back up dental

[swifteagle43]

anyone else thinking about this one? or is it just me?

My first backup are non-us medical school and my second backups are dental schools. Any ideas?

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[guptaso2]

Dental: Lower GPA requirements, 150K per year, no residency ... why not make it your primary

 

[Law2Doc]

anyone else thinking about this one? or is it just me?

My first backup are non-us medical school and my second backups are dental schools. Any ideas?

It's a different career. If you really really want to be a doctor your first choice needs to be US med school (MD/DO), your backup would be improving your credentials to go to med school, and your second backup would be exploring offshore/overseas options. If you are truly indifferent about medicine/dentistry, then you likely just want to be a professional and haven't researched medicine enough, IMHO. There's nothing wrong with dentistry, but it is simply a different job.

 

[Catalystik]

Any ideas?

Have you thought about the problem of acquiring two sets of Letters of Reference? It's often difficult enough to find three (or more) faculty who you are confident will write you a great letter. Are you going to ask each to write you two different letters, one saying you'll be up to the challenges of medical school and the other, dental school (such a request would not be appreciated and it will make you seem indecisive), or will you ask for a generic letter saying you'd be a great health professional (sorta tacky, and inviting the professor to comment on your indecisiveness in the body of the letter). Or, are you sure you can find six (or more) faculty to write separate, spectacular letters?

Personally, I think it's better for you to make up your mind before you ask for your LORs. Do some shadowing in both professions to help you decide.

 

[kouhiiko]

There is nothing wrong with being interested in more than one field, but I wonder about using Dental school as a back-up. I've heard that dental and vet schools are harder to get into because there are far fewer dental and vet schools than there are medical schools. So, whatever the requirements are, the competition can be very fierce. I suggest a little soul searching, and pursue the field for which you feel the strongest pull; Channel all your energy into succeeding in the area of your choice, rather than watering down your application to appeal to adcoms in different fields.

 

[lindac]

Have you thought about the problem of acquiring two sets of Letters of Reference? It's often difficult enough to find three (or more) faculty who you are confident will write you a great letter. Are you going to ask each to write you two different letters, one saying you'll be up to the challenges of medical school and the other, dental school (such a request would not be appreciated and it will make you seem indecisive), or will you ask for a generic letter saying you'd be a great health professional (sorta tacky, and inviting the professor to comment on your indecisiveness in the body of the letter). Or, are you sure you can find six (or more) faculty to write separate, spectacular letters?

Personally, I think it's better for you to make up your mind before you ask for your LORs. Do some shadowing in both professions to help you decide.

A professor could probably change just a few words to make a med school LOR appropriate for a dental school. Hopefully they care about you a little, and are at least a bit invested in your future success, so it wouldn't seem like that big a deal. Also, they've got to understand that if you don't get into med school, you want to be successful in another challanging career.

I think that sounds like a great back up plan, except that it might not be easier to get into dental school. My dentist was making $500,000 yr a few years out of school. Of course, his father had the means to set him up in private practice (not the patients, but the building and equipment), and he seems to enjoy working 12 hr days, 6 days a week, but he's just a regular dentist.

 

[lilnoelle]

My brother initially intended to go into med school but didn't perform well enough in undergrad to apply. So he decided to apply to dental school instead. I think at the time he first applied he thought of dental school as a backup but it wasn't very long and he realized it was what he really wanted. He even tried to talk me out of medicine to go into dental school. Anyway, his grades were poor but he studied like crazy for the DAT and did well. He's currently a dentist and has had his own practice for over two years now and still loves it.