Dental school right decision?

[ldent1234]

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Hi all,

It's coming down to crunch time and I am looking for some insight so that I can make the right decision. I am currently on track to start dental school this summer but am worried I might not be making the best decision. I graduated with a degree in engineering but had been pre-med throughout the course of college. After graduation, I became very concerned with the lifestyle of a physician because I knew I wanted to work with my hands (so that narrows down possible medical specialties). This ultimately led to me taking the DAT and applying to dental school before I started a job in the healthcare software industry. However all of my experience in college was medicine-focused (ALS lab research, clinical research at Brigham & Women's, neurosurgery/plastics/psych/neuro shadowing, medical device design). I got questioned at each of my dental school interviews why I wasn't going to medical school (as they said my resume would be better suited for a med school applicant). To be honest, I did not do a stellar job on the DAT but my GPA was more consistent with that of a medical school application which must have helped me get in.

Because of the job I have held for the past year, I work extensively with physicians which I think may have ignited my second guessing. My passion has always been medicine as I enjoy the hospital atmosphere and have never seen anything more rewarding than working with extremely ill patients. The difficulty lies in the fact that I love working with my hands. Therefore I do not see myself being content as a family care physician/radiologist/etc. That part of dentistry matches my desires, but I just don't have the same passion for it (I have shadowed both careers and I am basing my level of passion on the way I felt after these shadowing experiences).

Each of my physician mentors have told me to do dentistry (and even that they sometimes wish they did that too), as the lifestyle is much better, but something is holding me back. My dental mentors have told me that an OMF specialty would be a good path to go down but I am hesitant to rely on that (as I have not even began dental school yet and also OMF is extremely hard to match into). The thought of throwing away a dental school acceptance to study for the MCAT and MAYBE getting into medical school scares me although I know I put myself in this position.

How realistic is it to shoot for an OMF specialty?

Has anyone been in this position for (had mixed feelings about dental v. medical school)? If so, how did you ultimately make your decision?

Thanks for your help!

 

[JLT223]

How realistic is it to shoot for an OMF specialty?

If you're going into dentistry for the sole purpose of being an OMFS DDS/MD, you're NOT going to be happy. Not only is it unrealistic for the average student, but the majority of MD/DDS OMFS are not doing crazy orthagnic surgeries and facial reconstruction. You'll be pulling tons of thirds as it is your bread and butter. You must enter dental school knowing you will have to be content possibly being a GP (as most grads are), are you okay with that? If no, then dentistry is not for you.

 

[doc toothache]

Change Ident 1234 to Ident 4321.

 

[ncide]

On one of my interviews, I met one dental student that finished med school and then applied to dental school and matriculated. One of his classmates did the same. There are people with medical/pre-med background that ultimately choose dentistry.

As long as you are in the top 20% of your class and score well (65-70+) on the CBSE you should be able to get into OMFS.

 

[Orka]

Hi Ident1234,

I've been down a similar road and I can definitely relate to you. I suggest you voice out everyone else's opinion and think about what you want 20 years from now. What will you be more happy with? Remember, the most important opinion is your own since you'll be living with whatever you end up choosing. If you need to write the MCAT this summer, go for it and write it before Dental School starts. If you get a low score, then Dentistry might be the path you want to take. However, if you score well on the MCAT then drop the dental school offer and apply to medical school. I hope that helps.

 

[Sweet_Tooth]

My passion has always been medicine as I enjoy the hospital atmosphere and have never seen anything more rewarding than working with extremely ill patients.

You literally just answered your own question, you're more passionate about medicine than dentistry.

The difficulty lies in the fact that I love working with my hands.

I don't see how that's a difficulty tbh, physicians also have opportunities to work with their hands, although they may not be as obvious. Procedures such as stitches come to mind, and other ER procedures would probably fall into this category too. And wouldn't you say surgery counts as working with hands? If you were to go the medical route, you would have a lot more options with regards to specialties, in dentistry you'd be limited to the option of OMFS which anyways, as an earlier poster said, would probably mostly consist of removing wisdom teeth.

If your stats are good, to the extent that even adcoms are commenting that your app would be more suited to medicine, I don't see why you wouldn't get into medical school.

I know this is probably a difficult decision, especially considering that you've already gone through the application cycle and have already been admitted to dental school, and the prospect of repeating it all a second time for medical schools is daunting, but I honestly think that, based off of what you have shared here, in the long term you will be much happier if you go the medical route.

 

[ncide]

http://www.dentaltown.com/MessageBoard/thread.aspx?s=2&f=2656&t=261175

There was someone who was also reconsidering dentistry on Dentaltown recently. Some dentists offered their opinions. Some are married to MDs, others have family members who are MDs, so I think their perspectives offer some insight.

I was originally in OP's spot but decided dentistry fit my style a bit more. My brother continued on toward his MD degree so we will see exactly how things pan out in a decade or so.