PT school is very difficult to get into because of the number of applicants. You can't count on getting in....not sure why you think you will get in for sure--roughly 10% get in. Plus, you now need a PhD so that is about as much schooling as dentistry and probably similar cost. Your costs are off too. Looks like $120,000-$145,000 range just for school costs.
http://www.capteonline.org/uploaded...gram_Data/AggregateProgramData_PTPrograms.pdf
It's a DPT, not a PhD. The profession has moved from a clinical masters to a clinical doctorate in the last 10 years or so (that's a debate for another time). And there aren't a lot of PT students who pay >$120k for just school costs. It does happen, but I'd say average tuition and fees probably falls in about the $80-90k range.
You are right though about getting accepted. A 10% acceptance rate is what you'll find at the very easiest schools to get into. 5-6% acceptance rates are the norm now, even at less-than-desirable schools.
Short term PT is more enticing but as a career it has to go to dentistry, especially as you age. I'd rather be an older dentist than an older PT.
Most of the older PTs I've seen are in teaching, research, administration and part time clinical practice. Hard to say what it will be like in a couple of decades when I'm "older". However, working in an outpatient setting isn't all that physically demanding as you don't generally have to heave patients around a lot. I've seen a couple PTs in their 50's working in inpatient though.
I'm surprised that this is even a question. You're comparing a PT to a dentist? For real? If you can't get into dental school, then I guess PT school is better than nothing...
Statistically speaking the average student is not substantially more or less likely to get into PT school then they are to get into dental school.
i lightly considered PT in undergrad while i was learning about different professions only because i had to go to one after tearing some ligaments in HS soccer. either way, i never found PT as exciting as dentistry! i guess it depends on how hard you want to work and which clinical setting you prefer...i think PT seems to be less stressful as a whole, but probably less fun too :/
I went to the dentist a few times in HS to have some cavities filled. I never found dentistry as exciting as PT!
Don't miss my point here, I'm not saying anything disparaging about dentistry - obviously I don't have the exposure to dentistry to really know what it's all about, just like you don't have enough exposure to PT to know what it's really all about. I'm just trying to point out that the two professions are extremely different and extremely varied and which one is more "fun" depends totally on the person.
However, making $70k as a new grad after 7 years of school probably doesn't seem "fun" to very many people. That's definitely a major factor to consider about PT that dentistry doesn't have as much of an issue with.
PT is less stressful I think. Your patients will like you more. But it's definitely a softer science. Don't get me wrong--it's a broad subject and there are masters of it out there, but generally speaking you're going to be stretching people out the same way, telling them to stretch.... thats my impression. I considered it for a while but decided I wanted something with more immediate/concrete results.
PTs who spend the majority of their time "stretching people out the same why" are in a small minority. That's the same as me saying that generally speaking all dentists do is fill cavities the same way over and over.
You are right though that the results in PT are not as immediate/concrete. The type of things PT most often treats (neuromuscular/musculoskeletal/cardiopulmonary deficiencies, etc) are things that by there very nature cannot be immediately fixed and have to slowly improve over the long term. I have also found this to be a frustrating aspect of PT at times, but also consider that working with patients for long periods of time and watching them improve is something that a lot of people value about PT.
