I guess I can answer the dentistry part more specifically. These are specific to big cities in Texas (Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio). Also, I will only speak of general dentistry, not specialization such as orthodontics, endo, oral surgery, pedo, etc. These specialties provide increased salary, more stress, more respect, additional 2-6 years of residency, and provide more job security.
1) Job Stress - biggest stress comes from owning your own practice. First 10 years are pretty terrible in terms of hours, however, once you have built your practice you are golden. My dentist, who is also my mentor, worked 7 days/week, ~70-80 hours when he first started. Now, at the age of 65, he is open 3 1/2 days/week.
You could also go corporate and just be a worker bee, but nobody is in corporate for very long because there is little room for advancement and there are some ethical issues (or so I hear).
2) Salary - depends.
First 5 years - If you go corporate, here you are looking at ~100k avg and maybe 80k low. Associates pay a little better (110k), however, you need to be really good (most likely need post-doc training like AEGD/GPR).
If you start your own practice you're most likely in the negative for first couple years. A dentist I shadowed was a fresh graduate and was open 3 days a week and then work as an associate/corporate for the other 4 days to pay the bills and just stay alive. After you get your practice going, your only limit depends on how good you are not only at dentistry but also in business.
3) Respect from the public
Pretty well respected from what I've seen. We are primary care so we are seen as primary care providers.
4) Difficulty of admission
If you want to go to an expensive private school, 3.5 and a 20 DAT (90th %tile) is good enough assuming you have decent extracurricular. 400k+ debt however.
In state, for Texas, if you want a competitive shot you need at least a 3.6 and a 21 DAT (95th %tile). ~200k-250k debt.
GPA 3.8 and 23+ DAT (98th %tile) will get you a chance at the top dental schools.
5) Difficulty of schooling
depends. If you want to specialize, you're going to have to be ranked very high (top 10 in your class). I can tell you from experience (my roommate is a current pharmacy student), dental school is much more difficult. He goes to a top 10 pharm school. Dental students have it way harder. We are in class from 8-5 everyday. More specific breakdown: lecture from 8-12, clinic from 1-5.
6) The future of both fields
pay may lower (if saturation continues), but there will always be jobs. If you want to live in the city, take a lower pay. If you are okay living in the suburbs, there is ample opportunity. Live in the rural area? expect double pay.
