Dentist vs other health professions

[mmc12]

I found this interesting video on youtube comparing different health professions in terms of financial outlook

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[Likkriue]

Pretty accurate lol. Let’s see that private school debt average, probably 30% higher.

 

[Bigjt1420]

This dude put Pharmacist at the "same level" as a Dentist. Go over to the SDN Pre-Pharm pages and check out the chaos yourself -- Pharmacy is dying. Not saying dentistry is all that, but after seeing him put a pharmacist at the "same level" as a dentist or doctor, guy lost much of his credibility.

 

[soonTM]

This dude put Pharmacist at the "same level" as a Dentist. Go over to the SDN Pre-Pharm pages and check out the chaos yourself -- Pharmacy is dying. Not saying dentistry is all that, but after seeing him put a pharmacist at the "same level" as a dentist or doctor, guy lost much of his credibility.

Dude also fails to bring up avg pharmacy student debt, which is ~$170k.

 

[TanMan]

That guy has no clue about the potential of dentistry. Dental debt is definitely higher than the rest, but the earning potential is much more than the other listed professions (besides physicians). We're not stuck at a $100/hour (or less) like some of these professions are.

 

[mmc12]

This dude put Pharmacist at the "same level" as a Dentist. Go over to the SDN Pre-Pharm pages and check out the chaos yourself -- Pharmacy is dying. Not saying dentistry is all that, but after seeing him put a pharmacist at the "same level" as a dentist or doctor, guy lost much of his credibility.

I feel like dentistry in 10 years (or sooner) will become similar to what is happening in pharmacy now

 

[mmc12]

Why? The reason why that's happening in pharmacy is because they had over 40 schools open in the last 20 years and people are also realizing that pharmacists provide no actual clinical value, whereas dentists provide a service that only dentists can give. Pharmacists also popped up every 5 miles across the country which is a huge reason for the pharmacy boom. Even now, the rural areas are still extremely short on dentists. Until that happens, dentistry will not become pharmacy.

There have also been tons of dental schools that have opened in the past 10 years.
Increased DSO proliferation. They are starting to make an appearance even in rural areas. There are dental clinics now opening inside Wal-Marts.
Dentist salaries (owner and associates) also have been trending downward during the past 10 years and it seems like that will continue.

 

[LegendaryPanda]

There have also been tons of dental schools that have opened in the past 10 years.
Increased DSO proliferation. They are starting to make an appearance even in rural areas. There are dental clinics now opening inside Wal-Marts.
Dentist salaries (owner and associates) also have been trending downward during the past 10 years and it seems like that will continue.

A lot of those schools were reopened rather than new openings. In 1979, ADA recorded 6300 first year enrollees. That number started to decline to 4000s throughout the years with several dental schools closing down. In comparison, we have just recently hit the same number of dental enrollees at 6300 first time enrollees in 2018. So basically, while our population grew 50% since 1979 from 220 mil to 330 mil, the number of grads didn't increase. Assuming that they started at 22-25 years old in 1979, they would be 62-65 years old now and getting ready to retire soon.

We already have a legitimate example of what not to do, aka the APhA. All the ADA and CODA have to do is not follow the example and dental will be in a decent place. The real problem is that applications are starting to decline again due to the ridiculous tuition that dental schools charge. CODA should really rule that schools cannot increase class size willy nilly, and implement some sort of tuition ceiling. If we can find a way to address this, then dental will be in a great place.

 

[allantois]

These lists are stupid

 

[doc toothache]

A tough crowd to please.

 

[pookey123]

financially dental school on full scholarship (like hpsp for example) is still a good bet. even better if you can match into endo or omfs. dentist incomes are stagnant I believe but not exactly dropping like a rock. key issue is overcoming debt and increasing costs/ lower margins due to insurance and high ppe prices (which hopefully will improve in a year)

apparently dental anesthesiologists are also paid decent from what I hear. really, you want to avoid being an "employee dentist" don't take that job at walmart! or aspen

dentistry is still better than pharmacy at least for now

 

[mmc12]

This dude put Pharmacist at the "same level" as a Dentist. Go over to the SDN Pre-Pharm pages and check out the chaos yourself -- Pharmacy is dying. Not saying dentistry is all that, but after seeing him put a pharmacist at the "same level" as a dentist or doctor, guy lost much of his credibility.

Salaries have been going down in pharmacy (as well as dentistry) due to oversaturation of pharmacists but a retail pharmacist employed by corporate working 40 hours would make at least 120k and that would be on a lower side. Most would make 140k or above with benefits. Not to mention that pharmacy debt, while substantial, is still less than dental school

 

[Bigjt1420]

Salaries have been going down in pharmacy (as well as dentistry) due to oversaturation of pharmacists but a retail pharmacist employed by corporate working 40 hours would make at least 120k and that would be on a lower side. Most would make 140k or above with benefits.

I believe you, but the problem is is that these Corporate pharmacies won't employ you for 40 hours now. They'll give you 32 with lesser benefits because they can (due to oversaturation). I'm on the dental side, so I don't know all in's-and-out's, but just go over to Pre-Pharm SDN and you'll see for yourself if you wont take my word for it.