- Joined
- May 16, 2016
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All my life I have always wanted to become a physician.
I am about to start my second year of college (yay) and my Uni has a pre-dent program. It caught my interest so I looked into dentistry a bit and holy crap do I regret that lol. Now I am confused and a bit worried about which career path I want to take. So, I have decided to make this post so you guys (people who are either in dentistry, medicine, or even other health fields) can determine whether or not I would be a good fit for these fields.
Family and pediatric medicine has always been an interest for me. I like kids and I had always liked the thought of creating a 'relationship' with my patients and being able to see them grow! I have also been interested in going into orthodontics (I was inspired by my cheery and reasonable ortho) but dropped the idea for some reason. It also really interests me in improving a persons health, self-confidence, and well-being. I am also very interested in learning things like how to preform sutures and healing a body.
Being exposed to death and grimness frequently does worry me, so that has turned me off from medicine a bit. Being the one to stop death from coming is a thing I worry about (but who doesn't until they come across it,right?). One thing about dentistry that worries me is working with your hands. I am unsure about my hand/tool dexterity but it scares me thinking about drilling a tooth and slipping up! Is good hand dexterity a trait you need to have before coming into Dental School or is it something you learn as you go (like learning how to hold tools and finding comfortable positions).
I would also like to be able to spend time with my family, so the 9-5 thing that dentists have (I realize MD/DO have this option as well but that is not guaranteed) really appeals to me. I would also like to either own and operate my own private practice or work in a private practice with other dentists (or physicians, etc). It also generally appeals to me that you do not have to do residency after Dental School but I am interested in ortho or pediatric dentistry. Taking an additional 3-7 years of residency as an MD/DO sounds dreadful since you won't be making a decent salary till your early 30s! Is it true that you have to pay for residency? How do you apply to those residency programs? Also, is it true that dentists tend to have poor posture/aches or arthritis after years of practice? Is there any way of combating this? Is malpractice lower in dentistry than in medicine?
I have always wanted to study and live in Canada so what are some difference between practicing medicine or dentistry there as opposed to the US?
Also, are there any Canadian dental or medical schools that accept Americans?
Thanks
I am about to start my second year of college (yay) and my Uni has a pre-dent program. It caught my interest so I looked into dentistry a bit and holy crap do I regret that lol. Now I am confused and a bit worried about which career path I want to take. So, I have decided to make this post so you guys (people who are either in dentistry, medicine, or even other health fields) can determine whether or not I would be a good fit for these fields.
Family and pediatric medicine has always been an interest for me. I like kids and I had always liked the thought of creating a 'relationship' with my patients and being able to see them grow! I have also been interested in going into orthodontics (I was inspired by my cheery and reasonable ortho) but dropped the idea for some reason. It also really interests me in improving a persons health, self-confidence, and well-being. I am also very interested in learning things like how to preform sutures and healing a body.
Being exposed to death and grimness frequently does worry me, so that has turned me off from medicine a bit. Being the one to stop death from coming is a thing I worry about (but who doesn't until they come across it,right?). One thing about dentistry that worries me is working with your hands. I am unsure about my hand/tool dexterity but it scares me thinking about drilling a tooth and slipping up! Is good hand dexterity a trait you need to have before coming into Dental School or is it something you learn as you go (like learning how to hold tools and finding comfortable positions).
I would also like to be able to spend time with my family, so the 9-5 thing that dentists have (I realize MD/DO have this option as well but that is not guaranteed) really appeals to me. I would also like to either own and operate my own private practice or work in a private practice with other dentists (or physicians, etc). It also generally appeals to me that you do not have to do residency after Dental School but I am interested in ortho or pediatric dentistry. Taking an additional 3-7 years of residency as an MD/DO sounds dreadful since you won't be making a decent salary till your early 30s! Is it true that you have to pay for residency? How do you apply to those residency programs? Also, is it true that dentists tend to have poor posture/aches or arthritis after years of practice? Is there any way of combating this? Is malpractice lower in dentistry than in medicine?
I have always wanted to study and live in Canada so what are some difference between practicing medicine or dentistry there as opposed to the US?
Also, are there any Canadian dental or medical schools that accept Americans?
Thanks