Being a Dentist or Doctor?

[mestizo212]

Truthfully, whats easier to achieve? (not to offend anyone)

and what is the difference between the admission tests? (harder/easier/topics?)

thanks guys

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[Decan]

Not that I know firsthand what either is like, but I can imagine that neither is easy to achieve. To be completely honest, dont pick a profession based on the level of difficulty...you'll end up hating your life. Go shadow a dentist or your physician and see what they are like and make an educated decision based on that.

 

[arsenewenger]

Truthfully, whats easier to achieve? (not to offend anyone)

and what is the difference between the admission tests? (harder/easier/topics?)

thanks guys

Dentistry is way way much easier.water down version,sort of.

 

[ucla2134]

Whats wrong with those pre-med doing in predent forum?
Now to your question, i think medical school and dental school is both hard to get in nowadays in THE U.S. But but carribean medical school is SO MUCH EASIER TO GET INTO compare to the easiest dental school in U.S.
The representatives of carribean medical school came to my school and advertise how you only need 3.0 and can get into their school. If you need my proof, then go to
http://www.princetonreview.com/medi...listing=1037713&LTID=11&intBucketID=0&destID=

But the downside is that it is hard to get residency after you completed 4 years training.
So i will say medical school is a little bit easier to get into since there are no carribean dental school

 

[2quik]

Truthfully, whats easier to achieve? (not to offend anyone)

> I think dental school admission is a little easier than allopathic med school admission and a little harder than osteopathic med school admission.

and what is the difference between the admission tests? (harder/easier/topics?)

> From what I gather MCAT is harder than DAT.

Which is better Doctor or Dentist?
Obviously dentist! that's why you're asking this in the pre-dent forum

 

[xdianaax]

It varies from person to person. The more drive you have towards something, the easier it will be.

 

[ddstobe]

it probably had been discussed...is it easier to get into dental schools or med schools in the past few years? What is the accepted rate for both schools?

 

[armorshell]

I'm pretty certain medical school is harder to get into, but there's a caveat.

While my med school friends get to sit in a comfortable lecture hall all day, take some notes and go home, I get to slap on a stuffy lab coat and sweat for 8 hours over a microscopic hole I'm trying to put in a plastic tooth, which my instructor will invariable tell me is a piece of crap. All of this while taking exactly the same didactic classes as the med students.

Dental schools always get ragged on as a "backup" but I challenge any of you med students to come try an number 3-MO (Hell, try to take a decent maxillary impression ) and tell me honestly you think it would be easy.

 

[Chrono1984]

Unless someone has had the rare privelege (or torture) of going through and completing BOTH applying/graduating medical AND dental school - should their word honestly hold any weight?

If you pick your profession based on which you perceive to be easier, you are probably going to suck at either one.

This thread is like menstruation. Comes about once a month, lives for close to a week, is full of putrid disgusting dead material that is ultimately worthless, and is a pain in the ass for everyone in the vicinity.

Moving on.

 

[BenignDMD]

Unless someone has had the rare privelege (or torture) of going through and completing BOTH applying/graduating medical AND dental school - should their word honestly hold any weight?

If you pick your profession based on which you perceive to be easier, you are probably going to suck at either one.

This thread is like menstruation. Comes about once a month, lives for close to a week, is full of putrid disgusting dead material that is ultimately worthless, and is a pain in the ass for everyone in the vicinity.

Moving on.

Does the thread smell like rotten tuna?

 

[Mackchops]

I think it's an amusing question and the responses even more so as they vary each time it's asked. For example, I'm surprised nobody has gone all inferiority-complex on this guy and blurted out how there is no difference -- dentists are doctors, blah blah blah.

The consistent theme though is pretty much exactly how armor put it. Gaining admission to dental school is easier. The DAT is a straightforward factual exam and the concensus is that it's easier than the MCAT.

However, once you're in, dental school itself is more time consuming and difficult, if not tedious. Additionally, gaining admission to a dental residency is much more difficult than getting a medical residency -- as a general rule if for no other reason than there are so many more spots for med students.

 

[mestizo212]

^^^ thanks for putting it straight forward. thanks guys

 

[armorshell]

I think it's an amusing question and the responses even more so as they vary each time it's asked. For example, I'm surprised nobody has gone all inferiority-complex on this guy and blurted out how there is no difference -- dentists are doctors, blah blah blah.

Yeah, I'm a little surprised on the lack of inferiority driven response too...maybe this crop of pre-dents is a little more grounded in reality. Just in case there's anyone reading this whose wondering about it, I'm about to enter my fourth week of school and already all the random pre-dental stuff everyone worries about (DAT, GPA, school reputation, Med vs. Dent) is completely gone from almost everyone's mind. You just stop thinking about stuff like that, because you're far too busy for it.

However, once you're in, dental school itself is more time consuming and difficult, if not tedious. Additionally, gaining admission to a dental residency is much more difficult than getting a medical residency -- as a general rule if for no other reason than there are so many more spots for med students.

I think a little clarification is needed for this statement. It's my opinion that for specializing, dental residencies (especially ortho, OMFS and endo) are more competitive on average than all but the most ridiculous medical specialties. But for general dentistry residencies (AEGD and GPR) and the less competitive specialties (public health anyone?) you basically need a pulse and a dental degree.

 

[da8s0859q]

This thread is like menstruation. Comes about once a month, lives for close to a week, is full of putrid disgusting dead material that is ultimately worthless, and is a pain in the ass for everyone in the vicinity.

I am SO ****ing using that.

 

[haemil]

dentists are doctors too. it's dentist or physician.



-dictionary.com
doctor: a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.

physician: a person who is legally qualified to practice medicine; doctor of medicine.


some dentists are VERY sensitive about this.

 

[Meatwad]

Dentistry is way way much easier.water down version,sort of.

"Way way much easier," and "water down version,"; where do I begin?

And your signature is wrong; QofQuimica is a PhD, not an MD and PhD. I didn't even think she got accepted yet.

 

[Meatwad]

dentists are doctors too. it's dentist or physician.



-dictionary.com
doctor: a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.

physician: a person who is legally qualified to practice medicine; doctor of medicine.


some dentists are very sensitive about this.

Well, that's all semantics. When people say "he's a doctor," they are using the parlance of our times, as the Dude would say. In colloquial speech, a doctor is a physician, not anyone holding a doctorate degree. You address the dentist/vet/PhD as Dr. So-and-so, but that doesn't mean they are a "doctor," that most people think of.

 

[ucla2134]

"On one side, without science, a dentist would be nothing but a technician…not a real doctor. Other argues that without the technical skills necessary to manipulate restorative materials, dentist can diagnose but not treat. Both are correct within the limits of their observations. Dentist's goal should be to not only understand the validity of each perspective, but to realize that, without combining them equally in our educational system, we are destined to produce a cadre of incomplete dental professionals. The art and science components of dentistry should never be at odds."
Michael Cohran, D.D.S/M.D

 

[IcemanDDS]

"On one side, without science, a dentist would be nothing but a technician…not a real doctor. Other argues that without the technical skills necessary to manipulate restorative materials, dentist can diagnose but not treat. Both are correct within the limits of their observations. Dentist's goal should be to not only understand the validity of each perspective, but to realize that, without combining them equally in our educational system, we are destined to produce a cadre of incomplete dental professionals. The art and science components of dentistry should never be at odds."
Michael Cohran, D.D.S/M.D

tru dat

 

[vize]

I'm not so sure about dental school being easier to get into than medical school, especially nowadays. From reading on the pre-med forums I saw that the average acceptance rate is somewhere around 10%. Well, take UMICH dental for example, who had 2500+ applicants this past cycle. They accepted 110, which is a 4.4% acceptance rate. If you take into account that medical schools accept hundreds of people per class, coupled with the fact that there's more than twice as many medical schools as there are dental schools, I'd say it's actually harder to get into dental school.

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

I'm not so sure about dental school being easier to get into than medical school, especially nowadays. From reading on the pre-med forums I saw that the average acceptance rate is somewhere around 10%. Well, take UMICH dental for example, who had 2500+ applicants this past cycle. They accepted 110, which is a 4.4% acceptance rate. If you take into account that medical schools accept hundreds of people per class, coupled with the fact that there's more than twice as many medical schools as there are dental schools, I'd say it's actually harder to get into dental school.

The level of difficulty of getting into dental school should not be based on the number of matriculation / total number of applicants. This can be very decieving as there are more than one dental school. For example, say there are 100 people applying for 100 schools and each school accepts only 1 student (each school gets 100 applications). So if a school has 100 applicants and accepts only one then the ratio of acceptance is 1%. However, does this mean that 99% could not get in? No, because 99 others can go elsewhere possibly filling the other 99 spots. So each school may have 1% acceptance rate but everyone is succesful of getting in. Therefore the 1% acceptance ratio may first appear impossible to get a spot, the data later shows that each applicant is 100% successful. Ofcourse, this is to show my point with this simple example. I can say that average entering class GPA is slightly higher for US MD schools than dentals schools and the MCAT is more intensive than the DAT. DP

 

[haemil]

Well, that's all semantics. When people say "he's a doctor," they are using the parlance of our times, as the Dude would say. In colloquial speech, a doctor is a physician, not anyone holding a doctorate degree. You address the dentist/vet/PhD as Dr. So-and-so, but that doesn't mean they are a "doctor," that most people think of.

of course. I was just remembering that the dentist I shadowed was emphasizing the difference, and as pre-dents, we don't want to upset any dentists or adcoms by not distinguishing them as they like

 

[johntara04]

The level of difficulty of getting into dental school should not be based on the number of matriculation / total number of applicants. This can be very decieving as there are more than one dental school. For example, say there are 100 people applying for 100 schools and each school accepts only 1 student (each school gets 100 applications). So if a school has 100 applicants and accepts only one then the ratio of acceptance is 1%. However, does this mean that 99% could not get in? No, because 99 others can go elsewhere possibly filling the other 99 spots. So each school may have 1% acceptance rate but everyone is succesful of getting in. Therefore the 1% acceptance ratio may first appear impossible to get a spot, the data later shows that each applicant is 100% successful. Ofcourse, this is to show my point with this simple example. I can say that average entering class GPA is slightly higher for US MD schools than dentals schools and the MCAT is more intensive than the DAT. DP

The same could be said about medical schools. I think the better telling stat would be % off applicants accepted overall. If they % is close to equal, then maybe dental is a little easier because of the DAT vs. MCAT. You also have to remember the being a DO gives you basically the same opportunities as being a MD. Does that make med easier to get into?

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

of course. I was just remembering that the dentist I shadowed was emphasizing the difference, and as pre-dents, we don't want to upset any dentists or adcoms by not distinguishing them as they like

A few years ago, on the ADA journal there was some discussions about the term "doctor versus dentist" as well. We can spend all day dissecting the term but the moral of the story is:

1. Dentist is a doctor just like lawyer, optometrist, engineer with PhD, chiropractor, or anyone with recognized doctorate degrees.

2. In layman's term (for John Q the Public), a doctor is a physician (medical doctor). End of story.

There are some dentists who are offended when they hear people say " Are you a doctor or dentist? ". They shouldn't be. Everybody knows dentist is a doctor. They ask the way they do is because that's how it is understood and implied. Since there are some AC people who get offended in such , please use the term "physician" rather than doctor when you refer to MD/DOs. DP

 

[t man]

what a refreshingly new topic.

 

[Regmata]

Truthfully, whats easier to achieve? (not to offend anyone)

> I think dental school admission is a little easier than allopathic med school admission and a little harder than osteopathic med school admission.

and what is the difference between the admission tests? (harder/easier/topics?)

> From what I gather MCAT is harder than DAT.

Which is better Doctor or Dentist?
Obviously dentist! that's why you're asking this in the pre-dent forum

Last year my brother went through the Med school application process as I went through the dental school application process. From our accounts, this seems pretty accurate.

 

[Meatwad]

of course. I was just remembering that the dentist I shadowed was emphasizing the difference, and as pre-dents, we don't want to upset any dentists or adcoms by not distinguishing them as they like

I wouldn't fluff some adcoms ego for a spot; if I was asked, I would give the same opinion I stated earlier.

 

[da8s0859q]

what a refreshingly new topic.

Always interesting to read, at least for some of us.