Dentistry vs Medicine vs Pharmacy

[koreanboi92]

I'm going to be a high school senior in California. I've been thinking about possible careers to pursue. I'm 100% I want to pursue either dentistry,medicine, or pharmacy. I'm not sure which field to choose. I'm torn apart. Medicine provides immediate healthcare and name recongnition, but training is extremely long.

Dentistry is not quite as long, but don't know, working on teeth might get a little boring. However, lifestyle and pay is decent.

Pharmacy will probably be the least invasive on patients. Consists of more talking interactions, but job might get a little boring and will be harder to start a private business.


I'm so torn.lol. I need opinions on each field. Thanks.

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[mathlegend]

One thing to consider. For all medical specialties, you will be seeing the same over and over again, especially after you've been practicing for 20+ years. So at least for medicine/dentistry, choose whichever you have the most interest in. In the end, the 3-6 years of residency (if you go the medicine route) won't be that much compared to how long you'd be in practice. If you choose dentistry just because it's a shorter route but end up disliking it, you'd be kinda screwed. Can't really help you on Pharmacy, dunno much about that.

 

[ZeusonRoids]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

 

[Beatlesfan]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

where do vets fall in there?

 

[CaliforniaKid]

woopss.. I think Miss steroids forgot about Vets. Let me guess...based on her previous rankings, she would probably agree that if you love to fornicate with animals then you would go into vet school. (seriously that is how pathetic her statement is. ---> take it or leave it)

 

[hopefuldoc87]

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Silly one, Osteopathic school is medical school. This why all of them are "so-and-so" School of Osteopathic Medicine or "so-and-so" College of Osteopathic medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_United_States

I think you meant to say those who cannot get into "allopathic" medical school (MD) go to osteopathic medical school (DO). I'll agree with that sentiment as a general rule, with certain exceptions of course. Both graduates become doctors and surgeons in all the same specialties, though. But I still agree with that statement.

 

[gd152]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

Quite a few very bright people (such as myself) are choosing dentistry over medicine. An average of $350k for a 35 hour work week for a dental specialist is pretty good. I can only think of one medical specialty that offers that (derm). Yep, derm is the only one.

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

I'm going to be a high school senior in California. I've been thinking about possible careers to pursue. I'm 100% I want to pursue either dentistry,medicine, or pharmacy. I'm not sure which field to choose. I'm torn apart. Medicine provides immediate healthcare and name recongnition, but training is extremely long.

Dentistry is not quite as long, but don't know, working on teeth might get a little boring. However, lifestyle and pay is decent.

Pharmacy will probably be the least invasive on patients. Consists of more talking interactions, but job might get a little boring and will be harder to start a private business.


I'm so torn.lol. I need opinions on each field. Thanks.

Pharmacy is different from dentistry and medicine in that we are not diagnosticians. Our most special skill is that we have the ability to analyze information with really close attention to detail. From drug industry to journal clubs (a group of professionals where we go over articles from medical journals), we analyze information and from there on make our recommendations. Think of us as an accountant...

http://jobs-galderma.icims.com/jobs/1291/job

http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.a...cists&AVSDM=2009-05-16+12:32:00&rc=2&TabNum=2

etc...

Pfizer has a great career book on what you can do with your PharmD. http://pharmacy.samford.edu/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=412

 

[El Nino]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

How you come up with this?

 

[mathlegend]

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.

Yea you piss me off. I'm only in HS now, but I'm quite sure I can get into MD school, but I'll most likely be choosing podiatry school. I find podiatry more interesting than the medical specialties and the lifestyle is pretty good too. And I'm not even interested in pharmacy school.

There are people who don't have 3.0 GPAs but they still graduate...

 

[hopefuldoc87]

Yea you piss me off. I'm only in HS now, but I'm quite sure I can get into MD school, but I'll most likely be choosing podiatry school. I find podiatry more interesting than the medical specialties and the lifestyle is pretty good too. And I'm not even interested in pharmacy school.

There are people who don't have 3.0 GPAs but they still graduate...

So did lots of people that don't get in.

 

[Depakote]

I'm going to be a high school senior in California. I've been thinking about possible careers to pursue. I'm 100% I want to pursue either dentistry,medicine, or pharmacy. I'm not sure which field to choose. I'm torn apart. Medicine provides immediate healthcare and name recongnition, but training is extremely long.

Dentistry is not quite as long, but don't know, working on teeth might get a little boring. However, lifestyle and pay is decent.

Pharmacy will probably be the least invasive on patients. Consists of more talking interactions, but job might get a little boring and will be harder to start a private business.


I'm so torn.lol. I need opinions on each field. Thanks.

I'm going to disagree with some of the above sentiments.

Dentistry has an excellent lifestyle and excellent reimbursement. Medicine, MD or DO as you point out traditionally requires long hours and extended training. Pharmacy is similar to dentistry although your interaction is less diagnostic, you do have opportunities to interact with patients and depending on the scope of your practice you may be involved in deciding the treatment plan. Inpatient units are heavilly dependent on pharmacists (they also catch a lot of adverse drug reactions before these ever reach the patient).

If you're truly undecided between the 3 fields... I would suggest spending a few days shadowing each. Contact physicians, ideally a few different fields making sure to see both primary care and surgical (internal medicine and orthopedic surgery tend to be good jumping in-points for shadowing, I've found). Then shadow a dentist. Perhaps shadow both an inpatient and outpatient pharmacist if possible. If you can do all that, you have a good idea of what each of the fields offers and hopefully you'll feel drawn to one.

 

[mathlegend]

So did lots of people that don't get in.

Mmmm we'll see about that in 5 years

 

[hopefuldoc87]

Mmmm we'll see about that in 5 years

good luck

 

[Vicviper]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

Wow, talk about a troll. You can tell that someone has a very high opinion of themselves. Dental is actually becoming more competitive than med because there are fewer dental schools. Anyways....

None of the professions are "better" than another simply by the benefits that they offer - it's really up to you to decide which you could enjoy doing for the rest of your life. For me, that was dental, for different friends, it's Pharm and Med. NEVER choose another health profession simply because you can't get into that school right off the bat. You can get into med/dent/pharm/vet school if you keep working at it and put lots of hard work in. I've heard of a number of people getting accepted to dental school after their 6th application cycle, they just kept putting more and more work into it.

One of the things that really made me fall in love with dentistry was that you could still have plenty of time to spend with your family, you can be your own boss - (which is something that is becoming increasingly difficult to do as a medical doctor). You can do the treatment plan that you think will be best for the patient if they really need it, regardless if they their insurance will cover everything or not because hey, you're the boss, you can give discounts, I've seen this done a number of times. It can be a much more laid back and friendly environment, which I feel fits my personality better. I find dentistry fascinating - I know others think it's the most boring thing in the world and would never consider it, so it can really be a personal preference deal. I worked as a dental assistant for 6 months and it never really got boring. We were constantly seeing new and different cases and oddities coming in every day.

My dad had been practicing as a medical doctor for almost 40 years, and he was actually glad that I picked dental over med.

Also, the money is really secondary to your own personal well being. You could be making 500k as an MD and hate doing it, and the money wouldn't be worth it. (Though I'm sure some would disagree! hehe)

As Depakote said, the best thing you can do is shadow each of the professions and get an idea of what they do in their day to day lives - and then pick which you feel you'll enjoy doing for the next 40 years or so.

Good luck!

 

[mathlegend]

good luck

Thanks

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

Obvious Roids, you don't care what others feel, but I can speak for pretty much the majority at my school that we chose dentistry because we would rather be dentists and have a great family life than be physicians and have a family life that suffers. In college, I wanted to go to medical school and be a surgeon. I observed many, many surgeries and absolutely fell in love with how a general surgeon in a small city can experience a wide variety of cases and never get bored. I was also engaged to a neurosurgeon's daughter. I experienced the family life and it royally sucked. We'd be at church - pager goes off. We'd be on the river - pager goes off. 2 am - pager goes off. On a picnic - pager goes off. Get my point - family life revolves around the damn pager. Always having to take 2 vehicles in case a patient turns for the worst or an emergency arises. The money would have been great. I helped her mother balance the business' books for a while when there was a situation in the family that needed tending to. Since I had three years of accounting, she asked if I could help out for a while. He made MAD money, but the family life sucked!!!! In college, I had a 3.85 gpa, 3.95 sgpa and when interested in medical school I got a 33/R on the MCAT. I would have accepted int med school, but chose not to because the famliy life sucks. Plus, dealing with insurance sucks. I began to consider my decision. After starting to consider dentistry, I began to talk to the physicians and they thought I was making a wise decision. I ended up choosing dentistry. After getting into d-school, i found out how many people where in the same situation as me. They chose dentistry over medicine because they wanted a life. We could have been physicians, but CHOSE to go this route so we could have a life. Sure, the earning potential is not as high, but dentistry still offers a very high earning potential without all the hours! I did not settle for dentistry. Now that I am in d-school, I am so glad I chose this field. I found out I had a talent. My hand skills rock! People from time to time mention something about having hands of a surgeon. Personally, I'd hate to have the hands of a surgeon. I want the hands of a dentist. Our hands must be steadier than pretty much anyone in medicine. Neurosurgeons are the only ones that need steady hands like us. I love that I can create a smile! What do people always see first about someone - their smile. We get to see immediate results. Yes, some people may hate coming to us, but in the end those who care about their smiles appreciate what we can do for them.

I have absolutely no clue how you came up with such a ridiculous ranking system. Am I pissed? No. I just find your claims purely ludicrous. Does your head hurt? Because as I see it your head is so large with the ego you seem to have about your profession. You claim that you have stated the hierarchy. There is no such thing. Just because someone doesn't go into medicine doesn't mean they couldn't hack it. Yes, some people do have to settle for one over another, but there is a larger portion of health care professionals who CHOOSE to be something other than a physician. I know many nurses who would not want to be a physician by any means. My wife, she cannot stand the sight of blood, but I can guarantee you that there are few people who could have kept up with her in the first two years of medical school. Since she had an interest in chemical engineering, it was an easy decision for her to go into pharmacy. Now, she excells at that.

My point of this novel I wote is that your claims are ludicrous. In an individual's own personal opinion when they have an ego larger than the world, yes, they may beleive there is a hierarchy as you claimed. But, in the end there is no such thing. Most people these days choose a profession they feel best suits there interests. Yes, I could have been a physician, but am so glad I chose dentistry. I absolutely love it. Yes, I work in someone's mouth mostly, but it beats having to deal with the other orofices that physicians have to deal with.

 

[ZeusonRoids]

My post came out wrong.
What I was meaning to say was that if you can get into MD school you can likely get into whatever school best suits your interest if you decide to change while you are in college.

I am not saying MD school is better or worse than any other school (and actually if I had to do it over again I would likely consider going into dental or pharm school because they work "regular" hours and actually get to spend quality time with their family.)

I AM saying that getting into medical school is probably the hardest of all the medical professional schools.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

My post came out wrong.
What I was meaning to say was that if you can get into MD school you can likely get into whatever school best suits your interest if you decide to change while you are in college.

I am not saying MD school is better or worse than any other school (and actually if I had to do it over again I would likely consider going into dental or pharm school because they work "regular" hours and actually get to spend quality time with their family.)

I AM saying that getting into medical school is probably the hardest of all the medical professional schools.

I will have to disagree here with you to a point. Dental school is just as competative. If you look at the overall states of applicants versus acceptances, the percentages are right about the same. Plus, the average entering GPAs are fairly close to the same nowdays. We have less applicants, but also have a whole heck of a lot less slots available.

Another thing, when comparing how hard the schools are. you might say medical school is harder. Do you realize dental students take a majority of the classes med students do during the first two years of dental school plus they fit in all our dental classes with the labs at the same time? Dental school is pretty much medical school plus a residency (oral health and the teeth) at the same time. Compared to my med school friends, I will say we have it harder the first two years of our education. Then, the seond two years medical students have it harder. Actually, your life sucks during the last two years! The part that that separates our educations is that we are not required to do a residency, where as you are required to do a minimum of a 3 year residency after med school. But, until the residency is considered, I think the hardness of our two programs balance themselves out when comparing the first half to the second half.

And if you were really applying the ranking structure to the difficulty of the programs, there is no way you can compare pharmacy to dental as equal hardness. They are two totally different programs. My wife, a pharmacist, has said many times there is no way she'd want to have to do the courseload I have to.

No matter what med and dental school and other curriculums suck at times! there is a reason why not everybody can get into the programs.

 

[Depakote]

I AM saying that getting into medical school is probably the hardest of all the medical professional schools.

As much as we like to think that... I do know a guy a year ahead of me who is in medical school because he didn't think he would have been able to get into veterinary school. Too many applicants, too few spots.

 

[koreanboi92]

new problem now, I honestly don't think I can handle the blood and other invasive procedures for medical school. I can probably handle learning all the diseases and things, but I wont be able to handle surgery or sticking a breathing tube down a throat.

On the other hands, in dentistry, it's kind of like medicine, but all the procedures are down in the mouth only. Every once in awhile, you do have to suture a spot after getting a tooth pulled. I watched some videos and youtube and saw dental students spending a lot of time making models of teeth out of some clay material.

Meanwhile, for pharmacy, it's probably the least invasive on patients. Worst training you would probably do would be to draw blood and give shots.

I'm torn still. haha

 

[BlueAvenue]

I find that shot against osteopathic schools offensive, I'm only applying to allopathic schools for location reasons but DOs make just as qualified physicians and suggesting otherwise is insulting. and to the OP, if you have to make a post like this, my guess is you shouldn't go to medical school. becoming a doctor can't just be something you casually consider, it's got to be your number one choice. everything else has to seem second rate by comparison.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

...becoming a doctor can't just be something you casually consider, it's got to be your number one choice. everything else has to seem second rate by comparison.

Blueavenue, this is true about every profession - not just those of us who want to be a doctor of some sort. To be successful, you need to feel that the profession you choose is the number one choice and everything else seems second rate. This goes for athletes, businesses, lawyers, physicians, dentists, dancers, actors, etc. You need to choose a preofession where you can place your heart and the career path is your number on choice - everything else is second rate.

 

[penguin24]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

When I was applying to med school, my grades weren't that good, and this above flowchart was INDEED my backup plan flowchart. Come on guys, all these careers are wonderful. What does it matter if I work on somebodies gallbladder, or their teeth, or their foot. Do you think a Podiatrist/MD/DO/DDS will look back and say, "Geez, I chose the wrong path"

 

[EyEnStein 07]

I am gonna piss off a TON of people with this...but what the heck here it goes.

Those who cannot get into medical school go into Osteopathic school (DO school)

Those who cannot get into Osteopathic school go into dentistry or pharm school

Those who cannot get into pharm school become podiatrists

Those who cannot get into podiatry school probably cannot graduate from college.


Take it or leave it. Don't care. This is certainly not true for everyone but this is (more or less) the hierarchy (but pharm=dent)

Im not going to be another person to bash you on this but....believe it or not that are people who could careless about going to medical school and have other interests.

For example: I KNOW there are a lot of students accepted to medical school (allo and osteo), who probably cannot make it to the top tier dental schools. Lets face it, not everyone in medical school is brilliant, and there are many other people out there who are not even in healthcare but are more than capable of going to med school...the difference is they dont care for it.

 

[Ezekiel2517]

I can't believe I'm posting in the high school forum but whatever. I haven't read all the posts in this thread but as someone who withdrew from dental school in their second year and applied and was accepted into med school, I can tell you that getting into any dental school is a joke compared to getting into med school. Unless things have drastically changed in 5 years (I'm now a resident), I can't imagine it's much different. I knew A LOT of people in dental school who got in with <3.0 gpa's. I have yet to meet a single person in med school who got in with less than 3.0.

Not to say that dentistry isn't a great field, for some people I'm sure it's more attractive than medicine. In terms of competitiveness, however, it's not even close.

And for the people who think the vast majority of dentists out there are making 350K working 35 hours a week, ummm...... no. But don't stop dreamin' baby!

 

[gd152]

And for the people who think the vast majority of dental specialists out there are making 350K working 35 hours a week, ummm...... no. But don't stop dreamin' baby!

Well, you'd be wrong -

OMFS 2006 income average $393,400
Endo 2006 income average $346,000
Pedo 2006 income average $342,000
Ortho 2006 income average $325,000

Survey of Dental Practice. c. 2006 Edition, American Dental Association

2009 = ~1.099x

And, I've got a 3.95. I haven't met anybody with less than a 3.0... very odd.

 

[gd152]

Unless things have drastically changed in 5 years (I'm now a resident)

Actually, they have.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

When I was applying to med school, my grades weren't that good, and this above flowchart was INDEED my backup plan flowchart. Come on guys, all these careers are wonderful. What does it matter if I work on somebodies gallbladder, or their teeth, or their foot. Do you think a Podiatrist/MD/DO/DDS will look back and say, "Geez, I chose the wrong path"

Actually, yes, there are people who do say they chose the wrong path. And right now, you hear more physicians saying this than other health professions.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

I can't believe I'm posting in the high school forum but whatever. I haven't read all the posts in this thread but as someone who withdrew from dental school in their second year and applied and was accepted into med school, I can tell you that getting into any dental school is a joke compared to getting into med school. Unless things have drastically changed in 5 years (I'm now a resident), I can't imagine it's much different. I knew A LOT of people in dental school who got in with <3.0 gpa's. I have yet to meet a single person in med school who got in with less than 3.0.

Not to say that dentistry isn't a great field, for some people I'm sure it's more attractive than medicine. In terms of competitiveness, however, it's not even close.

And for the people who think the vast majority of dentists out there are making 350K working 35 hours a week, ummm...... no. But don't stop dreamin' baby!

You are a very ignorant person ezekiel. You really need to do a little research on things. Dental schools are closing the gaps as far as acceptance GPAs are concerned when comparing to medical schools. Many of the people who you would have in the past considered to be a sure thing for medical school are choosing to go into dentistry because the overall life is better for the average dentist compared to the average physician. You can come back and state physcians make more money - yes, they do. But money doesn't necesarily make an individual's life better.

Now, whomever stated that the vast majority of dentists are workign 35 hrs/wk and making 350k are ignorant as well. they have no clue what they are talking about. There are dentists that do fall under that category, but those are the vast minority, not the majority.

As far as the 3.0 GPA thing - A LOT - not happening. Very few people get into dental school with under a 3.0. Yes, they do occur and have a classmate with 2.8, but he also score 99%ile on the DAT.

All I can say to you is lose your ego. Physicians are no better than dentists, pharmacists, or any other health profession. I know physicians who hae chosen medicine because they couldn't hack it in dentistry. Most of us (health care professionals) CHOOSE to go other routes. I know I did!

 

[gd152]

Now, whomever stated that the vast majority of dentists are workign 35 hrs/wk and making 350k are ignorant as well. they have no clue what they are talking about. There are dentists that do fall under that category, but those are the vast minority, not the majority.

Wow, geez. Can people not read? For the second time, I said dental specialists. Do you not believe the ADA/Blair/Mcgill dental salary surveys or something? Well, at least I do. I have developed enough relationships to know that these figures are pretty accurate. Now duh, money is not everything. But there is a bit of misinformation going on in this thread.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Wow, geez. Can people not read? For the second time, I said dental specialists. Do you not believe the ADA/Blair/Mcgill dental salary surveys or something? Well, at least I do. I have developed enough relationships to know that these figures are pretty accurate. Now duh, money is not everything. But there is a bit of misinformation going on in this thread.

gd152, I wasn't referring to your post. I didn't even read your post. I was referring to the post that ezekiel posted and his claim of people who beleive that a vast majority of dentists make 350k working 35 hrs/wk. I was going on what he said, not you. if you are the one he was referencing, then I see how what he said and you said are different. But, before you call me out asking if I can read, make sure you read the post you are making your comment on. If you read it, I was referencing his post and the info posted there.

Most dentists as he stated do not make 350k at 35 hrs/wk. But there are specialists out there who do. I personally believe those numbers you quoted from ADA do not represent the preofession as a whole in wages earned. Surveys are not a very accurate method of gathering data especially when salaries are concerned.

 

[penguin24]

Actually, yes, there are people who do say they chose the wrong path. And right now, you hear more physicians saying this than other health professions.

That's probably b/c of Obama's 'wonderful' new plan. There's a lot of uncertainty going around and no MD is looking forward to it. We'll see what happens & pray for the best

If pay for MD's drops a lot, then nobody will want to be a physician & dentistry will be the undisputed best profession.

 

[psipsina]

Another thing, when comparing how hard the schools are. you might say medical school is harder. Do you realize dental students take a majority of the classes med students do during the first two years of dental school plus they fit in all our dental classes with the labs at the same time? Dental school is pretty much medical school plus a residency (oral health and the teeth) at the same time. Compared to my med school friends, I will say we have it harder the first two years of our education. Then, the seond two years medical students have it harder. Actually, your life sucks during the last two years! The part that that separates our educations is that we are not required to do a residency, where as you are required to do a minimum of a 3 year residency after med school. But, until the residency is considered, I think the hardness of our two programs balance themselves out when comparing the first half to the second half.

We had a few oral surgeons join our class in second year. They had completed dental school and then took classes with us while completing their internship. They didn't seem to think that they had covered everything we were learning already in dental school and were very frustrated that they were given so little time to study and yet were expected to pass the step 1 with us. I'm not saying one is harder but from what they said dental students don't cover everything medstudents do plus more detailed oral stuff.

 

[Ezekiel2517]

You are a very ignorant person ezekiel. You really need to do a little research on things. Dental schools are closing the gaps as far as acceptance GPAs are concerned when comparing to medical schools. Many of the people who you would have in the past considered to be a sure thing for medical school are choosing to go into dentistry because the overall life is better for the average dentist compared to the average physician. You can come back and state physcians make more money - yes, they do. But money doesn't necesarily make an individual's life better.

Now, whomever stated that the vast majority of dentists are workign 35 hrs/wk and making 350k are ignorant as well. they have no clue what they are talking about. There are dentists that do fall under that category, but those are the vast minority, not the majority.

As far as the 3.0 GPA thing - A LOT - not happening. Very few people get into dental school with under a 3.0. Yes, they do occur and have a classmate with 2.8, but he also score 99%ile on the DAT.

All I can say to you is lose your ego. Physicians are no better than dentists, pharmacists, or any other health profession. I know physicians who hae chosen medicine because they couldn't hack it in dentistry. Most of us (health care professionals) CHOOSE to go other routes. I know I did!

Dude, clearly you have a chip on your shoulder. When did I ever say MD's were superior to anyone? Lose my ego? WTH are you talking about? I'm a PGY-1 in anesthesiology and I have freaking nurses who chew my ass out everyday as if I were the guy cleaning the toilets. I have swallowed any bit of remaining pride I have left. All I was talking about was the competitiveness of getting into any US allopathic school vs. getting into any US dental school. I chose to leave dental school b/c I was bored to tears and knew I wouldn't be happy doing it for the rest of my life. Like I already said, dentistry is a great field for a lot of people. Some of my closest friends are dentists who are building up their practices right now; some are doing well and some are struggling just to pay their rent and make their loan payments. But at the end of the day, it's all about being happy and proud of what you do so you gotta go with where your passion lies. I could give a rat's ass what routes other people choose.

Like I said before, back when I applied to dental school, there were many people getting into d-school with sub-3.0's. Maybe things have changed, I don't know. Here are a couple huge threads on SDN to prove it:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=362708&highlight=club
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=28491&highlight=club

 

[gd152]

Like I said before, back when I applied to dental school, there were many people getting into d-school with sub-3.0's. Maybe things have changed, I don't know. Here are a couple huge threads on SDN to prove it:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=362708&highlight=club
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=28491&highlight=club

Well, if you want to play that game. http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt.htm

 

[gd152]

While seven years ago the average dental school had entrance statistics of about a 3.2 or 3.3 and a 17 DAT score, the average has now climbed to a 3.5 GPA with a DAT Academic Average (AA) of slightly above 19.

.

The average GPA for the average medical school matriculant rests slightly higher than a 3.6

The average application to acceptance ratio for medical school in 2005 was 2.3. The average application to acceptance ratio for dental school in 2005 was 2.6.

 

[hopefuldoc87]

Well, if you want to play that game. http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt.htm

I'm not doubting its validity, but wow, someone got into medical school with a 1.47-1.99 GPA and a 15-17 MCAT?

WTF?

 

[Ezekiel2517]

Well, if you want to play that game. http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2008/mcatgpa-grid-3yrs-app-accpt.htm

Actually, I didn't want to play any game. Nevertheless, basically that table says exactly what most people already knew. That a 3.5 or higher and a MCAT of 30 or higher will give you decent shot at med school, but certainly no guarantee. Obviously there are going to be people who get in with lower stats and some who slip through the cracks or some who are given preference because they are under-represented minorities or some who are residents of states with schools with lower matriculant avg scores/GPA's or some who have daddies or mommies on the admissions committee or donated a million dollars to the school. If you can find a similar table for dental schools, please post it so we can compare. Honestly, I'd be happy to see that dental school is harder to get into than med school b/c my brother will be applying to med school soon, so less competition for him.

I tried but I couldn't find a Under 3.0 club thread 31 pages long on SDN in the pre-allopathic forum. May be someone else can try.

 

[gd152]

Actually, I didn't want to play any game. Nevertheless, basically that table says exactly what most people already knew. That a 3.5 or higher and a MCAT of 30 or higher will give you decent shot at med school, but certainly no guarantee. Obviously there are going to be people who get in with lower stats and some who slip through the cracks or some who are given preference because they are under-represented minorities or some who are residents of states with schools with lower matriculant avg scores/GPA's or some who have daddies or mommies on the admissions committee or donated a million dollars to the school. If you can find a similar table for dental schools, please post it so we can compare. Honestly, I'd be happy to see that dental school is harder to get into than med school b/c my brother will be applying to med school soon, so less competition for him.

I tried but I couldn't find a Under 3.0 club thread 31 pages long on SDN in the pre-allopathic forum. May be someone else can try.

Well, you clearly do, since you continuously try to perpetuate the notion that getting into dental school is a joke. If getting into dental school is a joke, then getting into medical is only slightly more than a joke. Is that how you perceive yourself? Slightly more than a joke? Stop with the games. I've already posted the stats. People can figure it out for themselves.

 

[Ezekiel2517]

If getting into dental school is a joke, then getting into medical is only slightly more than a joke. Is that how you perceive yourself? Slightly more than a joke?

This doesn't even make sense. Regardless, the only thing I am saying is that IMHO, medical school is harder to get into than dental school. Period. To be completely honest, I thought that this was common knowledge. I guess I'm wrong. When I applied to D-school, I got into every school I applied to except one. After I withdrew, I had to improve my application significantly GPA wise and get a high MCAT score to finally get accepted to med school after being rejected by every school I applied to with the same stats I applied to dental school with. This was my experience and so, FOR ME, getting into dental school was significantly easier than getting into med school.

And I don't think the competitiveness of any field should be a reflection of who you are, as you suggest. If you read my previous posts, I clearly state people should go with whatever will make them happy, Neither medicine or dentistry is for everybody.

 

[gd152]

This doesn't even make sense. Regardless, the only thing I am saying is that IMHO, medical school is harder to get into than dental school. Period. To be completely honest, I thought that this was common knowledge. I guess I'm wrong. When I applied to D-school, I got into every school I applied to except one. After I withdrew, I had to improve my application significantly GPA wise and get a high MCAT score to finally get accepted to med school after being rejected by every school I applied to with the same stats I applied to dental school with. This was my experience and so, FOR ME, getting into dental school was significantly easier than getting into med school.

And I don't think the competitiveness of any field should be a reflection of who you are, as you suggest. If you read my previous posts, I clearly state people should go with whatever will make them happy, Neither medicine or dentistry is for everybody.

I don't know why I'm even arguing because it is getting annoying repeating things I already posted.

Read above ^^^

I never claimed getting into dental school is harder than getting into medical school. On the contrary, I posted stats showing a .1 higher average GPA for medical school matriculants.

As per your anecdotal evidence that getting into med school is significantly harder, again, read above and you'll find that the competitiveness has increased and the difference is very little now (.1 GPA).

People such as myself find it stupidly offensive (especially when I outscored most of my pre-med classmates) to have them state that getting into dental school is a joke.

As per your last comment, I agree, and I'm glad that you've acknowledged the fact that competitiveness does not always equal value.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

First of all DUDE, no chip on my shoulder. I am proud to be heading into dentistry and not medicine. I chose not to apply to medical school. In dentistry (with the exception of some med school trained OMFS), we aren't as pompous as you find a lot of physicians. We don't have the self inflated egos that you will find around a lot of specialists in medicine. Why do you think so many nurses hate physicians? The egos. I just get tired of individuals in general (whether it be physicians, politicians, lawyers, athletes, etc) who feel they are better than others. We are all going to be helath care professionals who take a role in one form or another in treating our patients and helping them heal or maintain their health. No one job is more imortant than another. Do you know that dental related problems is the single most cause of people missing work and school? Not the flu. Not cancer. Not injuries. Dental pain!

Another thing, your initial post comes across as the 'rule'. No, it is simply your opinion. I probably wouldn't have even responded to your post had you said it was your opinion, or at least I wouldn't have been as rash. But, you didn't. Yes, overall, med school stats are slightly higher. But, you cannot claim just because the stats are slightly higher that it is harder to get into med school compared to dental school. When you look at the percentage of acceptances versus applicants, they are pretty much the same.

Now, have you ever thought that the reason why you were rejected to ever med school the first time through was that you withdrew from dental school? I can guarantee that you were initially rejected by many of the schools the first time through because they wanted to see if you were serious about medicine since you had a change of heart about dentistry. I would have rejected you too the first time through. I wouldn't want to acccept someone the first time right after dropping out of another health professional school. Yes, getting into d-school probably was easier - you hadn't already withdrawn from another health profession school at that point. You would have probably run into the same thing had you applied to d-school if you had gone to med school first and didn't like it.

This doesn't even make sense. Regardless, the only thing I am saying is that IMHO, medical school is harder to get into than dental school. Period. To be completely honest, I thought that this was common knowledge. I guess I'm wrong. When I applied to D-school, I got into every school I applied to except one. After I withdrew, I had to improve my application significantly GPA wise and get a high MCAT score to finally get accepted to med school after being rejected by every school I applied to with the same stats I applied to dental school with. This was my experience and so, FOR ME, getting into dental school was significantly easier than getting into med school.

And I don't think the competitiveness of any field should be a reflection of who you are, as you suggest. If you read my previous posts, I clearly state people should go with whatever will make them happy, Neither medicine or dentistry is for everybody.

 

[koreanboi92]

Update: I went to the dentist for regular check-up. I've been brushing my teeth twice a day,floss,and act mouthrinse. But no,it turns out I have 4 large cavities all on my 1st molars. Ugh, I thought I would enjoy dentistry as a career. I finally realized that there's too much patient communication for me as I enjoy working not with patients. I really want to memorize all the diseases out there and help people that way, but necessarily direct contact. I know this is way too early make decisions on specialities,but I've read pathology and radiology doesn't really require much patient contact. Any opinions? Thanks.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Update: I went to the dentist for regular check-up. I've been brushing my teeth twice a day,floss,and act mouthrinse. But no,it turns out I have 4 large cavities all on my 1st molars. Ugh, I thought I would enjoy dentistry as a career. I finally realized that there's too much patient communication for me as I enjoy working not with patients. I really want to memorize all the diseases out there and help people that way, but necessarily direct contact. I know this is way too early make decisions on specialities,but I've read pathology and radiology doesn't really require much patient contact. Any opinions? Thanks.

How about a medical examiner. You work with patients, but they don't talk back and they do what you want them to do.

 

[koreanboi92]

Is that what dr. G does on tv?

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Is that what dr. G does on tv?

Yes, she is a forensic pathologist who became an ME.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

Here is some free advice, which is worth exactly what you pay for it. If you are torn between three very dissimilar professions you should probably get a BA or BS with a liberal arts background, do well (i.e. 3.5+), shadow in the professions and after 3 years make a reasonably informed decision. I'm in a BS/DO, my father is an MD, you can practice and have a family life. Dentistry offers some advantages in this regard, however the best paid DMDs and DDSs work long weeks. Pharmacy is the odd man out in this group, you can have a good family life etc., however the others are clinical in focus this is more analytical especially compounding pharm/research. This summer presents an excellent time to shadow and gain experience, you may find medicine, dentistry and pharm are all poor fits and your interests lie elsewhere.

 

[Near]

I'm going to try to stick with answering your original post.

I'm only speaking for myself. I'm starting college this fall as a predent. I was interested in the MD, but I chose against it. I want to have time to spend with my future family. To me, that's more important than being a "big-name MD". Maybe it is to you too.

Good luck!

 

[nateriver]

wonder how this guy turned out