apply until you are sure.
How do you become sure? Spend a lot of time around dentists, dental students, dental offices, and dental patients. You wouldn't buy a car without doing tons of research and taking test drives. This is a lot more important than a car.

Regarding the previous post, I don't know anyone here or elsewhere who believes people view dentistry as inferior to medicine. Nor do I understand the point of that comment.

 

[DDSSlave]

One person made a disparaging comment, which I agree is inappropriate and unprofessional. However, any generalization that many dental students here have some "convoluted outlook...that dentistry is inferior" is also inappropriate and frankly silly. Sorry for the aside.

To address the OP: It did take me a while to decide between med school and dental school, but I've never regretted the decision. Dentistry and its subspecialties are quite unique. There's really nothing in medicine like them. Unlike most areas in medicine (with the large exception of surgery), dentistry is a treatment planning and procedure based profession. Unlike surgery, dentistry is almost all clinically based, which entails clinical hours, lower risk, and lower stress. Insurance is a complicated topic, but suffice it to say dentists have faired much better than our medical colleagues. This decreased negative impact of insurance combined with the increased amount of esthetic dentistry has pushed average general dental salaries higher than average medical salaries. Hours are similar or fewer than medicine due to lack of call or hospital rounds. Honestly, you have to do what you're interested in, but morale among general dentists and specialists is amazingly high. Everyone I've met seems to love what they do. Good luck with your decision and feel to ask about any specifics.

 

[cameltoe]

I will not turn this into a me vs. you debate. I have nothing to prove, I love what I do.

If you did not understand the point of that comment, let me clear it up for you. The original poster faced retaliation from some of the dental students on this board because he/she asked if anyone regretted their decision. Some people even got vulgar because of this.

Unappropriate and unprofessional. 👎

First of all, the only reason I got upset is because people are getting into a field without knowing what its about. If the OP enjoys Medicine, then for Christ sakes, what is he doing applying and going into dental school? To the OP. It's a job. What you do will probably not echo across eternity. If you like medicine more than you do dentistry,don't even think twice about it. Take the MCAT and apply for med.

 

[TeethVader]

Yeah, I hear you. There are some days that I feel stressed about disapearing from the workforce for four years; i'm so used to working and having money in my pocket that sometimes I feel uncertain about what future holds, you know like "was this the right decision? Is this hughe investment worth it?" Hopefully, it will.

 

[jjy2103]

i guess the title to my post was a bit misleading

i didnt mean that there are people who regret doing dental because medicine is better than dental...i wanted to know if there was anyone who had the similar thoughts as i did, and then decided to do dental for one reason or another...

i disagree with the idea that a job is a job...

i quit my consulting career because i refused to do something i hated ...just because it paid the bills and it gave me a pretigious lifestyle

anyway, thanx to those who gave me good advice...
LAZYGUY..i may take u up on the offer...

 

[MikeVirts]

You might want to think about pediatric dentistry during and after dental school. To get some better insight into that profession, you should talk to some pediatric dentists and do a lot of observation. If you can assist or something at the dental school, even better. Pedo is a demanding field, but if you have a ton of patience and are able to think like a kid while at the same time maintaining professionalism and effective communication with parents, it might be a good choice for you.


Hope this helps!

Mike V.
UMD Class of 2008

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

 

[balance]

i quit my consulting career because i refused to do something i hated ...just because it paid the bills and it gave me a pretigious lifestyle

What kind of consulting? I have been doing IT consulting for the past 6 years. It’s been fun and there were times I questioned a lot. .
I withdrew my application from dental school in 1998 and have been working ever since. Last year I went through the phase of “what I should do with my life”. I decided to give dentistry another shot and shadowed a dentist.

After a lot of research I figured dentistry would be a better fit for me. As the other guy said, it is very difficult to come out of your comfort zone. Sometimes, I feel that I am giving up a lot for going back to school. But, this is what I want to do. There are no perfect decisions, but there are better decisions.

Would I regret it dentistry as profession? I think I regret not going with this decision more. Would I be content? It depends on my perception of what I would want to get out of it.
I know that there is no prefect profession out there, but if you love what you do then that will be the prefect profession for you. “A job is not a job”, it is what you make out of it.

At the end, you can be very happy with what you do if you have a well balanced life and look at your career as a part of the whole picture.

 

[Dentalist]

jjy2003,

You are not alone! I too had the same dilemma between medicine and dentistry. I started out as a pre-dent in college, and became interested in medicine through work-experience in clinical research. I knew that I wanted to go into healthcare field b/c I really liked working with patient individually. After years of working with & shadowing the physicians, I just couldn't see myself practicing medicine for the rest of my life. Personally, I felt taking medical history/prescribing drugs/etc to be extremely boring (although medicine sometimes has its exciting and interesting moment). Some surgical procedures in medicine seem to be fascinating, but realistically there is no guarantee that I will become a neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon (many end up going into internal med/family med). I love dentistry because I can heavily focus on oral/facial area when treating patients, and I get to perform hands-on procedures. I agree that when it comes to research medicine has much more potential in many aspects than dentistry (i.e. cloning, stem cell research, neuroscience etc), but personally I am not interested in research. One of misconceptions that I think many people have is a superficial perception that one profession is better than another. Although I agree that medical school is much more difficult to get into than dental school, that doesn't necessarily mean that medicine is better than dentistry. It is true that people perceive medicine as more prestigious than dentistry, but you have to ask yourself what really makes YOU happy. Prestige doesn't mean a jack if you are miserable and unhappy with your profession. I highly suggest you to shadow both dentist and physician, and ask yourself which profession fits you better.

Good luck!

Dentalist

 

[Smooth Operater]

Hey iiy2103! I too was in your situation b4, deciding between medicine or dentistry. I just made my decision going for dentistry all the way this summer and am preparing for the DAT now. You should definitely shadow few dentists before you make any decision. I had a wonderful time spending with the kids coming to my dentist's clinic and observing different tricks that the dentist/dental hygenist use to comfort the kids. From my observation, dentistry is what you make out of. You can be a boring dentist just focusing on drilling and filling to bring $ in your pocket like some dentists I know, or you can be like a pediatric dentist who decorate the clinic like a space shuttle/fish tank and set up playground to make every visit enjoyable for the kiddies. He even learned how to fill up the ballons with helium using his dental equipment and made them into animals to attract kids to sit on the dental chair. If you get fed up with earning $$, just work for 3 days, go on mission trips 6 times a year like another dentists I know. According to this dentist, MANY kiddies living in jungles or 3rd world country are in need of serious dental treatment. He showed me a picture of him working on a kid while there are 50+ of kids surrounding the dental chair made up of cardboard box in the court yard. I could go on and tell you about different touching expeience with kids that he told me, but I gtg go study for physic now 🙂 Basically, if you don't mind working with teeth for rest of your life and don't care about presitigious, go for dentistry! The opportunity to work with kids is there. My little sister has visited dentists Waaayy more than physicians in her life time.

 

[drhobie7]

I will not turn this into a me vs. you debate. I have nothing to prove, I love what I do.

If you did not understand the point of that comment, let me clear it up for you. The original poster faced retaliation from some of the dental students on this board because he/she asked if anyone regretted their decision. Some people even got vulgar because of this.

Unappropriate and unprofessional. 👎

'Regretting your decision' has nothing to do with the general public supposedly viewing dentistry as inferior to medicine. Nobody besides yourself brought that up and that was why it made no sense. For some reason you felt the need to throw that in there. Lastly, if you don't want to debate then don't reply, 'cause I will.

 

[grant555]

This argument between the DDS and MD just won't seem to go away. Personally, I wouldn't worry what others thought about being a dentist because I know it is what I want, which is what Yah-E was saying. If you are not sure what you want in life, you will never be secure enough in the decision to not worry with majority opinion about it.

The same line of reasoning could be made in reference to rankings in dental school. I had heard both good and bad about Howard long before I stepped foot on the campus, but it was up to me to take the iniative to find out for myself. If I didn't think it was a worthwhile school, I would not attend, no question.

What people think about it and everything else is their business. There is no way in hell that I am going to live and die with the opinions of others. Bottom line, dentists earn in the top 5% of incomes in this country, and this is the best country. Put it in totality of the entire world, and being a dentist in America is a great accomplishment.

If I had a dollar for every family member, associate, and avg joe who thought dentistry or my choosing to become one was inferior, I would have platinum teeth in my mouth.

It is you who must live with what profession you choose. Take care and GOD bless.

 

[BeachLuvr]

Hey jjy2103,

I think it's great that you are taking the time to do the research, and find out what's best for you. Don't get all caught up in the med. school vs. dental school debate hype, because you do you best...you know what sort of profession will fit you and your lifestyle...personality...etc. best. And if you don't know at this very moment, in time it will be made clear. In the meantime, evaluate all of your options. Speak with people in both fields, and learn about the many options available to you. You don't have to know all the answers today, immediately. Knowing that might take some of the pressure off.

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

 

[LAZYGUY]

you've got issues... 🙄

'Regretting your decision' has nothing to do with the general public supposedly viewing dentistry as inferior to medicine. Nobody besides yourself brought that up and that was why it made no sense. For some reason you felt the need to throw that in there. Lastly, if you don't want to debate then don't reply, 'cause I will.

 

[aphistis]

you've got issues... 🙄

Remember, kids: when you're getting nailed to the wall in a debate, you can always openly scoff, abdicate the discussion entirely, and suggest your opponent is psychiatrically impaired.

 

[balance]

you've got issues... 🙄

Lazyguy,

It seems like you are regreding your decision about med school, since you are spending most of your time on the dental forum.

 

[drhobie7]

you've got issues... 🙄

Another pointless comment. Wow, thanks for your empty contributions.

 

[POOonYOU]

i dunno. sometimes, i wonder where i'd be today if i stuck with engineering. i would already have a decent paying job, and i wouldn't be in so much damn debt. a six figure debt really sucks. i probably wouldn't do dental if i had to do it over again. yeah, i'm reasonably sure i would have stuck with engineering. oh well.

 

[drhobie7]

i dunno. sometimes, i wonder where i'd be today if i stuck with engineering. i would already have a decent paying job, and i wouldn't be in so much damn debt. a six figure debt really sucks. i probably wouldn't do dental if i had to do it over again. yeah, i'm reasonably sure i would have stuck with engineering. oh well.

I don't think your debt is going to be a burden once you start working. (I'm assuming your debt is under $200K) Your loan payments will likely be under $1000/month given a 30 year term. For the practicing dentist, that's really not a big deal. Now if you've been doing online gambling, have a debt to the mafia, and a mortgage rate that's jumped up....it might be a different story.

 

[Rube]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

First Post. Look kid, you should spend some time doing things with your life before you start trying to decide which profession to be in. You've got to know who you are and WHY you want to be in physician or dentist?

When I hear guys like you say you couldn't handle 7 years it makes me think of myself many years ago. If you're doing what you love and what makes you happy, 7 years is awesome. If you don't love it 3 years is too long. You know what I mean. Why put it like its so long? If you were doing something you love you wouldn't think of it as 7 years.

Anyway, just don't get caught up in trying to impress people, take some time to find out who you are and what makes you happy.

By the way, none of this is to knock you. I think its very good you are wrestling with these decisions, it shows you care. Good luck.

 

[lnn2]

i dunno. sometimes, i wonder where i'd be today if i stuck with engineering.

laid off, still looking for a job, foreclosure, broke ass?
Your attitude will change 180degree once you start practicing.

 

[lnn2]

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

"Love children" more than you should?! Why pediatrician? Why not kindergarden teacher or Nanny?

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

It's late when you started dental school, $100K-200K in debt, realize that you hate looking at people's mouths. You chose dentistry because of lifestyle.

It sounds like you need to shadow dentists and physicians to gain enough experience so that you can make an informed decision.

i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

7 yrs in jail is a long time. 7 yrs in school is not that long. It'll be over before you know it! not like you have anything better to do! I think if you make your decision base just on time and lifestyle then there's a chance that you might end up regretting it.

 

[Rube]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

When I see someone say something like "I don't know if I could handle 7 years" or it takes 7 years to be free, I think you may be missing something. You do this because you love it. You work hard at something you love and it becomes a labor of love. In 4 years you'll be a doctor doing either dentistry or medicine. What is so unfree about that?

I think you must realize that in either case you will work very hard in school and then out of school in a residency.

I went through much of the same searching you have and chose dentistry after looking very closely at both professions, talking to professionals, volunteering, shadowing and thinking about the quality of life I wanted. I have zero regrets about chosing to become a DDS.

I think its great you are considering all these things and thinking about them deeply. These are big decisions to make and worrying about them is all part of it. Sorry some of the posters here acted hostile towards you. Good luck with your decision.

 

[runfast520]

I worked as a design engineer for two years before coming back to dental school. I like the science classes and the drilling, but hate lab work.

 

[DcS]

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

The answer to your question is staring you in the face. Nowhere in the above statement do you mention you want to be a dentist because you are interested in dentistry. I mean, giving those requirements listed above, I could name countless jobs that fit into that. I think you know the answer deep down.

Good luck.

 

[DcS]

laid off, still looking for a job, foreclosure, broke ass?
Your attitude will change 180degree once you start practicing.

And he knows this because he's been "practicing" all of one month. 🙄

 

[Dr. Pedo]

im having second thoughts...

i guess im thinkin about med school...

i chose dental school for several reasons...
because its not as long, because i like the lifestyle, because i wasnt sure i could handle 7plus years of school...

but i do love children...want to work with them, i wanted to be a pediatrician...

its sorta late to be thinkin this now...but i was wonderin if anyone had the same dilemma that i have, and have any feedback on it...

thanx

After reading this thread and having a good idea about pediatric dentistry (I'm a resident) please be very, very, very careful in deciding what you want to do. Pediatric dentistry is an animal unlike anything comparable to a specialty in medicine. Especially pediatrician. Loving kids will not make sticking a needle in a 2y.o mouth daily while tuning out the screams and avoiding the flailing hands, any easier😱 . Nothing quite like it. Pediatricians are more diagnostic ordering lab tests, studying charts and syndromes and if they have to poke the little ones it's for less than a minute. My friend is a Pediatrician----she complains about how hard it is to look in a 2 y.o ear or get them to open their mouths to see the oropharynx/tonsil area. She thinks we are magicians 😀 I'm in the mouth 45 mins poking, pulling, using a high speed handpiece that pierces their ears and startles anyone, stuggling for view, trying to avoid losing a finger, and all the while using surgical percision with a margin of error less than a millimeter. I do this everyday, there is not a day that I don't place a needle and cut on teeth of little ones. Obviously pediaticians do a lot more than the above mentioned, are incredibly educated physicians, and also have to deal with the NICU etc.. but if you don't quite understand the overall concept you need to PM me and I'll help clarify a very important point.

Now thinking about what to do in life. Why limit it to Medicine or Dentistry. If you love children why not a teacher? Why not a elementary school nurse? Or how about child psychologist. If your true desire is working with children there are a lot of avenues to take----please don't go into dentistry or medicine without understanding your true desires. Both are way too difficult to not have all your thoughts in order. Good luck in whatever you choose.

Dr. B

 

[lnn2]

And he knows this because he's been "practicing" all of one month. 🙄

huh?
first year 🙄

 

[Pikeyman]

jjy2103,

I think a question like this one is what you think about on your own and work it out by yourself. If you can't do that and have to ask for others' opinions instead (esp. from SDN people), it's sad.

Since you asked for feedback, shouldn't you provide us with your reasons more clearly?

Maybe "help us to help you".

You know what? Just go with what people have posted and make sure you email that "lazyboy". He sounds like he doesn't have issues.

 

[jr8047]

Shutup, just shutup....


God, every ****ing day I have to read another post by another spoiled brat that can't make up his mind. Look, there is no ideal job out there. Just go out and do something. But please, shutup. Stop whining and moaning all the time.

you are offensive and rude