Denitstry or med school????

[speter33]

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I've been wrestling with the decision of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life for a year now. I finally narrowed it down to two choices, with my 3.3 gpa I can either I go to one of the islands' Medical Schools or become a dentist.
One of my problems with med school is the uncertainty of getting a residency, also many doctors don't make more than dentists, and that it'll take me 7 years (including residency) until i see any kind of money and I'll be too old to bang hot chicks in miny skirts.
On the other hand a dentist has to look at teeth all day, high suicide rates, and everyone walking into your office is scared sh*tless.
If you guys can shed some light on how you made your decisions I'll be very grateful. ;-)

 

[poetikfuzion]

LOL, the suicide rate rumor is an age old tale...dont believe it. As for the money, any career is worth mentioning the money but as for dentistry, don't only do it for the money. I know you know this but its terribly true...please don't. I can't help you make up your decision and I only replied because im horribly bored right now, but I think you could get into a good amount of dental schools having scored well on the DAT. Good luck in whatever you do...its your decision.

 

[UBTom]

Originally posted by speter33
On the other hand a dentist has to look at teeth all day, high suicide rates, and everyone walking into your office is scared sh*tless.

Sounds to me like you find dentistry disdainful. Perhaps dentistry is not for you, then.

 

[ItsGavinC]

And not only that, but it sounds as though the OP hasn't done ANY real research into modern dentistry.

Seinfeld episodes don't count.

 

[Balki]

speter33, Dentists are doctors who as many members on this forum mention do not look simply "look at teeth all day" but treat people. Before getting into any profession and making quick decisions about it you SHOULD explore it first. And money is just such a small portion of your life that I would not make decisions based on that. Become a lawer or something, they make tons of money. Dentistry and Medicine are hard work, both demand an enormous amount of dedication so if you are doing this for money I can't see you succeding. Moreover, I can't refrain myself from warning you that unless you have absolutely great MCAT scores, even med schools on the ISland will be a long shot for you. Many of my friends from very competative Undergrad schools with similiar gpa and decent Mcats were regected on the Islands.

And Lastly, I think it's quite rude, for you to throw such narrow characterization
of any profession and especially Dentistry. Read about dentistry on this forum you'll find many great things, then look into the profession and see if it's for you. But do not consider it as a backup (there is also a great deal of information about that on this forum) or as many suggested you'll be mesarable.

Balki

 

[zimaad]

I agree that if you are making a decision based on money and time alone, then your heart isn't in it and you'll likely end up unhappy or changing professions anyways...so then you would have wasted a lot of time and money anyways.

For your own sake, try shadowing a dentist for a week and see what they really do, how they interact with patients, diagnose cases, treat cases, and operate on a daily basis. Do the same for a doctor of some sort. Maybe even go observe some specialties of dentistry and the medical field. See what catches your interest. If it ends up the $$$ is all you see, then it will come through in your med/dental school interviews and eventually in treatment of patients.

I can somewhat speak from experience in that I have gone back to school for dentistry after pursuing engineering, which I found out isn't my passion. Now, after 7 years of engineering to get a BS and MS and 2 years of work, I'm back in school for something else...which after a lot of research and involvement seems really fun and rewarding.

 

[NDBeast]

Speter, I think you shoudl really think about it. As the other forum members have said, spend time shadowing a doctor and a dentist. One of my mom's best friends is a dentist. She loves the money she makes, but hated the job ever since day 1! You don't want to be like that, trust me.

 

[vishal_k32801]

I know a very brilliant dentist who at least makes $500,000
per year. Hates his work, loves the money...so what is he doing?
He is now an angel investor in bunch of successful high tech
companies making millions. My guess is he will stop working soon
as a dentist because he found something very interesting to do.
It is well know that Ebay is a brain child of a heart surgeon.

So, if you are brilliant enough to get in med school or dental school, you may be able to do whatever you want down the road.
Thats one way to look at it.

 

[mcataz]

You said it yourself: "You have to look at teeth all day." Don't be a dentist because ultimately you have to be able to enjoy your work. The money will be there but dentists don't mind teeth at all. In fact, many of us find teeth to be fascinating.

I have never heard anyone not get a residency going to AUC, Ross and St. George if they passed Step 1. You may have to do a residency in the ghetto but you will still get one.

You need to research medical schools in the Caribbean before you can decide between medicine and dentistry. Some of your statements are simply baseless. Besides, you are competitive for some DO schools. Why not do DO? Patients don't care about the DO title. The only people who criticize DO's are a few stuck up MD'.s Most MD's don't even see the difference these days. As a DO, you would have an advantage over Carribean MD grads when getting residencies. U.S. graduates are more respected whether are an MD or a DO when compared to foreign trained graduates.

 

[DDSdude]

I have some friends who are both. From what I have seen and heard from them (and the MD friends of mine are not stuck up by any stretch of the imagination and the DO's don't have a chip on their shoulders because of the title) there is still somewhat of a stigma between the two. I have also been around them when others ask them what they do for a living and the say they are a doctor and then they are asked an MD or DO. When they answer DO, the person asking the question usually loses interest. The MD gets the follow-up questions. Or the DO hears, "so you are a family doctor".

They have said it is getting better than what it used to be though.

Just my experience.🙂

 

[freedyx3]

I personally think that people who still think that dentists have the highest suicide rate should be banned from dentistry

 

[speter33]

Wow guys thanx a lot for all the replies. I only decided that dentistry might be a good choice for me this summer. Right now I am taking my last undergrad semester and studying for the DATs which i hope to take in early November/late october. Right after that I plan to shadow a dentist and later apply to dental schools in january
If anyone has good advice on how to find a dentist to shadow, or one that would allow someone to volunteer in his office please let me know. I was thinking of asking my dentist at my next check up but I'm afraid it might put him in an uncomftable position. Since most dentists are business men how do I find oen alltruistic enough to throw me a bone?


Thank you all, I owe you

I haven't seen a message board this helpful since finding one on how to grow weed guerilla style www.overgrow.com

 

[mcataz]

Originally posted by DDSdude
I have some friends who are both. From what I have seen and heard from them (and the MD friends of mine are not stuck up by any stretch of the imagination and the DO's don't have a chip on their shoulders because of the title) there is still somewhat of a stigma between the two. I have also been around them when others ask them what they do for a living and the say they are a doctor and then they are asked an MD or DO. When they answer DO, the person asking the question usually loses interest. The MD gets the follow-up questions. Or the DO hears, "so you are a family doctor".

They have said it is getting better than what it used to be though.

Just my experience.🙂

Of course there is a stigma. I'm not denying that. You should try to go to a U.S. MD allopathic school if possible. But if you are faced with the choice of attending a foreing MD school vs. a US DO osteopathic school, you should choose the latter. Foreign trained MD are disciminated against even further than DO's. And certain areas of the country are more tolerant of DO's than other parts. The Midwest is particularly DO friendly while the east coast is not as tolerant. Foreign MD and DO's are both discriminated against in acquiring residencies in allopathic (MD) specialtyresidency training programs. The difference is that DO's at least have access to their own DO residency programs. So if you are DO, you have the opportunity to become a specialist in many fields. However, foreign MD's are pretty much limited to primary care fields since U.S. MD grads occupy those specialist position. And foreign MD's don't have access to osteopathic residencies like DO's do. So if you want to specialize, don't bother going to a foreign medical school if you can get into a DO school. Also, I want to add that at AZCOM, where I'm doing a post-bacc, 75% of their graduates got into MD residency training programs.

 

[Balki]

speter33, ask! you'll be surprised how enthusiastic some dentists are about showing you what dentistry is like. The dentist I am working with was showing me around and explaining stuff for the first two times. But then gave me a mixing pad, and made me mix Temp Bond. You can imagine how excited I was. ( I still work with him)
To make the story short if your dentist doesn't agree look around in your neighborhood or ask around and then just go to their office (hopefully he/she 'll have a minute) and tell them about your interest in Dentistry.

Good luck.

 

[zimaad]

Most dentists are more than happy to let you watch them and explain things as they go. I went to my personal dentist and have been observing there since last January. Also, if there are any dental schools in your area, you can often observe residents and many have volunteer assisting programs where you get to help 3rd and 4th year dental students.