dentists vs doctors -- just something to think about

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not really dentist vs doctor. more like dentist vs primary care.

most dentists cant really touch a surgeons or specialists pay though.


but we arent going into medicine for the money are we? 😉
 
This topic has been discussed ad nauseam.

The problem with being a dentist is that you have to be a dentist. You may work 40 hours per week, but those hours are working with teeth (yuck) and being despised by every patient in front of you (who doesn't hate the dentist?). I would prefer a 70-hour week as a doc (though I plan to not work anywhere near this much).
 
what does this symbol mean: µ

As in

The procedure, he says, took about 1µ hours over two visits.

man hours ?

it's mu... but what does it stand for?
 
When I was young and just a bad little kid,
My momma noticed funny things I did.
Like shootin' puppies with a BB-Gun.
I'd poison guppies, and when I was done,
I'd find a *****-cat and bash in it's head.
That's when my momma said...
(What did she say?)
She said my boy I think someday
You'll find a way
To make your natural tendencies pay...

You'll be a dentist.
You have a talent for causing things pain!
Son, be a dentist.
People will pay you to be inhumane!

You're temperment's wrong for the priesthood,
And teaching would suit you still less.
Son, be a dentist.
You'll be a success.

"Here he is folks, the leader of the plaque."
"Watch him suck up that gas. Oh My God!"
"He's a dentist and he'll never ever be any good."
"Who wants their teeth done by the Marqui DeSade?"

"Oh, that hurts! Wait! I'm not numb!"
"Eh, Shut Up! Open Wide! Here I Come!"

I am your dentist.
And I enjoy the career that I picked.
I'm your dentist.
And I get off on the pain I inflict!

I thrill when I drill a bicuspid.
It's swell, though then tell me I'm mal-adjusted.

And though it may cause my patients distress.
Somewhere...Somewhere in heaven above me...
I know...I know that my momma's proud of me.
"Oh, Momma..."

'Cause I'm a dentist...
And a success!

"Say ahh..."
"Say AHhhh..."
"Say AAARRRHHHH!!!"
"Now Spit"
 
Funny thing is, its also been something to think about in every single thread thats started on this exact topic (nearly every day).

The fields are not the same. The fields are not comparable. The people who attempt to equate the two to one another are utter *****s. One is medicine. One is denistry. Engineers make good money. CIA op's make good money. FBI agents make good money. Pimps can make good money.

YOU CANNOT COMPARE THE FIELDS!
 
because there is no other reason to go in to dentistry other than the money.. Are there any dentists out there that don't:

a) have a dentist parent
or
b) have an application not good enough for med school

?

What would attract you to this profession... 😕
 
TPROrgoTutor2 said:
Funny thing is, its also been something to think about in every single thread thats started on this exact topic (nearly every day).

The fields are not the same. The fields are not comparable. The people who attempt to equate the two to one another are utter *****s. One is medicine. One is denistry. Engineers make good money. CIA op's make good money. FBI agents make good money. Pimps can make good money.

YOU CANNOT COMPARE THE FIELDS!
Click to expand...


First of all, let me say that I hate the mouth, I think that it is nasty, and I would never want to work there day in and day out.

Now, now... they can be compared. They are both professional degrees, both are jobs, on and on.

As far as being a *****, come talk to me when you have climbed to the top of the competetive mountain....

The real comparison is this: if you view your education as an investment, it should be thought of as such. When you compare degrees for return on investment, dentistry is a better investment than medicine currently.

Look at the competetive specialties -- dermatology, radiology, plastic surgery, etc -- these are the traditional lifestyle specialties. Dentistry should now be considered in their ranks for the prospective applicant.
 
MOHS_01 said:
http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/archive/05apr/care_dentist.htm
Click to expand...

You may want to do a search before posting an article. This is a relatively old article that has been posted on both med and dental forums ad nausem.

As for me, I was aware that dental students have been saying they work nice hours etc as practitioners although I decided I was just not interested enough in dentistry to look into it further. However, I think if one wants to have a lifestyle speciality, one can do so with certain noncompetitive specialities such as psych, PMR, path etc. Doctors on average may work long hours, but I think there's enough variety and enough differences between different specialties that you can pick a profession that will allow you to work less. Hence, I choose medicine in part for the varying degrees of work styles you can have, and I didn't have to be pigenholed into one profession as a result (unlike dentistry where you will most certainly be focusing on the oral region). But that's just me.

I do believe that not enough people look at other career fields when choosing to do health care. I know of two people whom I consider to be more 'dental' people than medicine but both choose medicine because it never occured them to do dental. I consider myself fairly well informed in that I was aware of the perks of the other health professions but choose medicine for the reasons described above.
 
MOHS_01 said:
First of all, let me say that I hate the mouth, I think that it is nasty, and I would never want to work there day in and day out.

Now, now... they can be compared. They are both professional degrees, both are jobs, on and on.

As far as being a *****, come talk to me when you have climbed to the top of the competetive mountain....

The real comparison is this: if you view your education as an investment, it should be thought of as such. When you compare degrees for return on investment, dentistry is a better investment than medicine currently.

Look at the competetive specialties -- dermatology, radiology, plastic surgery, etc -- these are the traditional lifestyle specialties. Dentistry should now be considered in their ranks for the prospective applicant.
Click to expand...

I don't think plastics is a true "lifestyle" speciality. Is any surgery profession truly a 9-5 job? And radialogists can work long hours. Truth be told, the people I knew who worked fewer hours were gas docs and an IM doc who worked in a VA hospital 😱 .
 
MOHS_01 said:
The real comparison is this: if you view your education as an investment, it should be thought of as such. When you compare degrees for return on investment, dentistry is a better investment than medicine currently.

Look at the competetive specialties -- dermatology, radiology, plastic surgery, etc -- these are the traditional lifestyle specialties. Dentistry should now be considered in their ranks for the prospective applicant.
Click to expand...

So, what? It's not all about money, unless you frame it that way. I'm am viewing my medical education as much more than a monetary investment, and the return on the monetary aspect of my investment is not as important as some of the other intangibles that I get out of being able to practice medicine. These you can't really put a price on.
 
UMP said:
because there is no other reason to go in to dentistry other than the money.. Are there any dentists out there that don't:

a) have a dentist parent
or
b) have an application not good enough for med school

?

What would attract you to this profession... 😕
Click to expand...

hi, this is my first time over to the pre-allo board (i was drawn to it by the title of this thread), and i was compelled to make a post after reading your ignorant post...

First, let me introduce myself: I'm a pre-dental student (was pre-med at one point) that will be entering d-school this fall. I have a 3.6 GPA and a 22 DAT score. I took the MCAT 1.5 years ago and did what some people consider well (greater than 33, less than 35)...I have 2 years of research under my belt (3 published, 1 first author), corneal surgical recovery technician, frat president, chemistry ta, and countless hours of volunteer work (in both fields).

If my point isn't clear yet, then let me spell it out for you: Yes, there are plenty of people that make the switch from med to dent for idiotic reasons (i.e. MCAT, gpa etc.)....then there are those of us that make the switch for sound reasons (i.e. personal patient interaction, quality of life, etc.). Those that switch due to GPA and/or MCAT will be very dissapointed. The average matriculant into d-school has a 3.5 GPA, not much below the average med school matriculant. Those that make the switch from med-->dent b/c of the "idiotic" reasons will be very dissapointed when they find their mailboxes filled with many thin white envelopes.

As for your question: what would attract me to this profession when daddy isn't a dentist, and it's clear i could get into many fine med schools? 1) unique patient interaction...treat patients instantly..not take this blue pill and see ya in a couple weeks! 2) passionate about beautiful smiles (i.e. cosmetic) 3) control over business practice (lack of insurance interference) 4) quality of life: 40 hr work weeks with little to no "on-call" time 5) out of school by my 26th bday (28th bday if specialist) vs. 30-35 years olds ...therefore more time for what's really important: family.

any more questions?

jb!🙂

ps- the intent of this post was not to put down medicine in any way whatsoever. we have a lot of respect for you all; it would be nice to get the same in return.
 
jackbauer! said:
hi, this is my first time over to the pre-allo board (i was drawn to it by the title of this thread), and i was compelled to make a post after reading your ignorant post...

First, let me introduce myself: I'm a pre-dental student (was pre-med at one point) that will be entering d-school this fall. I have a 3.6 GPA and a 22 DAT score. I took the MCAT 1.5 years ago and did what some people consider well (greater than 33, less than 35)...I have 2 years of research under my belt (3 published, 1 first author), corneal surgical recovery technician, frat president, chemistry ta, and countless hours of volunteer work (in both fields).

If my point isn't clear yet, then let me spell it out for you: Yes, there are plenty of people that make the switch from med to dent for idiotic reasons (i.e. MCAT, gpa etc.)....then there are those of us that make the switch for sound reasons (i.e. personal patient interaction, quality of life, etc.). Those that switch due to GPA and/or MCAT will be very dissapointed. The average matriculant into d-school has a 3.5 GPA, not much below the average med school matriculant. Those that make the switch from med-->dent b/c of the "idiotic" reasons will be very dissapointed when they find their mailboxes filled with many thin white envelopes.

As for your question: what would attract me to this profession when daddy isn't a dentist, and it's clear i could get into many fine med schools? 1) unique patient interaction...treat patients instantly..not take this blue pill and see ya in a couple weeks! 2) passionate about beautiful smiles (i.e. cosmetic) 3) control over business practice (lack of insurance interference) 4) quality of life: 40 hr work weeks with little to no "on-call" time 5) out of school by my 26th bday (28th bday if specialist) vs. 30-35 years olds ...therefore more time for what's really important: family.

any more questions?

jb!🙂
Click to expand...

👍 👍 👍

I am actually getting tired of copying and pasting the following everytime this debate pops up...

Pros about being a physician:
  • More prestige.
  • More specialties to choose from.

Pros about being a dentist:
  • Very nice lifestyle (9-5, 4-5 days a week).
  • Less schooling.
  • Easier to get into dental school (usually).
  • Easier to be in private practice.
  • Less malpractice issues.
  • Very little (if any) BS from insurance.
  • You get to work with cool gadgets all the time (if you are into this sort of thing).

Pros about both professions:
  • You will make more than enough money to live comfortably.
  • You will be regarded as a 'doctor', and a professional.
  • You will have no problem finding work.
  • You will be helping people on a daily basis.


If any of you guys are still interested in this topic (sigh):

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=354143
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=358136
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=350942
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=360631
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=363040
 
This thread is 100% ignorant. Dental students do not want to go to Medical school. I know pre-MDs think they are amazing, but they go through the exact same prereqs and procedures as pre-DDS students. The mouth is gross to some, but so are many medical specialties like GI and the rectum. People have different interests, and there is nothing wrong with that. I think it is ignorant to think dental students are medical rejects. Dental school is very competitive to get into. I know quite a few pre-dents with 3.9+ GPAs and extensive research experience. They aren't inferior to meds, they just want to do something different. The MD degree had a mystique up until the 1980s. Once the government put their hands into healthcare, it has gone way downhill. Go ask your physician how medicine has changed over the past 20 years. I am sure they will not say it has improved. Also, please don't comment that the fields are completely different. If so, why would the Harvard School of Dental Medicine say this, "The Harvard School of Dental Medicine recognizes that oral health is an integral component of general health." I am sure you will think I am making it up, but here is the link: http://www.hsdm.harvard.edu/ASP-HTML/mission.html . It seems that there are some Wall Street Journal readers here, so what about the article posted on Jan 23 in the Personal Journal titled "Poor Oral Health Is Linked to Deadly Pancreatic Cancer." Obviously, health professionals recognize the intimate relationship between oral health and systemic health. If you want to read more, please go to the NIH and read their publications (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/HealthInformation/DiseasesAndConditions/OralSystemicHealthConnection/). So fellow undergraduates, please respect that MD and DDS candidates are equally intelligent individuals with different interests that are intimately connected
 
MOHS_01 said:
First of all, let me say that I hate the mouth, I think that it is nasty, and I would never want to work there day in and day out.

Now, now... they can be compared. They are both professional degrees, both are jobs, on and on.

As far as being a *****, come talk to me when you have climbed to the top of the competetive mountain....

The real comparison is this: if you view your education as an investment, it should be thought of as such. When you compare degrees for return on investment, dentistry is a better investment than medicine currently.

Look at the competetive specialties -- dermatology, radiology, plastic surgery, etc -- these are the traditional lifestyle specialties. Dentistry should now be considered in their ranks for the prospective applicant.
Click to expand...

I would actually like to apologize. Saying anybody is a ***** bc of what tey do is absolutely ridiculous and for this I am sorry. Childish etc.. of me.
 
BTW, this is why doctors need to be proactive about their pay, especially with all these cuts looming. The dentists have moved past doctors, NPs and PAs are on their way to do the same. Soon it will be the janitors' turn.
 
EmanUT said:
This thread is 100% ignorant. Dental students do not want to go to Medical school. I know pre-MDs think they are amazing, but they go through the exact same prereqs and procedures as pre-DDS students. The mouth is gross to some, but so are many medical specialties like GI and the rectum. People have different interests, and there is nothing wrong with that. I think it is ignorant to think dental students are medical rejects. Dental school is very competitive to get into. I know quite a few pre-dents with 3.9+ GPAs and extensive research experience. They aren't inferior to meds, they just want to do something different. The MD degree had a mystique up until the 1980s. Once the government put their hands into healthcare, it has gone way downhill. Go ask your physician how medicine has changed over the past 20 years. I am sure they will not say it has improved. Also, please don't comment that the fields are completely different. If so, why would the Harvard School of Dental Medicine say this, "The Harvard School of Dental Medicine recognizes that oral health is an integral component of general health." I am sure you will think I am making it up, but here is the link: http://www.hsdm.harvard.edu/ASP-HTML/mission.html . It seems that there are some Wall Street Journal readers here, so what about the article posted on Jan 23 in the Personal Journal titled "Poor Oral Health Is Linked to Deadly Pancreatic Cancer." Obviously, health professionals recognize the intimate relationship between oral health and systemic health. If you want to read more, please go to the NIH and read their publications (http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/HealthInformation/DiseasesAndConditions/OralSystemicHealthConnection/). So fellow undergraduates, please respect that MD and DDS candidates are equally intelligent individuals with different interests that are intimately connected
Click to expand...


man, you're caring about this just a bit too much.
 
TPROrgoTutor2 said:
I would actually like to apologize. Saying anybody is a ***** bc of what tey do is absolutely ridiculous and for this I am sorry. Childish etc.. of me.
Click to expand...

No problem at all, apology accepted.

This was my first visit to the Pre- board -- sorry, I did not perform a search on this. The reason that I posted it (I first ran across it today in another thread on another forum) is so that people can make a more informed decision about their career path.

Everyone enters medical school bright, shiny, and with stars in their eyes. Few leave residency that way. It is a travesty that people cannot be openly honest with those who follow in their footsteps. The greatest cost of medical education is the time committment. While everyone knows "oh, med school is 4 years and residency can be 3-7 years after that", it really does not have the meaning that it should. There is a tremendous toll that is levied upon your life as a result of the decision to go into medicine -- unfortunately, this is not fully realized until you are deep into the process.

After residency, many people are simply tired, if not burnt out. The prospect of private practice, and the paycheck that goes along with it, will rekindle some of the passion, but starting out in private practice is not joy ride either.

Best of luck to everyone....
 
NonTradMed said:
I don't think plastics is a true "lifestyle" speciality. Is any surgery profession truly a 9-5 job? And radialogists can work long hours. Truth be told, the people I knew who worked fewer hours were gas docs and an IM doc who worked in a VA hospital 😱 .
Click to expand...

Yes, plastics is very much a lifestyle specialty for the vast majority of surgeons. Very few actually take trauma or face call -- their day consists of elective procedures. Residency life is very finite and should not be considered in the decision making process -- trust me on this -- I made that mistake, and would do a few things differently if given the chance.
 
hye345 said:
👍 👍 👍

I am actually getting tired of copying and pasting the following everytime this debate pops up...

Pros about being a physician:
  • More prestige.
  • More specialties to choose from.

Pros about being a dentist:
Click to expand...



  • I highlighted the ones that should be taken out of your post as there are many fields of medicine where you can also have that.
 
u gotta be kidding !! dentists make more money than most of the MD's , at least GP'S ( notice they both study for 4 years!!)
most dentists cant really touch a surgeons or specialists pay though.


but we arent going into medicine for the money are we? 😉[/QUOTE]
 
NonTradMed said:
You may want to do a search before posting an article. This is a relatively old article that has been posted on both med and dental forums ad nausem.

As for me, I was aware that dental students have been saying they work nice hours etc as practitioners although I decided I was just not interested enough in dentistry to look into it further. However, I think if one wants to have a lifestyle speciality, one can do so with certain noncompetitive specialities such as psych, PMR, path etc. Doctors on average may work long hours, but I think there's enough variety and enough differences between different specialties that you can pick a profession that will allow you to work less. Hence, I choose medicine in part for the varying degrees of work styles you can have, and I didn't have to be pigenholed into one profession as a result (unlike dentistry where you will most certainly be focusing on the oral region). But that's just me.

I do believe that not enough people look at other career fields when choosing to do health care. I know of two people whom I consider to be more 'dental' people than medicine but both choose medicine because it never occured them to do dental. I consider myself fairly well informed in that I was aware of the perks of the other health professions but choose medicine for the reasons described above.
Click to expand...

Is this not hilarious to others out there? You think this topic has been debated "ad nausem," yet you still feel the need to write two paragraphs about it? :laugh:

..please, is it possible to discuss anything without some ass getting on here pointing out that there are previous threads discussing similar material?
 
mecute said:
I highlighted the ones that should be taken out of your post as there are many fields of medicine where you can also have that.
Click to expand...

What you said is true to some extend; however:
  1. The specialties with the lifestyles similar to dentists are the most competitive, and are in no way guaranteed.
  2. The current trend is making it harder to operate a solo practice (and sometimes a group practice) as a physician.
  3. Besides surgeons, dermatologists and maybe radiologists (all very competitive specialties), most doctors use their heads more than they use their hands, at least when it comes to operating high-tech equipment.

The vast majority of dentists, however, work in private (and group) practices, work 3-5 days a week (usually under 40 hours a week), and use their dental gadgets on a daily basis.

Please understand that I'm being general here; there are always exceptions.
 
jackbauer! said:
hi, this is my first time over to the pre-allo board (i was drawn to it by the title of this thread), and i was compelled to make a post after reading your ignorant post...

First, let me introduce myself: I'm a pre-dental student (was pre-med at one point) that will be entering d-school this fall. I have a 3.6 GPA and a 22 DAT score. I took the MCAT 1.5 years ago and did what some people consider well (greater than 33, less than 35)...I have 2 years of research under my belt (3 published, 1 first author), corneal surgical recovery technician, frat president, chemistry ta, and countless hours of volunteer work (in both fields).

If my point isn't clear yet, then let me spell it out for you: Yes, there are plenty of people that make the switch from med to dent for idiotic reasons (i.e. MCAT, gpa etc.)....then there are those of us that make the switch for sound reasons (i.e. personal patient interaction, quality of life, etc.). Those that switch due to GPA and/or MCAT will be very dissapointed. The average matriculant into d-school has a 3.5 GPA, not much below the average med school matriculant. Those that make the switch from med-->dent b/c of the "idiotic" reasons will be very dissapointed when they find their mailboxes filled with many thin white envelopes.

As for your question: what would attract me to this profession when daddy isn't a dentist, and it's clear i could get into many fine med schools? 1) unique patient interaction...treat patients instantly..not take this blue pill and see ya in a couple weeks! 2) passionate about beautiful smiles (i.e. cosmetic) 3) control over business practice (lack of insurance interference) 4) quality of life: 40 hr work weeks with little to no "on-call" time 5) out of school by my 26th bday (28th bday if specialist) vs. 30-35 years olds ...therefore more time for what's really important: family.

any more questions?

jb!🙂

ps- the intent of this post was not to put down medicine in any way whatsoever. we have a lot of respect for you all; it would be nice to get the same in return.
Click to expand...

😱

you guys have really sweet profile sites... mdapplicants needs to spice things up with some of those colors 👍 😀
 
UMP said:
😱

you guys have really sweet profile sites... mdapplicants needs to spice things up with some of those colors 👍 😀
Click to expand...

finally, some respect 🙂 just more proof the dentistry is ahead of medicine in the use of technology!! i kiiiidddddddddd.

jb!🙂
 
You know, I really understand that some professions, like dentistry, generally have significantly better lifestyles than medicine. Great, there's no argument there from me; more power to that profession. Really, I am having trouble understanding why anyone would make this their determining factor. When I see threads like dentistry vs. medicine, I think, "are people so misguided that they have no idea what career they really want?" The comparison is simply nonsensical. Why make such a comparison? Sure, there are similarities, but there are also similarities between many professions. It seems so arbitrary. Perhaps there are people who really like both dentistry and medicine, but when I read these threads, I don't get the sense that this is the place that people are coming from.

The only really solid reason, in my mind, to choose one field over another is because you like to practice in that field over any other; that is, you like what that representative of the profession does day-to-day. This is what you need to be clear on, because there are always options within the field that can meet your other considerations. Other factors, pros/cons, etc., can help reinforce your decision, but shouldn't be the overriding choice point. When things get tough, I think what will sustain you is your love of what you are doing. If you don't have that, then you are left with very little, in my opinion. I used to make plenty of money, and I can tell you, you feel just as cold and lonely with it as without it, especially if you don't like waking up to what you are doing.

I feel sad to hear that there are doctors out there that had absolutely no idea what they were getting into when they were starting out on this road. I appreciate the potent reminder to be honest with myself always about what I really want.
 
MOHS_01 said:
The real comparison is this: if you view your education as an investment, it should be thought of as such. When you compare degrees for return on investment, dentistry is a better investment than medicine currently.
Click to expand...

Not really, because it seems like most of the graduates from the med schools SDN people apply to become some sort of specialist or another. And pretty much any specialist makes more than a dentist.

Cardiologist vs Dentist, or Radiologist vs Dentist, Oncologist vs Dentist, etc. all gives the ROI to the MD.

But anyways, I'd probably rather be a Pediatrician than a Dentist, money be damned lol.
 
PugMD said:
Is this not hilarious to others out there? You think this topic has been debated "ad nausem," yet you still feel the need to write two paragraphs about it? :laugh:

..please, is it possible to discuss anything without some ass getting on here pointing out that there are previous threads discussing similar material?
Click to expand...

I did not say that the topic has been debated 'ad nausem', I was referring to the fact that the article has been posted many times. Read my post again, please. 🙄

And it is possible to post something without people calling others names?👎
 
Agreed, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum. And we're not even comparing apples to apples here. These are related yet very different professions. Why can't people just choose a side and be happy. Who cares what the other person does?

Oh yes, and my father is a dentist, so be nice.
 
I don't think it can be emphasized enough to pick a career that you enjoy rather than just picking one for the money/prestige... Healthcare runs in cycles - 30 years ago no one wanted to go into ortho, now you practically have to give up a kidney to get into that program. Dentistry is hot today, but I've heard from several influential dentists/healthcare policy makers that it is only a matter of time before things start to change. For instance, if we go to a universal healthcare type of system I can gaurantee you that no dentist is going to be making as much as any type of doc. Society simply will not allow this and the education req. alone will lead to docs getting paid more. That and dentists have kind of flown under the radar the past few years as far as getting fairly good salary increases. The problem now is that they tell EVERYONE how much money they make, again after talking to older dentists I know nothing pisses them off more than this as it just puts a big target on their backs. If you truly want to be a physician/dentist go for it - but picking one or the other based on the current financial enviornment is idiotic, healthcare is going to be going through so many changes you have no idea what the climate will be like when you finally start practicing.
 
hye345 said:
What you said is true to some extend; however:
  1. The specialties with the lifestyles similar to dentists are the most competitive, and are in no way guaranteed.
  2. The current trend is making it harder to operate a solo practice (and sometimes a group practice) as a physician.
  3. Besides surgeons, dermatologists and maybe radiologists (all very competitive specialties), most doctors use their heads more than they use their hands, at least when it comes to operating high-tech equipment.

The vast majority of dentists, however, work in private (and group) practices, work 3-5 days a week (usually under 40 hours a week), and use their dental gadgets on a daily basis.

Please understand that I'm being general here; there are always exceptions.
Click to expand...

1) Psychiatry, RadOnc, Ophthalmology, PM&R, Pathology, Radiology, Anesthesiology, ER (36 hours a week common), Dermatology, to name a few. Not all of those are the most competitive specialties, and if you want a "lifestyle job" you can always go the academic route in any field of medicine and make ~$150K+ which is more than most general dentists. Add the fact that some people don't consider running their own business and dealing with the business hassles a stress free "lifestyle" job.

2) You said "easier to be in private practice" NOT being in solo practice. Most Physicians prefer to NOT be in a solo practice anyway as medicine is just too big a field to go it alone.

3) There are a lot more advanced technologies used in many areas of medicine especially in the hospital than in the field of dentistry unless you consider "high tech gadgets" as different size hand drills. You're right, dentists do more "procedures" than some physicians but let's not get too overzealous and proclaim dentistry to be the cutting edge of medical technology.
 
baylormed said:
Agreed, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum. And we're not even comparing apples to apples here. These are related yet very different professions. Why can't people just choose a side and be happy. Who cares what the other person does?

Oh yes, and my father is a dentist, so be nice.
Click to expand...

i'm sure he'll be happy to finally have a "real" doctor in the family... :meanie: i keed, i keed
 
UMP said:
i'm sure he'll be happy to finally have a "real" doctor in the family... :meanie: i keed, i keed
Click to expand...

My dad wants you to know that he hates you. Also, he'd like to point out how he has a doctoral degree, and you don't.

(I keed, I keed...kind of 😛 )
 
baylormed said:
My dad wants you to know that he hates you. Also, he'd like to point out how he has a doctoral degree, and you don't.

(I keed, I keed...kind of 😛 )
Click to expand...

point taken... hopefully, i'll be immature enough to make this joke again in a few years 😉
 
Nobody every changes anyone else's mind in these threads, and they invariably degenerate into personal-attack-fests.

Good luck to the pre-meds, I hope you all make fine physicians someday.

Good luck to the pre-dents, I hope you all make fine dentists someday.

Physicians & dentists are different, but alike invaluable for the help they offer their patients. They both offer status, income, and fulfillment. Any arguments beyond that point are just anecdotes & chest-beating.
 
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