Hey everyone I have been accepted to Arizona and Ohio podiatry and also to a dental school and I am not sure what to do. If anyone can give there reasons for doing podiatry over another medical field maybe I will be able to choose between these two. Thanks
dental or podiatry
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Go with your heart. Think about what you will be doing after school. I know for me, I got wrapped up in what I would be doing IN school, and that was all I was considering as a pre med. THere were other factors, but one of the main ones that led me too pod over md/do was I finally thought about what my acutal JOB would entail.
If you want to be in the mouth all day, do dental. If you want to mess w/ feet, do pod. My advice is look ahead to what you will do for 20-30 years, not just 3-4 during school
Good luck.
D
Dr_Feelgood
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Congratulations, mate! I say go for Ohio Podiatry. I'm currently externing with a podiatric surgeon who graduated from there; great physician and excellence in his techniques. From what I've heard Ohio and Temple have cutting edge gait analysis procedural techniques. Just out of curiosity, what dental school did you get into?
Best,
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The nice thing about dentistry is:
The downside is high overhead (my dentist said 70%-75% is typical) and heavy competition from other dentists.
If I weren't a podiatrist I'd want to be a dentist.
- After four years of training you can enter the workforce and soon make six-figures. There's no additional post-doctoral training needed, but it's there if you want to.
- No hospital call
- Nice hours
- No questioning from the public that you are indeed the experts in your field
The downside is high overhead (my dentist said 70%-75% is typical) and heavy competition from other dentists.
If I weren't a podiatrist I'd want to be a dentist.
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Ding ding ding^
OP, There's a whole lot of threads on this if you run a search. I guess pod and dent are similar in that your scope is fairly narrow and students start progressing towards their specialty right away. The scopes could not be more different, though. The schooling processes are designed and focused so that graduates are pretty much stuck in that scope unless they want to go back to school again, so I agree to go with your heart and definetly pick the field that interests you and you want to work in for 40+ years. Your best bet is to do some shadowing and see which field appears to you more.
Yes, most general dentists or orthodontists don't take any hospital call, but if you want to be an OMax surgeon (seems all pre-dents and most dental students do), I will tell you that those guys get called into the ER pretty frequently for facial traumas. For general dentists, you could also consider the long term effects of flouridated water and better tooth care. I've never had a cavity in my life, and neither has my fiancee or many of our friends. 30 or 40 years ago, that was virtually unheard of. Just one or two cleanings per year really doesn't pay too well. Yes, newer elective cosmetic dentistry procedures might make up for some of the decline in cavities and more routine needed procedures, but to what degree? OTC WhiteStrips or just 99 cent Hydrogen Peroxide whiten teeth enough for most people's standards. Competition for dental patients might only get stiffer in the future. Dent is one of the few medical specialties that I notice doing a fair amount of advertising. When I go in for a cleaning, my dentist's office features a TV looping a video ad about the cosmetic procedures his office offers while I'm in the waiting room for him to come in and read my x-rays. Is that good business or trying to use patients' insecurity to make them buck up for a pricy elective procedure? Tough to say...
Podiatry has its downsides also, but it's not like diabetics are going to learn how to prevent neuropathy and arteriosclerosis, women are going to cease wearing high heels, geriatrics are going to suddenly learn how to prevent their toenails from growing, or athletes are going to stop injuring their feet.
Then again, it's a lot easier to ignore heel or toe pain than it is to go to work everyday with a yellow or busted up grill Personally, if I wasn't going into podiatry, I'd choose nursing. I enjoy being in the hospital on at least some of my work days, and some of my hard working friends have had great success in the field. Nursing provides nice income, tremendous flexibility in specialty and locations of job offers, and higher graduate degrees (MS, PhD, CRNA, NP, etc) if one wants to work for them down the line.
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I'm going to throw in my input here, though I admit I dont know much about podiatry. As I have mentioned in a previous thread, I think podiatry is a great field because so many people have serious lower extremity problems due to circulation, birth defects, pes planus, external and internal injuries, bone spurs, bunions etc. I think it is a pretty interesting and rewarding field. Overall health is impacted because foot problems can cause back problems, knee problems, hip problems etc. Compensation is good. I think Podiatry Management Magazine says it averages about $120,000. Podiatrists are well respected. That said, not EVERYONE needs a podiatrist in their lifetime.
Personally, in addition to that, and a decent schedule for the most part, podiatrists it seems to me would have an easier time seeing what they are working on...though require equal surgical skills to dentists. The mouth is fairly small and hard to maneuver around and get your hands into.
Now I'll lay out what I know of the dental profession that intrigues me and doesn't. Luckily, I was accepted Dec 1 to VCU School of Dentistry. Schedule and compensation are very good as well. ADA says that the average dentist works 32-40 hours/week (ave 35hrs) and brings home $130,000 as a GDP ($175,000 for private practice, $243,000 for specialists). It is interesting work and you can not only impact the physical health of an individual, but also their self esteem. The con is back/neck pain. Most dentists it seems end up with chronic back pain and sometimes hand problems. They work in small areas for extended periods of time. Sometimes you are hunched over working in a patients mouth for hours.
What I love about dentistry is the opportunities available for you to branch out. If you want to practice general dentistry you can do a lot of things but if this isn't for you, you can specialize in endodont., orthodont, oral surgery, periodont, peds, prosthodont. etc. One really cool dental specialty to me is maxillofacial prosthodontics. They make eyes, ears, noses, teeth, jaws etc for cancer patients, patients with birth defects and trauma/accident victims. There is a lot of variation within the field of dentistry that I'm not sure exists in podiatry. They are both great, rewarding professions. Congrats and good luck to you.
Obviously I'm partial to dentistry because that's what I am doing, so some of this may be biased... and DON'T go into dentistry saying you want to be an orthodontist or an oral surgeon. You basically have to be in the top 5% of your DDS class and on your national boards to even get close to a program in these two specialties. In addition, many states now require even for general practice that you complete a 1 yr residency.
Personally, in addition to that, and a decent schedule for the most part, podiatrists it seems to me would have an easier time seeing what they are working on...though require equal surgical skills to dentists. The mouth is fairly small and hard to maneuver around and get your hands into.
Now I'll lay out what I know of the dental profession that intrigues me and doesn't. Luckily, I was accepted Dec 1 to VCU School of Dentistry. Schedule and compensation are very good as well. ADA says that the average dentist works 32-40 hours/week (ave 35hrs) and brings home $130,000 as a GDP ($175,000 for private practice, $243,000 for specialists). It is interesting work and you can not only impact the physical health of an individual, but also their self esteem. The con is back/neck pain. Most dentists it seems end up with chronic back pain and sometimes hand problems. They work in small areas for extended periods of time. Sometimes you are hunched over working in a patients mouth for hours.
What I love about dentistry is the opportunities available for you to branch out. If you want to practice general dentistry you can do a lot of things but if this isn't for you, you can specialize in endodont., orthodont, oral surgery, periodont, peds, prosthodont. etc. One really cool dental specialty to me is maxillofacial prosthodontics. They make eyes, ears, noses, teeth, jaws etc for cancer patients, patients with birth defects and trauma/accident victims. There is a lot of variation within the field of dentistry that I'm not sure exists in podiatry. They are both great, rewarding professions. Congrats and good luck to you.
Obviously I'm partial to dentistry because that's what I am doing, so some of this may be biased... and DON'T go into dentistry saying you want to be an orthodontist or an oral surgeon. You basically have to be in the top 5% of your DDS class and on your national boards to even get close to a program in these two specialties. In addition, many states now require even for general practice that you complete a 1 yr residency.
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I was in a similar situation just a few months ago. I had wanted to be a dentist my whole life and had applied three times to dental school including this year. I was turned on to podiatry by a friend that was an assistant at an office. I really loved what I saw and I applied. I too was accepted to Ohio and Temple and later got into USC dental. I had to choose between what I had recently thought about and what I wanted my whole life. I spent a lot of time on looking into both fields and eventually went with dentistry. I know that I would have been happy either way but for me being a little bit older the residency for podiatry was what sent me the other way. I say go with your heart both are great and both will allow you to use your education in challanging ways.
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A lot of states do now have a residency before you practice dentistry. New York for one, to enter general practice, you HAVE to complete a 1 yr GPR where you work in a hospital setting getting acquainted with giving oral care to patients with compromised health. You also are required in these to attend grand rounds and complete month long rotations in internal medicine, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, endoscopy etc.
If you want to specialize, residencies last anywhere from 2-6 years min.
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Residencies are not required by the majority of states unless you a looking to specialize. I know that in Utah it's four years of school then you are free to go to work. I think that a residency is a good idea though so that you can improve your skills and speed.
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Does residency helps the Dents in getting more reimbursements and board certifications or getting hospital priveledges. And when you a General Dentist. What are his scope of practice?
I know i should be asking this in Dent forum. But since we have started the discussion i will be very gratefull if anyone clears my doubts.
I know i should be asking this in Dent forum. But since we have started the discussion i will be very gratefull if anyone clears my doubts.
W
whiskers
As much as I ride podiatry on this forum, I honestly wouldn't switch to dentistry.
Trust me, if you know what the heck you're talking about as a podiatrist, you are viewed at the same level as a MD/DO physician and highly respected by both the general public and medical community.
No kidding.
Trust me, if you know what the heck you're talking about as a podiatrist, you are viewed at the same level as a MD/DO physician and highly respected by both the general public and medical community.
No kidding.
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duplicate post
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You receive a certificate for going through a GPR in dentistry. It can be 1 or 2 year. If chosen for the 2nd year, in many places you are designated chief resident and assigned some people to look after. It is just to gain experience and become a better, more fast paced and accurate dentist in the future. In NY state, it is a requirement because their standards seem to be pretty high.
General dentists can do a lot of things. The couple I observed did crowns, fillings, root canals, extractions, some cosmetic dentistry. For any more difficult situations though, you are supposed to refer to a specialist.
Specialist residencies are anywhere from 2 years to 6 years (for oral surgery). The 6 years is 4 years of oral surgery residency and 2 years to get your MD.
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Hate to take a bite into reality here, but even DOs aren't considered on the same level as MDs. DOs are probably more equiv. to a DDS or DPM degree as far as respect and MDs blow us out of the water in terms of public prestige. Sadly there is this ridiculous idea out there that EVERYONE wants to become an MD and if you cant cut it, you become a DO, DDS or DPM. It isn't true at all and it irritates the best of us until we reach acceptance.
Just do what you want to do. MDs have to refer to specialists. These specialists may be DOs, DPMs or DDS'. Similarly, there will probably come a time that we have people we have to refer to MDs. No one is better than anyone else. I wouldn't trust the most experienced neurosurgeon to perform surgery on my foot. I would bet you wouldn't want a heart surgeon to work on your teeth either. We are all different members with different specialties in the same broad field of medicine... only our schedules are much better than MDs and DOs.
Ave MD/DO hours = 55-65 hrs/wk
Ave DDS hours = 32-40 hrs/wk
DPM??
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I understand that both degrees are exactly the same except for the names. Some schools offer the DMD and some offer the DDS. One degree does not give more skills, opportunities, advantages than the other.
Harvard started the DMD degree because they give their diploma's only in latin and Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) has an "awkward" translation into latin
(Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris or CDD). So they got a latin scholar to help out and created the "Dentariae Medicinae Doctor" or DMD. After Harvard created the DMD, some dental schools followed suit and granted the DMD diploma to their graduates.
Harvard started the DMD degree because they give their diploma's only in latin and Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) has an "awkward" translation into latin
(Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris or CDD). So they got a latin scholar to help out and created the "Dentariae Medicinae Doctor" or DMD. After Harvard created the DMD, some dental schools followed suit and granted the DMD diploma to their graduates.
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Very true, identical degrees. More schools call it DDS, but DMDs are exactly the same. Can nothing be simple anymore? They have however come out with a new brand of Dental Hygiene Practitioners in addition to the Dental Hygienists. I guess it's basically the difference between nurse and nurse practitioner.- Joined
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I'm pretty sure I read about the "Dental Hygiene Practioners" in the dental forums not too long ago. There was something about letting them practice in rural areas with big shortages of dentists (like parts of northern Alaska for ex). What do you think about this? Seems kind of a slippery slope with scope of practice issues. A number of pre-dents/dent studs/dentists were very much against this idea of hygenist practioner in the forum.
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Yeah, but I doubt that hygienist practitioners will be able to do most of the things dentists can do. This new position was modeled after nurse practitioners. That is right on the ADHA website. Nurse practitioners can't take over the role of physicians, so I suspect that hygienist practitioners won't take over the role of dentists. After all, we do have 4 more years of advanced training MINIMALLY. Where their scopes cross, I'm not exactly sure as I have just learned about it myself recently.
I am in the line of thinking that if it improves the oral health of our nation overall, I'm for it. It only came about because more dentists are retiring than schools are allowing to graduate. Then again, more dental schools are popping up all the time. Seems like this profession is in high demand. I can't believe this year only 36% of applicants were accepted nationally.
Complete curiosity question, what is the applicant:enrollee ratio for podiatry school?
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SO...what did you decide?
Dentistry had never crossed my mind. It was only pharmacy vs podiatry for me and podiatry is by far more interesting. (no offense to other pill pushers...I am also a licensed pharmacy technician so I've done my share of pushing pills
)Good luck in your decision, I'm sure you'll be happy with either one!
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I just resigned from dental school after the first year, so I might have a few unique points to offer. Overall, I developed a much larger admiration and appreciation of the dental profession. I also became convinced, though, that the nature of the work did not fit my interests and personality.
Dentists work in the realm of millimeters and seconds. The millimeter aspect is obvious; the work centers around the tissues and small structures within the oral cavity. When preparing a cavity, one millimeter (or less) can mean the difference between quality work and failure. Some of my classmates seemed to thrive on obtaining this level of precision. I, on the other hand, bordered on insanity towards the end of the first year. Numerous dental materials and procedures are time-dependent. You have only so many minutes or seconds to place the material in the tooth, shape it appropriately and functionally, etc. before you run out of time and have to start over. Again, some people love this aspect of racing the clock and becoming both quick and precise at the procedure. I felt differently. I think it also helps to be a gadget-loving person. Look in any dental equipment magazine, and you'll see what I mean. A person who loves using an enormous variety of tools, instruments, materials, etc. would make a good potential dentist. From the rotary instruments to the curing lights to the lasers to the amalgams and composites and glass-ionomers to the stainless steel/carbide/diamond/etc bits and on and on and on - there are just so many parts and items to enjoy (or not).
I don't know if any of that helps. It is so hard to know whether it is right for you or not until you actually have your hands on the stuff and you start trying it out in real life. I had convinced myself that I could learn to love all the above-mentioned aspects of dentistry. But when I was actually going through the procedures (and thinking about doing them for the next two or three decades day after day), that's when I realized I needed to make a change - quickly.
One final thought about something mentioned earlier in this thread. I disagree with the idea that you shouldn't enter dental school wanting to be an orthodontist, endodontist, oral surgeon, etc. Every student I knew at school (with very few exceptions) entered dental school knowing they did not want to do general dentistry. That's fine. They recognized what dental school would entail, and they came willing to do this work in order to reach their eventual goal and profession. Part of why some dental schools are so great at placing students in speciatly programs is because the students start preparing for these programs from day one. Students who decide during their second or third year that they want to specialize are usually too time-pressed to perform enough quality leadership, research, community service, etc. The best and most competitive people are those who have been building their CV from the beginning. Also, the whole top 5 to 10% concept is very limited. It is true that you'll have the best chance of getting directly into your residency if you are in the top 5-10% of your class and you have 95+ on your board exam. But anyone can get into any of these programs eventually if they want to badly enough. It might take another year, two, or three, but anyone can become a specialist if they're set on it and willing to pay the price - even if it costs them extra years of preparing and improving. So, bottom line, if you're set on ortho, endo, perio, surgery, etc., do not hesitate to enter dental school, regardless of what others might tell you.
Dentists work in the realm of millimeters and seconds. The millimeter aspect is obvious; the work centers around the tissues and small structures within the oral cavity. When preparing a cavity, one millimeter (or less) can mean the difference between quality work and failure. Some of my classmates seemed to thrive on obtaining this level of precision. I, on the other hand, bordered on insanity towards the end of the first year. Numerous dental materials and procedures are time-dependent. You have only so many minutes or seconds to place the material in the tooth, shape it appropriately and functionally, etc. before you run out of time and have to start over. Again, some people love this aspect of racing the clock and becoming both quick and precise at the procedure. I felt differently. I think it also helps to be a gadget-loving person. Look in any dental equipment magazine, and you'll see what I mean. A person who loves using an enormous variety of tools, instruments, materials, etc. would make a good potential dentist. From the rotary instruments to the curing lights to the lasers to the amalgams and composites and glass-ionomers to the stainless steel/carbide/diamond/etc bits and on and on and on - there are just so many parts and items to enjoy (or not).
I don't know if any of that helps. It is so hard to know whether it is right for you or not until you actually have your hands on the stuff and you start trying it out in real life. I had convinced myself that I could learn to love all the above-mentioned aspects of dentistry. But when I was actually going through the procedures (and thinking about doing them for the next two or three decades day after day), that's when I realized I needed to make a change - quickly.
One final thought about something mentioned earlier in this thread. I disagree with the idea that you shouldn't enter dental school wanting to be an orthodontist, endodontist, oral surgeon, etc. Every student I knew at school (with very few exceptions) entered dental school knowing they did not want to do general dentistry. That's fine. They recognized what dental school would entail, and they came willing to do this work in order to reach their eventual goal and profession. Part of why some dental schools are so great at placing students in speciatly programs is because the students start preparing for these programs from day one. Students who decide during their second or third year that they want to specialize are usually too time-pressed to perform enough quality leadership, research, community service, etc. The best and most competitive people are those who have been building their CV from the beginning. Also, the whole top 5 to 10% concept is very limited. It is true that you'll have the best chance of getting directly into your residency if you are in the top 5-10% of your class and you have 95+ on your board exam. But anyone can get into any of these programs eventually if they want to badly enough. It might take another year, two, or three, but anyone can become a specialist if they're set on it and willing to pay the price - even if it costs them extra years of preparing and improving. So, bottom line, if you're set on ortho, endo, perio, surgery, etc., do not hesitate to enter dental school, regardless of what others might tell you.
