Dental, Medicine, or Management

[Dentlow]

Hey,

I was wondering what everyones opinion is about the future of healthcare and the best jobs in it. I have always wanted to be a dentist, then I thought about going into medicine but with all these changes and the time and opportunity cost I am now thinking of getting a Masters in Healthcare Management. Does anyone know anything about healthcare management and the future of the field and if its worth it even? I saw some job posting requiring a nursing or other medical degree and was wondering how common this is too.

Thanks!

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[lyana]

You have always wanted to be a dentist? then why not go into dentistry?
Go shadow each of them and see what you like. Those 3 are absolutely different fields, not sure how can you even compare them.

 

[deleted763299]

I have always wanted to be a dentist, then I thought about going into medicine but with all these changes and the time and opportunity cost I am now thinking of getting a Masters in Healthcare Management.

This strikes me as an odd question, being that you start out saying the above. I think a pertinent question to ask yourself is: do you want to be directly involved with patient care?

• If the answer to that question is yes, then you need some kind of health professional education (MD/DO, DDS/DMD, etc.). Which kind is another issue entirely.
• If the answer is "I'm not sure..." then that is what you need to figure out!
• If the answer is no, then don't go to med school or dental school. That seat in said school is better used by someone that wants to render patient care.

Disclaimer: I have no management or business experience whatsoever.

 

[laughingfrog]

If you have the connections or business acumen then there is no comparison to dentistry for time:reward ratio... A friend has an uncle who owns a practice in a wealthy locale and offered it to her if she becomes a dentist.. Rakes in 1mil+ a year and works four 6 hour days per week. Amazing... But you need connections or to really strike gold in some unsaturated market or start with ton of capital to begin with in order to make it there in my opinion. Next up is management, I think that's a great option if it's being done at a top school where you can network and your pedigree does precede you in these fields. Lastly is medicine, they earn but they work for it for the most part. I am looking into MBA / MD because I have seen what clinicians do and I don't like how in the big picture they are just workerbees for the fat cats

 

[Dentlow]

The only reason that is pushing me away from dental is the cost. I've been reading articles on if its worth it or not and a lot of people are saying its not what it used to be. I'm not going into dentistry b/c of the money but after spending all that time in school and having 300k+ in debt from school and add the cost of buying/ opening a practice I want to be making good money and have a comfortable lifestyle

 

[ChrisMack390]

Though many use them because they feel they need to check off various boxes, this is what shadowing, volunteering, etc. are actually for.

 

[deleted763299]

The only reason that is pushing me away from dental is the cost. I've been reading articles on if its worth it or not and a lot of people are saying its not what it used to be. I'm not going into dentistry b/c of the money but after spending all that time in school and having 300k+ in debt from school and add the cost of buying/ opening a practice I want to be making good money and have a comfortable lifestyle

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money and live comfortably. However, their value is very subjective and the cost of your education is an important factor to consider. If you have not done any job shadowing, or had much patient contact, get it and figure out if you want to be on the front lines delivering care. Figure out if you are passionate about dentistry! If you are not passionate about it, then the choice is easy: go into management.