Between a med and dental school, which one would choose?

[metallicat]

Go medical if not sure. Way more options once you're in it. If in dental and you don't like fixing teeth, you only have a few options (path, radiology and sort of omfs) to do something not involved in fixing or manipulating teeth.

Dentistry is also quite boring. For the average gp there's a limited number of things to do (filling, crown, Endo, exo) for the majority of patients. There are complex cases of course, but those are the minority. If you are happy grinding out what amounts to exacting physical labour but for a very high wage, do dentistry. If you want to be intelectually stimulated and solve problems, medicine will have more to offer.

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[dentistreason]

Go medical if not sure. Way more options once you're in it. If in dental and you don't like fixing teeth, you only have a few options (path, radiology and sort of omfs) to do something not involved in fixing or manipulating teeth.

Dentistry is also quite boring. For the average gp there's a limited number of things to do (filling, crown, Endo, exo) for the majority of patients. There are complex cases of course, but those are the minority. If you are happy grinding out what amounts to exacting physical labour but for a very high wage, do dentistry. If you want to be intelectually stimulated and solve problems, medicine will have more to offer.

Seems like the average pediatrician and internist just looks at fevers all day as well (for the majority of patients as you say). Not much to offer there

 

[metallicat]

Seems like the average pediatrician and internist just looks at fevers all day as well (for the majority of patients as you say). Not much to offer there

Do you actually think a dentist has a more varied and intellectually stimulating job than an internist? better pay per hour, less stress maybe

 

[embrojam]

Why is DO a year less than MD? Or was it just for you, because of applications et al?

 

[dentistreason]

Do you actually think a dentist has a more varied and intellectually stimulating job than an internist? better pay per hour, less stress maybe

I honestly don't find diagnosing fevers that interesting, but I guess if you do then more power to you. Maybe it's because the dentist I shadowed did more procedures than the typical dentist.

 

[Miley Cyrus.]

I would do med. I'm in dental school and I have zero interest in dentistry. It does not excite me one bit. I hate drilling, I hate being in sim lab, and I find it very intellectually unengaging. I think if I had to do it again I would do med, and I would also have attended an easier undergrad. Medicine is much more interesting and much more versatile. You also have more room for creativity and entrepreneurship and innovation. I don't feel dentistry is as great in that regard.

Dentistry is physically grueling and if you aren't up for that, you can't do squat except for maybe oral path/rad (both have bad job prospects and pay very little). With all the psych reimbursements going up, I feel like psychiatry is a good job now. I wouldn't mind being a MD pathologist either. Medicine has decent specialties where you don't have to deal with procedures. Dentistry is ALMOST always procedures, with no alternative. Also DDS academic jobs pay peanuts compared to MD academic jobs.

I also feel that in medicine, if you aren't doing that well, you will still have a decent income. When you are in dentistry and not doing well, you may NOT have a decent income. I feel like medicine is overall much more financially secure. Although the government is taking over medicine, things won't be so bad where most MDs will be lower than $200k. Government hasn't taken over dentistry yet, but who knows whether it will remain that way (I doubt it will). And if it does happen, dentists I feel will be in a worse position financially, compared to their MD counterparts.

 

[metallicat]

I would do med. I'm in dental school and I have zero interest in dentistry. It does not excite me one bit. I hate drilling, I hate being in sim lab, and I find it very intellectually unengaging. I think if I had to do it again I would do med, and I would also have attended an easier undergrad. Medicine is much more interesting and much more versatile. You also have more room for creativity and entrepreneurship and innovation. I don't feel dentistry is as great in that regard.

Dentistry is physically grueling and if you aren't up for that, you can't do squat except for maybe oral path/rad (both have bad job prospects and pay very little). With all the psych reimbursements going up, I feel like psychiatry is a good job now. I wouldn't mind being a MD pathologist either. Medicine has decent specialties where you don't have to deal with procedures. Dentistry is ALMOST always procedures, with no alternative. Also DDS academic jobs pay peanuts compared to MD academic jobs.

I also feel that in medicine, if you aren't doing that well, you will still have a decent income. When you are in dentistry and not doing well, you may NOT have a decent income. I feel like medicine is overall much more financially secure. Although the government is taking over medicine, things won't be so bad where most MDs will be lower than $200k. Government hasn't taken over dentistry yet, but who knows whether it will remain that way (I doubt it will). And if it does happen, dentists I feel will be in a worse position financially, compared to their MD counterparts.

Since you hate it so much, what is your plan? And pathologists and radiologists don't have that bad of prospects, however you definitely do not get financial return on your investment of going back to school.

 

[toothsleuth11]

I would do med. I'm in dental school and I have zero interest in dentistry. It does not excite me one bit. I hate drilling, I hate being in sim lab, and I find it very intellectually unengaging. I think if I had to do it again I would do med, and I would also have attended an easier undergrad. Medicine is much more interesting and much more versatile. You also have more room for creativity and entrepreneurship and innovation. I don't feel dentistry is as great in that regard.

Dentistry is physically grueling and if you aren't up for that, you can't do squat except for maybe oral path/rad (both have bad job prospects and pay very little). With all the psych reimbursements going up, I feel like psychiatry is a good job now. I wouldn't mind being a MD pathologist either. Medicine has decent specialties where you don't have to deal with procedures. Dentistry is ALMOST always procedures, with no alternative. Also DDS academic jobs pay peanuts compared to MD academic jobs.

I also feel that in medicine, if you aren't doing that well, you will still have a decent income. When you are in dentistry and not doing well, you may NOT have a decent income. I feel like medicine is overall much more financially secure. Although the government is taking over medicine, things won't be so bad where most MDs will be lower than $200k. Government hasn't taken over dentistry yet, but who knows whether it will remain that way (I doubt it will). And if it does happen, dentists I feel will be in a worse position financially, compared to their MD counterparts.

hehehe another person with no hand skills who chose to be a dentist. My guess is miley cyrus went in thinking he/she would be an orthodontist and is slowly realizing that general is what they are going to be stuck doing. Look on the bright side miley! Everybody knows dentistry>medicine. Dentists work 1-2 days a week, make tons of money, and sit on boats the rest of the days they are off. Whats there not to love? Golf too...i forgot about golf

 

[Sublimazing]

Since you hate it so much, what is your plan? And pathologists and radiologists don't have that bad of prospects, however you definitely do not get financial return on your investment of going back to school.

he was referring to Oral Path and Oral Radiology, two very very small professions.

and i'm with @Miley Cyrus....i HATED dental school. I was somewhat close to dropping out 2nd year...but because of the financial investment and the uncertainty that I'd get into a medical school after dropping out of a dental school made me stay in. I hated it for many years...i ended up doing a med track GPR...which led to anesthesia...which led to OMFS and medical school.

I worked my butt off to turn my situation around, but not everyone will be as fortunate as me. When I meet people or hear from people who are in year 1 or year 3 of dental school I tell them "drop out". You'll have debt, to be sure, but doctors and dentists both make enough that the debt only truly burdens you for the first few years after graduating.

It's a very personal choice. And while feedback from other people doesn't usually hurt (though it was actually detrimental for me), in the end you have to sit down and come up with a realistic projection of where your career/life is headed and figure out which path will make you happier.

 

[Miley Cyrus.]

hehehe another person with no hand skills who chose to be a dentist. My guess is miley cyrus went in thinking he/she would be an orthodontist and is slowly realizing that general is what they are going to be stuck doing. Look on the bright side miley! Everybody knows dentistry>medicine. Dentists work 1-2 days a week, make tons of money, and sit on boats the rest of the days they are off. Whats there not to love? Golf too...i forgot about golf

Ya ok whatever.."dentists work 1-2 days a week" and "make tons of money"...lol you have no idea what you are talking about. And um no, I went into dental school, knowing I wanted to be a GP. You seem to be very immature and have no idea what you are talking about. My guess is that you are one of those naive dental students who lives in a hole and doesn't know $hit about what is going on in the real world.

 

[Miley Cyrus.]

he was referring to Oral Path and Oral Radiology, two very very small professions.

and i'm with @Miley Cyrus....i HATED dental school. I was somewhat close to dropping out 2nd year...but because of the financial investment and the uncertainty that I'd get into a medical school after dropping out of a dental school made me stay in. I hated it for many years...i ended up doing a med track GPR...which led to anesthesia...which led to OMFS and medical school.

I worked my butt off to turn my situation around, but not everyone will be as fortunate as me. When I meet people or hear from people who are in year 1 or year 3 of dental school I tell them "drop out". You'll have debt, to be sure, but doctors and dentists both make enough that the debt only truly burdens you for the first few years after graduating.

It's a very personal choice. And while feedback from other people doesn't usually hurt (though it was actually detrimental for me), in the end you have to sit down and come up with a realistic projection of where your career/life is headed and figure out which path will make you happier.

Haha thanks. Nice to hear you were able to get what you wanted.

What I try to remember is what I've heard from other dentists: "Dental school is not dentistry in the real world"

Since you hate it so much, what is your plan? And pathologists and radiologists don't have that bad of prospects, however you definitely do not get financial return on your investment of going back to school.

i was under the impression that oral path/oral radio are very difficult. It is pretty much limited to the confines of academia, and there are very few jobs (most pay mediocre)

 

[metallicat]

i was under the impression that oral path/oral radio are very difficult. It is pretty much limited to the confines of academia, and there are very few jobs (most pay mediocre)

I was referring to oral path and oral radiology. Will need to be affiliated with academic institution. There are good perks associated with this tho (pension for example). Don't have to deal with running your own practice of it isn't your thing. Likely have opportunity to do some teaching and research.

Definitely not for everyone, but a solid option for someone in dental school who hates dentistry.

 

[dentistreason]

Ya ok whatever.."dentists work 1-2 days a week" and "make tons of money"...lol you have no idea what you are talking about. And um no, I went into dental school, knowing I wanted to be a GP. You seem to be very immature and have no idea what you are talking about. My guess is that you are one of those naive dental students who lives in a hole and doesn't know $hit about what is going on in the real world.

The median of many dental specialties (endodontics, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery) all run upwards of 300k per year. If you're not smart enough to get into one of those, I highly doubt you are smart enough to get into a desired medical specialty that either pays very well or has a good lifestyle. You would likely either do general medicine (whose base pay is not much better if at all than general dent if matched hourly rates) or a specialty that is all around worse lifestyle wise. Dentists don't necessarily work 1-2 days a week or make tons of money, but if equalized with general medicine by hours, they at least have the option of choosing a better lifestyle. And there are associates that make as much as pediatricians or internal med. You also mention that you should have gone to an easier undergraduate school. If you can't get into medical school with your undergrad, how are you supposed to compete with kids who have gone to much harder schools?

 

[Miley Cyrus.]

The median of many dental specialties (endodontics, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery) all run upwards of 300k per year. If you're not smart enough to get into one of those, I highly doubt you are smart enough to get into a desired medical specialty that either pays very well or has a good lifestyle. You would likely either do general medicine (whose base pay is not much better if at all than general dent if matched hourly rates) or a specialty that is all around worse lifestyle wise. Dentists don't necessarily work 1-2 days a week or make tons of money, but if equalized with general medicine by hours, they at least have the option of choosing a better lifestyle. And there are associates that make as much as pediatricians or internal med. You also mention that you should have gone to an easier undergraduate school. If you can't get into medical school with your undergrad, how are you supposed to compete with kids who have gone to much harder schools?

I think you are making a lot of assumptions based on very limited evidence. You don't know my undergrad record, and why I said I would have like to have gone to an easier undergraduate school. You also assume that I am not doing well in dental school and do not have a high class rank. I never mentioned any of that. Let's try to stay on topic here, instead of making this a personal thread.

 

[Sublimazing]

The median of many dental specialties (endodontics, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery) all run upwards of 300k per year. If you're not smart enough to get into one of those, I highly doubt you are smart enough to get into a desired medical specialty that either pays very well or has a good lifestyle. You would likely either do general medicine (whose base pay is not much better if at all than general dent if matched hourly rates) or a specialty that is all around worse lifestyle wise. Dentists don't necessarily work 1-2 days a week or make tons of money, but if equalized with general medicine by hours, they at least have the option of choosing a better lifestyle. And there are associates that make as much as pediatricians or internal med. You also mention that you should have gone to an easier undergraduate school. If you can't get into medical school with your undergrad, how are you supposed to compete with kids who have gone to much harder schools?

I respectfully disagree with your statement that it is HARDER for dental students to match to Ortho/OMFS as compared to the various medical specialties for medical students. Ortho and OMFS both have MATCH rates of ~56% ortho (2015) and 60% omfs (2015). Whereas the data for the 2014 medical match has PRS (integrated plastics) as the lowest match rates for it's applicants and it sat at 71% last year. If you examine the "ROAD" specialties Anesthesia has a 96% match rate, Radiology has a 99% match rate and ortho/derm were about 77% (didn't see ophthalmology when i looked) Even Emergency Med is 93% and that's one of the trendy ones right now. I know these numbers can be twerked to prove many differing points, but the bottom line is that it is EASIER for a medical student to get into a sought-after residency than a it is for a dental student to match into a sought-after dental residency.

I will agree with you that the most popular residency is Internal Med (what I think you meant by general medicine) as in 2014 6500 applicants matched where as the next highest was below 3000...but we also have to account for the fact that MANY of the people who do internal med then go on to do Nephro, Caridiology, GI, Critical Care, and what-have you. Nearly ALL of these specialities make more on average than a GP dentist.

Finally, I agree the dollars/hour metric is far higher in dentistry. In 2010 your average dentist worked either 31 or 33 hours per week!!!! (depending on whether or not they owned the practice)...your average Internist works 55+ hours per week. The average income of internists in 2014 was 188k (varied more than I expected by geographic region and whether they owned their own business). And while the "reported" incomes for dentists are typically low (130-140k) I suspect reported and actual income differ by tens of thousands as dentistry is a lot of small business/independent contractors...whereas in medicine I believe most Internists work as Hospital Employees with a much more accurate reported income.

Again though, this is such a personal choice. The numbers are nice to get an idea...but we all know that General Dentist who works 30 hours a week and makes a million dollars...and all medical students know that Psychiatrist that makes the same.

 

[dentistreason]

I respectfully disagree with your statement that it is HARDER for dental students to match to Ortho/OMFS as compared to the various medical specialties for medical students. Ortho and OMFS both have MATCH rates of ~56% ortho (2015) and 60% omfs (2015). Whereas the data for the 2014 medical match has PRS (integrated plastics) as the lowest match rates for it's applicants and it sat at 71% last year. If you examine the "ROAD" specialties Anesthesia has a 96% match rate, Radiology has a 99% match rate and ortho/derm were about 77% (didn't see ophthalmology when i looked) Even Emergency Med is 93% and that's one of the trendy ones right now. I know these numbers can be twerked to prove many differing points, but the bottom line is that it is EASIER for a medical student to get into a sought-after residency than a it is for a dental student to match into a sought-after dental residency.

I will agree with you that the most popular residency is Internal Med (what I think you meant by general medicine) as in 2014 6500 applicants matched where as the next highest was below 3000...but we also have to account for the fact that MANY of the people who do internal med then go on to do Nephro, Caridiology, GI, Critical Care, and what-have you. Nearly ALL of these specialities make more on average than a GP dentist.

Finally, I agree the dollars/hour metric is far higher in dentistry. In 2010 your average dentist worked either 31 or 33 hours per week!!!! (depending on whether or not they owned the practice)...your average Internist works 55+ hours per week. The average income of internists in 2014 was 188k (varied more than I expected by geographic region and whether they owned their own business). And while the "reported" incomes for dentists are typically low (130-140k) I suspect reported and actual income differ by tens of thousands as dentistry is a lot of small business/independent contractors...whereas in medicine I believe most Internists work as Hospital Employees with a much more accurate reported income.

Again though, this is such a personal choice. The numbers are nice to get an idea...but we all know that General Dentist who works 30 hours a week and makes a million dollars...and all medical students know that Psychiatrist that makes the same.

You have to realize that medical students are all around harder to compete with on average though. The match rate may be lower for dental, but the competition is not as rigorous. For example, the average gpa and DAT for upenn in 2014 is 3.65 and 21.5 (unless it was updated- I checked their website). A typical medical school (not even top 50) has a much higher gpa average (usually 3.75 up). I am also mostly comparing dental specialties to medical ones and general dent to internal med. But yes all the points you are making are very sound.

 

[nonociceptors]

When I meet people or hear from people who are in year 1 or year 3 of dental school I tell them "drop out".

I really hope you botched the sentence and meant something along the lines of "When I meet people *who are miserable* in dental school I tell them to drop out." Otherwise...

 

[Sublimazing]

I really hope you botched the sentence and meant something along the lines of "When I meet people *who are miserable* in dental school I tell them to drop out." Otherwise...

Nah, i stand outside of dental schools with a large sign around my neck that reads "the end is near...drop out"

 

[Prepharm21]

It's all about what type of job you would like to do for the rest of you life, you really have to think about it shadow both! Please help me with my question?

 

[charlestweed]

I would do med. I'm in dental school and I have zero interest in dentistry. It does not excite me one bit. I hate drilling, I hate being in sim lab, and I find it very intellectually unengaging. I think if I had to do it again I would do med, and I would also have attended an easier undergrad. Medicine is much more interesting and much more versatile. You also have more room for creativity and entrepreneurship and innovation. I don't feel dentistry is as great in that regard.

Dentistry is physically grueling and if you aren't up for that, you can't do squat except for maybe oral path/rad (both have bad job prospects and pay very little). With all the psych reimbursements going up, I feel like psychiatry is a good job now. I wouldn't mind being a MD pathologist either. Medicine has decent specialties where you don't have to deal with procedures. Dentistry is ALMOST always procedures, with no alternative. Also DDS academic jobs pay peanuts compared to MD academic jobs.

I also feel that in medicine, if you aren't doing that well, you will still have a decent income. When you are in dentistry and not doing well, you may NOT have a decent income. I feel like medicine is overall much more financially secure. Although the government is taking over medicine, things won't be so bad where most MDs will be lower than $200k. Government hasn't taken over dentistry yet, but who knows whether it will remain that way (I doubt it will). And if it does happen, dentists I feel will be in a worse position financially, compared to their MD counterparts.

I used to think like you when I were still a dental student. I didn't really have a choice. I took the MCAT twice and realized that I had zero chance of getting accepted to med school. Two months after taking the MCAT, I took the DAT and went to dental school and not having to waste any of my undergrad years. I chose dentistry without knowing what the profession is like. The reason was simple: going to dental school was better than having a useless BS degree in Biology. While at dental school (which shares the same lecture halls with med school), I wished I were smart like the med students every time I saw them walking around with cool looking white coats on them. I idolized my cousin, who went to the same undergrad college with me, graduated magna cum laude, and got accepted to med school.

When I completed my ortho residency and got my first 6-figured salary job as an associate orthodontist, I began to realize that I had the best job in the world. I couldn't believe that I got paid so well for doing very simple and stress-free procedures every day. And the patients are always appreciative of what I've done for them. Unlike my younger brother, my bother-in-law and my cousin, who are all doctors, I never have to think about work all the time when I am at home. My cousin is an MD anesthesiologist and he doesn't like his job very much. It's no fun having to sleep at the hospital away from his wife and kids 5-6 days per month. As an anesthesiologist, he has to bill the patients separately. And many times, he doesn't get paid because the patients don't have insurance or are illegal immigrants. Now looking back, I am glad that I am not smart enough for med school. People like doing challenging life saving procedures but for me, I just want to do simple things, which have almost zero chance of getting a lawsuit.

 

[gn4]

why not do both?

 

[dentistreason]

I used to think like you when I were still a dental student. I didn't really have a choice. I took the MCAT twice and realized that I had zero chance of getting accepted to med school. Two months after taking the MCAT, I took the DAT and went to dental school and not having to waste any of my undergrad years. I chose dentistry without knowing what the profession is like. The reason was simple: going to dental school was better than having a useless BS degree in Biology. While at dental school (which shares the same lecture halls with med school), I wished I were smart like the med students every time I saw them walking around with cool looking white coats on them. I idolized my cousin, who went to the same undergrad college with me, graduated magna cum laude, and got accepted to med school.

When I completed my ortho residency and got my first 6-figured salary job as an associate orthodontist, I began to realize that I had the best job in the world. I couldn't believe that I got paid so well for doing very simple and stress-free procedures every day. And the patients are always appreciative of what I've done for them. Unlike my younger brother, my bother-in-law and my cousin, who are all doctors, I never have to think about work all the time when I am at home. My cousin is an MD anesthesiologist and he doesn't like his job very much. It's no fun having to sleep at the hospital away from his wife and kids 5-6 days per month. As an anesthesiologist, he has to bill the patients separately. And many times, he doesn't get paid because the patients don't have insurance or are illegal immigrants. Now looking back, I am glad that I am not smart enough for med school. People like doing challenging life saving procedures but for me, I just want to do simple things, which have almost zero chance of getting a lawsuit.

Times are a bit different now. People smart enough to go to medical school often choose dentistry (to get jobs with better lifestyles, like yours). Not trying to insult your path or anything, but it's a bit less of a 2nd choice or can't get into med school choose dentistry thing.

 

[W19]

@charlestweed You were very wise!

 

[free99]

@charlestweed You were very wise!

Lucky* might be a more appropriate adjective to describe someone who went to dental school on a whim and happened to like the career.

 

[W19]

Lucky* might be a more appropriate adjective top describe someone who went to dental school on a whim and happened to like to career.

Maybe wise and lucky... I have a friend that is attending med school in Mexico now because becoming a physician is the ONLY profession that will make him happy. I tried to tell him to try PA or NP instead of taking that risky approach, and he distanced himself from me because of that.

 

[shallsen]

Lucky* might be a more appropriate adjective top describe someone who went to dental school on a whim and happened to like to career.

there are a lot of similarities between medicine and dentistry. I personally don't get the hate when people are curious about both careers. There's so much overlap, I do think that some people interested in healthcare and helping people would be interested in both fields. Lots of shadowing and volunteering in clinics is the way to help solidify the decision

 

[free99]

there are a lot of similarities between medicine and dentistry. I personally don't get the hate when people are curious about both careers. There's so much overlap, I do think that some people interested in healthcare and helping people would be interested in both fields. Lots of shadowing and volunteering in clinics is the way to help solidify the decision

For sure. No hate here, I was just giving charlestweed a hard time, he's one of my favorite contributors to the forum.

 

[The Anhedonia]

just do OMFS that way you get both

 

[charlestweed]

Lucky* might be a more appropriate adjective to describe someone who went to dental school on a whim and happened to like the career.

Yes, I must admit that I am a very lucky person. What's not to like about orthodontics? It's equivalent to dermatology in medicine. Easy work, easy money, good hours, low overhead, no needles, no blood, no back pain, no sore fingers, no dental phobic patients, and mostly healthy friendly kids etc and etc.

I think the job that both interests you and provides you with good income doesn't really exist in this world. To be successful in any profession, one needs to work hard. And no one wants to work hard because that's against human nature. One needs to learn to love his/her job, especially when the entire family depends on the income from that job. Many of my wife's dental classmates thought it was a mistake when she chose to specialize in perio. She too thought it was a mistake after hearing so negative comments about perio from these people. Despite all these, she decided to complete the perio training because of the huge additional amount of student loans that she already invested in. Since none of the private perio offices hired her, she decided to work 4 days/week for a GP, who has 3 offices, at $500/day rate. She worked hard to help the GP owner getting more implant cases but there were not enough patients to keep her busy. She felt bad for the GP owner, who had to pay her for sitting around doing nothing. So she decided to purchase an existing office from a retired perio and cut down the associate days at the GP offices. The take-home lesson here is my wife has never given up her specialty despite all the difficulties she faced at the beginning. Now that all the loans are paid off, my wife has the freedom to book the patients on the time slot that she wants so she can spend time taking care of our kids. After seeing so many parents, who are struggling to find time to care for their kids, my wife is glad she made the decision to spend 3 extra years to do perio residency. And she too took the MCAT before switching to dental.