You don't need the MBA to run a dental practice. You need an MBA to be an investment banker or for some jobs on Wall Street. If you are really convinced you need an MBA for some reason, get the work experience first and then take an executive MBA program.
As an MBA (who went to a top-ten b-school), I think I can offer some real perspective on this. The person quoted above is absolutely right. The business knowledge that you need in order to practice dentistry in a private practice setting will
not be taught to you in business school. The majority MBA curriculum is catered toward people who want to work for large multi-million dollar corporations, not for people who want to work in small businesses (which is what a dental practice would be). An MBA is a very useful tool (contrary to what "Mr. Toilet Paper" was saying above), but it is only useful if you apply it to the right setting...and a dental practice is not the right setting for an MBA.
You will get ten times
more useful information if you attend a few practice management courses and seminars, than if you went and got your MBA.
If, however, your plan is to work for insurance companies or a major corporation that is focused on providing dental machinery, products, sales of dental equipment, etc...then an MBA will be valuable. If you just want to practice dentistry and see patients, I'm not sure an MBA will give you the most bang for the buck when it comes to practice managment. There are more efficient ways to gain small business practice management information...
If you still plan to do an MBA, many big business schools have a part-time MBA program (with evening classes) that you can enroll in. Go take your GMAT, apply to these schools, and take your classes.
FYI, I'll be quitting my corporate job soon in order to go back to school and start fresh with pre-dental pre-reqs. Feel free to PM if you have questions.
