Dental student interaction with Medical student

[D1Bound]

So it seems like in undergrad every pre med student I met said something along the lines of "I couldn't deal with mouths that's gross" or "dentistry is boring" whenever I stated I was interested in dentistry. Let's ignore the fact that medicine involves rectal exams and many "gross" things. It's all part of the body to me but that's besides the point. Fast forward to dental school. When I come across medical students they ask me "why didn't you decide to go to medical school?" I give my long spiel about fitting in with the culture of dentistry, how it has so many avenues to pursue, how I like the business model. I then further explain the different paths one can take like Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Anesthesiology, Prosth, Perio, the perks of general dentistry, and the great lifestyle that goes with all of dentistry. After my speech it seems like the majority of encounters I have with medical students is that they're completely oblivious to what dentistry actually entails. They don't want to admit it, but I'm sure that they wish they would have considered dental school more. But many of them wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of not being a "real doctor." I speak purely from my own experience and I am generalizing quite a bit. I'm curious if any other dental students have had similar type of interaction with their med school counter parts.

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[Big Time Hoosier]

So it seems like in undergrad every pre med student I met said something along the lines of "I couldn't deal with mouths that's gross" or "dentistry is boring" whenever I stated I was interested in dentistry. Let's ignore the fact that medicine involves rectal exams and many "gross" things.

Number of perianal abscesses I’ve had to manage? Zero. I intend to keep it that way.

Big Hoss

 

[Firik]

Maybe I didn't get too close to any med student, but my experience talking with a med student, so far, did not involve discussing med vs dent. Just today, I played a game of chess with second-year med student. So far I am leading (5 vs 3) in total points.
So, yeah, we usually spent time talking about something interesting or how classes going.

 

[Likkriue]

We spend a lot of our first year in my dental school interacting with the medical students and in fact made friends with quite a few of them. In fact most of them rarely ever bring up reasons why we went to our respective fields. I feel like the novelty of being a medical or dental student wears off real quick after the first year.

 

[dPseh]

When I was in dental school, we had to take interdisciplinary classes with nursing, MD, health admin, and PharmD kids. We definitely got the worst of the teasing, with many people asking, "Why are dental students here? Not like there are any cavities to fill."
By the end of it all, we were asked to share things that really stood out to us about the class. At least among my small group, we had a couple students sharing that they didn't realize that dentistry entailed much more than just "drilling and filling."

We exist for a reason. If a physician or PharmD knew how to handle facial cellulitis caused by a tooth abscess, then we wouldn't be around. Can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "I went to urgent care/ER because my face was swollen. They gave me antibiotics and told me to go see a dentist."

 

[Saddleshoes]

Here is my answer to arrogant med students...

"Dentists NEVER have patients die under their care!"

 

[Big Time Hoosier]

I’m also amazed when I get called by physicians in the ED how little some of them know about the oral cavity. It’s funny/sad sometimes listening to them struggle to describe the situation to me.

Big Hoss

 

[Saddleshoes]

I’m also amazed when I get called by physicians in the ED how little some of them know about the oral cavity. It’s funny/sad sometimes listening to them struggle to describe the situation to me.

Big Hoss

My experience also.

 

[oralcare123]

Here is my answer to arrogant med students...

"Dentists NEVER have patients die under their care!"

That is not quite true. We are perfectly capable of killing
All those arguments on who is better or more important are really childish and mostly done by people unconfident in the size of their ... car

 

[TanMan]

Best reason as to why not medical school: Less hours, less school, less liability, and more money/autonomy.

 

[P7898]

So it seems like in undergrad every pre med student I met said something along the lines of "I couldn't deal with mouths that's gross" or "dentistry is boring" whenever I stated I was interested in dentistry. Let's ignore the fact that medicine involves rectal exams and many "gross" things. It's all part of the body to me but that's besides the point. Fast forward to dental school. When I come across medical students they ask me "why didn't you decide to go to medical school?" I give my long spiel about fitting in with the culture of dentistry, how it has so many avenues to pursue, how I like the business model. I then further explain the different paths one can take like Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental Anesthesiology, Prosth, Perio, the perks of general dentistry, and the great lifestyle that goes with all of dentistry. After my speech it seems like the majority of encounters I have with medical students is that they're completely oblivious to what dentistry actually entails. They don't want to admit it, but I'm sure that they wish they would have considered dental school more. But many of them wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of not being a "real doctor." I speak purely from my own experience and I am generalizing quite a bit. I'm curious if any other dental students have had similar type of interaction with their med school counter parts.

Bro and his wife are MD's. They envy dentists. They had no idea what dentistry entailed until I got in it. But it all depends on what you like. I always tell my hard sciences hands off friends to pursue medicine.

 

[P7898]

We spend a lot of our first year in my dental school interacting with the medical students and in fact made friends with quite a few of them. In fact most of them rarely ever bring up reasons why we went to our respective fields. I feel like the novelty of being a medical or dental student wears off real quick after the first year.

Lol the truth right here. It all just blows for everyone at that point haha.

 

[1imaan1]

Both medical and dental students are best at their places. There's literally no use in competition between them. If there were no dental doctors, germs would have found so many homes in so many mouths. And same is for medical doctor, if they weren't there, patient would have been left untreated. Both of the fields are nice and i like them both.

 

[D1Bound]

Bro and his wife are MD's. They envy dentists. They had no idea what dentistry entailed until I got in it. But it all depends on what you like. I always tell my hard sciences hands off friends to pursue medicine.

I had a specialist physician ask me what I planned on doing for a career when I was in college many years ago. I said dentistry. He looked squarely at me and said "If I were in your shoes that's exactly what I would do."

 

[Molar Whisperer]

I didn't have many discussions about dentistry vs medicine while in school but I remembered a comment from an older radiologist after I graduated. He asked me what would dentists do when a vaccine for dental cavities become successful. Too bad I didn't ask him what radiologists would do when radiographic images get outsourced to India for interpretation.

 

[P7898]

I didn't have many discussions about dentistry vs medicine while in school but I remembered a comment from an older radiologist after I graduated. He asked me what would dentists do when a vaccine for dental cavities become successful. Too bad I didn't ask him what radiologists would do when radiographic images get outsourced to India for interpretation.

Or you could have called him out by being an idiot because you cannot vaccinate something that is caused by bacteria..... what a smart doctor. lol

 

[rotichawal]

Or you could have called him out by being an idiot because you cannot vaccinate something that is caused by bacteria..... what a smart doctor. lol

lol um apart from DTAP, meningococcal, HiB, etc. etc.

 

[P7898]

sarcasm....

 

[tinman831]

We are perfectly capable of killing

and it actually happens...

 

[2thDoc11]

Before I ever considered dentistry, I assumed it was all just general practice. Had no idea all the different options it consisted of. Also very tired of people thinking that in order to be a "doctor," you need to be a medical doctor. "You're not a real doctor unless you graduated from medical school." False, a doctor is anyone who has graduated from a doctorate program. Whether you are teaching English, diving in the great blue sea, studying the human anatomy, or teaching kinesiology courses, you are a doctor if you have completed the required educational program. Also, if I'm not mistaking, physicians used to not even be considered "doctors" because medical school was only 4 years where as many doctorate programs were 7 or so years. Is that correct? As anyone else heard of it? I think when they officially gave physicians the "doctorate" title it was mostly just because. Again, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that is what I read. Lol just a lil rant

 

[luisfigo]

I had no idea of all the specialties in dentistry, there are really so many great options. Almost no one knows about hardly anything but general ortho and oral surgery. Good thing general was attractive enough for me to steer toward.

 

[luisfigo]

Before I ever considered dentistry, I assumed it was all just general practice. Had no idea all the different options it consisted of. Also very tired of people thinking that in order to be a "doctor," you need to be a medical doctor. "You're not a real doctor unless you graduated from medical school." False, a doctor is anyone who has graduated from a doctorate program. Whether you are teaching English, diving in the great blue sea, studying the human anatomy, or teaching kinesiology courses, you are a doctor if you have completed the required educational program. Also, if I'm not mistaking, physicians used to not even be considered "doctors" because medical school was only 4 years where as many doctorate programs were 7 or so years. Is that correct? As anyone else heard of it? I think when they officially gave physicians the "doctorate" title it was mostly just because. Again, I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that is what I read. Lol just a lil rant

I thought it was specifically surgeons that weren't traditionally considered "doctors" as the history of barbers who often performed minor surgeries. in the UK surgeons are not titled "doctor." still today.

 

[saydental]

I dated a med student and we didn't really compare being called a doctor or anything. He used to joke about dentists not being "real doctors" tho

 

[schmoob]

As long as it’s said in good fun it doesn’t matter.
The only physicians who don’t acknowledge doctors in other specialties like dentistry, podiatry, veterinarians, etc are either insecure because they believe the words physician and doctor mean the same thing, or they are just ignorant to the scope of practice of other professions.

 

[AONLINE]

The fact that med schools barely teach anything about teeth and the oral cavity to their students is a blessing for us dentists. Dentists have the autonomy on teeth and the oral cavity with no competition from any physician, unlike optometrists who have to share eyes with ophthalmologists or podiatrists who share feet with the orthopedists.