Doctor's lifestyle and salary vs. Dentist lifestyle and salary

[badabadabing]

Hi everyone,
I have been debating with many friends of mine what profession would suit me best. From what I hear, a dentist has a much more 'predictable' lifestyle than the average MD, such as haviing roughly 9-5 hours, which is something I find very appealing as I am very family oriented. As well many have told me that a dentist on average makes much more money than a family doctor (which is something I would also be intersted in). I always wanted to be a sugeon but cant picture myself being on call so much and going to school untill I'm in my early 30's, so I think I would 'settle' for family dr if thats the path I choose. Dentistry also seems to be riskier in my eyes as a large investment is required upon graduation to establish a practice (ive heard around 150-300k). The last concern of mine is that people tell me that it is very hard to establish yourself as a dentist in a large city since most big cities have too many dentists already, whereas you usually here there is a doctor shortage almost evreywhere.

The reason this is so tough for me is that I could see myself as being very happy doing both. I am not using one as a backup for the other as some do. I truly am intersted in both.

I have spoken with some dr's and dentists and have gotten totally random responses such as 100% be a dentist, 150% be a doctor lol. I dont know what to say about some of them, they all seem to not enjoy doing what their doing which is sad and I dont wanna end up like that.

Could someone please let me know if its correct that general dentists really make much more than family doctors

How hard is it to set up shop as a dentist in a big city?

Can a family dr possibly have a similar lifestyle as a dentist while earning a similar salary?

Please let me know what you think
Thanks a lot

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[ockhamsRzr]

I would think that if your primary interest in the pursuit of either is money, that you may not be cut out for either one. Since you mention that you're afraid to be still in school in your thirties, I'll assume that your somehwere in your early to mid-twenties.

To be good at either one (especially a Doc) you need to be driven yes, but also compassionate. You're dealing with people's lives and they need to trust you--moreover, in many situations their welfare comes before yours. Perhaps you're not asking the Doctors you're speaking to the right questions. Maybe instead of how much they make, you should enquire about whether or not they are personally fulfilled. I know that such a question is not entirely on the radar of a twenty-something, but ask yourself a question that was posed earlier in this thread: if Doctors WERE NOT paid well, would you still want to be one?

If you want to make a load, get a Harvard MBA and never get your hands dirty...

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I would think that if your primary interest in the pursuit of either is money, that you may not be cut out for either one. Since you mention that you're afraid to be still in school in your thirties, I'll assume that your somehwere in your early to mid-twenties.

To be good at either one (especially a Doc) you need to be driven yes, but also compassionate. You're dealing with people's lives and they need to trust you--moreover, in many situations their welfare comes before yours. Perhaps you're not asking the Doctors you're speaking to the right questions. Maybe instead of how much they make, you should enquire about whether or not they are personally fulfilled. I know that such a question is not entirely on the radar of a twenty-something, but ask yourself a question that was posed earlier in this thread: if Doctors WERE NOT paid well, would you still want to be one?

If you want to make a load, get a Harvard MBA and never get your hands dirty...

Oh boohoo, if he wants to talk about money let him. Don't be naive, if medicine paid 50k a year, a lot of current doctors would regret their career choice.

 

[Senor.Frog]

Man those pharm companies have lotta dough. So, if you want cash flow get a PharmD /MBA, last time I heard they were making $300k off the bat!

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Man those pharm companies have lotta dough. So, if you want cash flow get a PharmD /MBA, last time I heard they were making $300k off the bat!

I love how people make up completely phony numbers for salaries. Starting salary for a pharmD/MBA is more like $80K. If you're a hot chick and can sell a lot of product to docs, you can make $300K, but this is a tiny minority.

To the original poster-- the reality is, the average doctor makes more than the average dentist, is more intellectually challenged by his or her profession, and is more respected by society. The average doctor has also spent three to seven extra years of life working for $40K a year/80 hours a week as a resident, has a much less flexible work schedule, and has a much higher chance of getting someone killed/injured if he professionally screws up. It's also quite a bit harder to get into med school than dental school (3.6 vs. 3.3 gpa). There is your practical comparison of the two fields.

 

[Fed Meat]

It's much more lucrative to get established in a rural area. A family friend of mine set up shop in a small town of a few thousand people. Cute little place. Old downtown. Near the mountains. Not far from Nashville. He's the only dentist for miles, and he lives amazingly well. Nice lifestyle. Does several mission trips to Brazil per year.

More than a few of his friends who tried to set up in a major city were scraping by for years while he was doing well for himself.

As for Doc shortages, not really. Salaries are much lower in NYC because there are so many docs there.

 

[kmnfive]

dentists have a easier lifestyle, you dont have to goto residency (but depends on your specialty) comparable salaries, and the concern about the start-up costs following graduation can be split among several partners. to establish yourself in a big city as a household-name dentist, your concern holds true, as there are very many of them. but if youre good, your reputation will serve you eventually.


but..........................

if you want to make money--which obviously is a big plus for you--with minimal hours; without all the fuss; i suggest you go into law (which initially will occupy a lot of time but gets better later) or like someone said before, get an mba from a good school, then go into business or management, or finance, mergers and aquisitions; real estate... etc.. etc.. you get the picture right?
dont get into medicine or dentistry for the money, its not even worth it. you'll make far more money in other fields in the long run.


good luck on your decision.

 

[rotty1021]

Low amount of hours in LAW and BUSINESS. Think again, buddy. They can work just as much--or more--as a general surgeon. Plus, law and business are dependent on economics--only a rare few in both fields become wealthy. Medicine will give you job security and the satisfaction that you're making a semblance of a difference in society.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

if medicine paid 50k a year, a lot of current doctors would regret their career choice.

This may yet happen. In almost every Western country, doctors make around $50k a year. Yet they work only the tiniest amount less than an American doctor. Even in Germany, where there are strict work laws and required vacations, physicians work many hours, and they are only paid around 45k Euros a year. (This happened around the same time they socialized their healthcare system.) Of course, they also have no debt from school, but that is insignificant considering the magnitude of the reduction in salary.

In those countries, becoming a doctor is viewed in the same light as becoming a teacher is here in the U.S. - you do it because you're called to it, without any financial reward necessary or expected.

You may believe this will never happen here in the U.S. - Just how much are you willing to bet on that? I cannot stress enough: DO NOT GO INTO MEDICINE FOR THE MONEY. Not only is it in some difficult to define ethical way "wrong", but there is a good chance the money you expect won't be there. And the job will only get harder.

 

[gingernrum]

I think a family dr can make over 200k a year working 9-5 hours like a dentist

 

[YzIa]

I think a family dr can make over 200k a year working 9-5 hours like a dentist

According to the AAMC the avg family practitioner makes 146-166k/year. The avg family practitioner works 52.5 hrs/week. Also AAMC. They are also on call - amount varies greatly.

 

[YzIa]

This may yet happen. In almost every Western country, doctors make around $50k a year. Yet they work only the tiniest amount less than an American doctor. Even in Germany, where there are strict work laws and required vacations, physicians work many hours, and they are only paid around 45k Euros a year. (This happened around the same time they socialized their healthcare system.) Of course, they also have no debt from school, but that is insignificant considering the magnitude of the reduction in salary.

In those countries, becoming a doctor is viewed in the same light as becoming a teacher is here in the U.S. - you do it because you're called to it, without any financial reward necessary or expected.

You may believe this will never happen here in the U.S. - Just how much are you willing to bet on that? I cannot stress enough: DO NOT GO INTO MEDICINE FOR THE MONEY. Not only is it in some difficult to define ethical way "wrong", but there is a good chance the money you expect won't be there. And the job will only get harder.

This would call for a restructuring of all healthcare professional salaries. Currently PTs > 45k, PAs > 60k, MD/DO >120k, PharmD > 100k, Nurses >30k, CEO/Admins >>>100k.... etc. Physicians will remain the highest paided healthcare workers (minus admin). Do you really think many would go into PT or PA to make 25-30k a year? Or would the let them both make the same money as a physician? I do believe times could continue to drop physicians salaries, but they will always be well compensated in the US.

The AMA is also pretty influential and I do not think they would stand for much of this.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

German healthcare workers made almost as much as their American counterparts less than 15 years ago. They protested the change, of course. Lawmakers took the economic ball out of their hands - socialization made the system "my way or the highway". They were concerned with the bottom line - free health care for all Germans. Whatever costs had to be cut to complete that goal were acceptable - including cutting worker salaries. They still have doctors and other healthcare professionals. In fact, they still have more applicants than they do seats.

You may argue that it won't happen here, but it already did in virtually every other modern Democratic nation. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence of what's coming.

The argument you make regarding the heirarchy would become irrelavent if the entire system were changed. The old heirarchy would not matter in a totally revamped medical structure. Which is what the changes many are proposing (i.e., AMSA) would bring.

Don't underestimate how large a change socialization is. After implenting a change like that you won't just go back to work and say, "Oh, great, we have national health insurance now! Now where's my coffee..."

Maybe it's just a doomsday scenario. I don't think what I've just said is probable, but I think it's possible. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up making $60k a year. I wouldn't be happy, but I wouldn't change careers.

 

[lakersfan]

Low amount of hours in LAW and BUSINESS. Think again, buddy. They can work just as much--or more--as a general surgeon. Plus, law and business are dependent on economics--only a rare few in both fields become wealthy. Medicine will give you job security and the satisfaction that you're making a semblance of a difference in society.

I'm a business major that was always intending to go premed so I can attest to this...business people can work a helluva lot. Not only that, sometimes you are working with snotty ass bitches because a lot of business people are helluva arrogant. If you just want money, business is great. But if you want something where you get the satisfaction of helping others out and making some dough, medicine seems to be a great field imo. I really ahvent like business that much since the people are snotty and think they are a lot smarter than they really are...lol.

 

[aphistis]

I love how people make up completely phony numbers for salaries. Starting salary for a pharmD/MBA is more like $80K. If you're a hot chick and can sell a lot of product to docs, you can make $300K, but this is a tiny minority.

To the original poster-- the reality is, the average doctor makes more than the average dentist, is more intellectually challenged by his or her profession, and is more respected by society. The average doctor has also spent three to seven extra years of life working for $40K a year/80 hours a week as a resident, has a much less flexible work schedule, and has a much higher chance of getting someone killed/injured if he professionally screws up. It's also quite a bit harder to get into med school than dental school (3.6 vs. 3.3 gpa). There is your practical comparison of the two fields.

1) The "average" dentist earns $173,000 a year, according to the ADA. That's for general dentists, by the way, working about 35 hours a week on average. Want to break that down per hour against physicians?

2) Dentists don't have to worry about causing harm to their patients if they screw up? You've obviously never had a dental procedure that's gone awry. Talk to anyone who's had a dry socket, overfilled root canal, sinus perf, post-op endocarditis, or a host of other dental complications, and see what they think of your uninformed opinion. But God forbid an internist overdose someone's thiazide by 5mg for a week. Civilizations have collapsed on such monumental miscalculations.

3) Intellectual challenge? Seriously, *where* are you getting this? I'd wager a comfortable sum you can respond to me, including every last detail you know about dentistry, without even hitting the Reply button. Are you game or not?

4) Prestige? You can have it. My self-esteem is fine.

(to everyone else: Props to y'all for pursuing medicine as a career. Speaking for myself, I'm rarely interested in comparison discussions about whether medicine or dentistry is a better career, since it'll vary from individual to individual. When a tool like this pops up, though, trying to marginalize my profession, it gets me going. Dentists respect physicians as colleagues and peers; all we ask is reciprocity.)

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

Prestige? You can have it. My self-esteem is fine.

👍

all we ask is reciprocity.

Physicians have teeth, too...

 

[AsianDoc816]

To the OP: I think that the best way to decide on a specific career is to talk to actual dentists and physicians in the workforce. Shadow, volunteer, or work for them--get as much information from these legitimate sources as you can. I, like you, always knew that I wanted to go into healthcare. However, I was uncertain whether I wanted to become a dentist, optometrist, veterinarian, or physician. I finally decided on medicine (after three years of exploration), but the decision was not easy. No offense to posters like myself on SDN, but, none of us are in the professional world yet. Therefore, NONE of us can give you a clear picture of what these different professions have to offer. If I were you, I'd start asking as many questions as possible to the sources who know their own professions best. What better advice could you get than that?

 

[dmoney41]

You may argue that it won't happen here, but it already did in virtually every other modern Democratic nation. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence of what's coming.

Most of those countries also have work week limits that limit people from working >40 hours a week. They have extremely strict union protection laws. This is a small sampling of the many, many things that are viewed as de rigeur in Western Europe that would be met by a lynch mob with torches screaming "commies" here.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

I wouldn't be so concerned if socialized medicine weren't such a huge priority to so many in power.

 

[YzIa]

Another item in this socializing trend... almost all other countries education programs, a medical degree can be obtained directly out of secondary school. There is no 4+4 years of education.

The rigor of becoming a physician in the US is rewarded, and because of the rigor and $, it is prestigious. All of these combined keep many of the top students in pursuit of medicine and is a reason why US doctors are the best in the world.

To reduce compensation would require a reduction in sacrifices made by physicians, and would reduce the quality of physicians output.

 

[Drakensoul]

Germany also has an extreme surplus of physicians. The USA does not.

Canada also has socialized medicine, and I believe the average wage for a family practitioner there is around $95,000 USD. That's not bad; if that were how the US medical system was set up, I'd work as a FP for $95,000 and be more than happy.

I'm in no way in favor of socializing medicine in the USA--I think it's a terrible idea--but if it were to happen, physician salaries would not all of the sudden plummet to $50K EURO (About $62,000 USD). Every physician in the country would quit. 😀

There's no guarantee that the USA won't socialize medicine (it won't), you're correct. But there's also no guarantee that it will. People predict the on-coming demise of medicine as we know it every day. Every day, someone talks about mid-level providers and speaks about how they're going to destroy the physician practice of <<insert specialty here>>.

.....As far as I'm aware, everyone's doing fine. 🙂

However medicine changes--and it will change--physicians will always be needed. People just don't like change.

As far as whether to go into dentistry or medicine: Would you rather be a dentist, or a physician? Are you [honestly] equally interested in both fields? That's pretty unlikely, as they're rather different. Which can you see yourself doing through age 58? Are you interested enough in either of them to be a perpetual student within the field (continually learning/updating yourself/taking boards for re-certification)?

No one here knows you; we don't have a clue what you should do.

Per-hour, it's generally accepted that dentists make out better than physicians. For now. Any field could change at any time (pay less/require more hours), so all you can do is to choose to go into what you really want to go into. That way everything else can fall down around you, but at the end of the day, you're still doing what you love.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

God, I hope you guys are right.

 

[aphistis]

Any field could change at any time (pay less/require more hours), so all you can do is to choose to go into what you really want to go into. That way everything else can fall down around you, but at the end of the day, you're still doing what you love.

👍

 

[kmnfive]

socialized medicine in my opinion would flush out the people who are doing it for the wrong reasons.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

socialized medicine in my opinion would flush out the people who are doing it for the wrong reasons.

Including many very skilled physicians, no doubt.

 

[dmoney41]

socialized medicine in my opinion would flush out the people who are doing it for the wrong reasons.

I know I'd certainly rather have a borderline competent general surgeon doing my Whipple because he wants to help me than a money hungry brilliant mercenary one who'd be in law if doctors made $50k a year.

Oh, wait...

 

[WatchingWaiting]

1) The "average" dentist earns $173,000 a year, according to the ADA. That's for general dentists, by the way, working about 35 hours a week on average. Want to break that down per hour against physicians?

2) Dentists don't have to worry about causing harm to their patients if they screw up? You've obviously never had a dental procedure that's gone awry. Talk to anyone who's had a dry socket, overfilled root canal, sinus perf, post-op endocarditis, or a host of other dental complications, and see what they think of your uninformed opinion. But God forbid an internist overdose someone's thiazide by 5mg for a week. Civilizations have collapsed on such monumental miscalculations.

3) Intellectual challenge? Seriously, *where* are you getting this? I'd wager a comfortable sum you can respond to me, including every last detail you know about dentistry, without even hitting the Reply button. Are you game or not?

4) Prestige? You can have it. My self-esteem is fine.

(to everyone else: Props to y'all for pursuing medicine as a career. Speaking for myself, I'm rarely interested in comparison discussions about whether medicine or dentistry is a better career, since it'll vary from individual to individual. When a tool like this pops up, though, trying to marginalize my profession, it gets me going. Dentists respect physicians as colleagues and peers; all we ask is reciprocity.)

It's nice how you've responded to a bunch of phony points I didn't make. First off, I said the "average doctor." This means a blend of the 40% of primary care physicians and the 60% specialists. When you mix in the 40% or so of physicians who are in lucrative, non-primary care fields, like internal medicine specialists, surgical specialists, rads, gas, optho, derm, etc. all of whom have over a 200K average salary, the "average" doctor is paid more than the average dentist. I didn't say anything about per hour compensation. Before you rebut with orthodontists, they are less than 5% of dental graduates. It is true that given the immunity of dentists from the perception that health care (not including dental care) is a right, which leads to continual pressure for socialized medicine but not socialized dentristy, dentistry probably is financially more "safe" for the long-term.

I didn't say an incompetent dentist couldn't get a person injured: I said the average physician has a lot more potential to screw up than the average dentist. When you look at the potential harm of a surgeon making a bad cut to a botched dental procedure, the relative importance and potential for harm is just not comparable. Most dentists I have talked too, when not feeling the need to defend their turf, will admit that dentristy is not AS intellectually rigorous as medicine (note the difference between "not intellectually rigorous" and "not as intellectualy rigorous").

Regardless, I respect dentists. Just not quite as much as physicians. And, the simple reality is, when you look at things honestly-- most people who are dentists are there because they couldn't quite make the cut to get into med school. I wouldn't argue that making a 3.3 pre-med gpa is easy, just that making a 3.6 is harder. Sorry for being cruel.

 

[Smooth Operater]

WatchingWaiting, just wanna to let you know that It's WAY harder to get in Dental schools than Medical schools here in Canada. Dental adcoms here look heavily on GPA, and applicants need to have around 3.7 GPA to be competitive.

 

[kmnfive]

Including many very skilled physicians, no doubt.

i second that but you have to admit there would be a few doctors out there that live for medicine

 

[aphistis]

...
...
...
...
...
Regardless, I respect dentists. Just not quite as much as physicians. And, the simple reality is, when you look at things honestly-- most people who are dentists are there because they couldn't quite make the cut to get into med school. I wouldn't argue that making a 3.3 pre-med gpa is easy, just that making a 3.6 is harder. Sorry for being cruel.

Refer to my original comments on prestige, and your repository of knowledge concerning dentistry & dental education. Sorry for being indifferent.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

i second that but you have to admit there would be a few doctors out there that live for medicine

On the flip side, do you think Teachers should be paid more than their current salary? If so, then doesn't your argument imply that that would only invite people to go into it for the "wrong" reasons?

I don't think that the argument "we should only pay them a little, so we can be sure that they really want to do it" is valid.

 

[YzIa]

On the flip side, do you think Teachers should be paid more than their current salary? If so, then doesn't your argument imply that that would only invite people to go into it for the "wrong" reasons?

I don't think that the argument "we should only pay them a little, so we can be sure that they really want to do it" is valid.

Teachers make salaries that are competitive with other professions requiring a bachelor's degree. Additionally, their position receives this salary for working 9 months a year.

So... I feel teachers are rather well compensated.

 

[fancymylotus]

Regardless, I respect dentists. Just not quite as much as physicians. And, the simple reality is, when you look at things honestly-- most people who are dentists are there because they couldn't quite make the cut to get into med school. I wouldn't argue that making a 3.3 pre-med gpa is easy, just that making a 3.6 is harder. Sorry for being cruel.

Number one:there are people that actually WANT to go to dental school,as much of a surprise as this may come to you.
Number twoentists have better family lives. no one is going to die of a toothache.
Number three:if money is the issue,specialize,goddamnit. endodontists,oral&maxillofacial surgery,ever heard of it?
Number four:yknow how physicians are a necessity? SO ARE DENTISTS.
oh and Number five,just because this post made me mad:medicine is NOT the be-all,end-all. there ARE other professions out there are are equally as important.

if you're wondering,im not in dental school.but i grew up in a houseful of dentists(and im assuming,therefore,people that werent good enough for medical school)

 

[aphistis]

Number one:there are people that actually WANT to go to dental school,as much of a surprise as this may come to you.
Number twoentists have better family lives. no one is going to die of a toothache.
Number three:if money is the issue,specialize,goddamnit. endodontists,oral&maxillofacial surgery,ever heard of it?
Number four:yknow how physicians are a necessity? SO ARE DENTISTS.
oh and Number five,just because this post made me mad:medicine is NOT the be-all,end-all. there ARE other professions out there are are equally as important.

if you're wondering,im not in dental school.but i grew up in a houseful of dentists(and im assuming,therefore,people that werent good enough for medical school)

👍

 

[Attentive]

This whole thread reminds me of that Seinfeld episode about dentists...well actually a lot of things remind me of Seinfeld...I wonder when it'll be back.

 

[gingernrum]

I still think a doctor is a nice job cause you can be there for a families entire life cycle (birht to the end). As well, no matter what the salary the rewards are well beyond what money can buy.

 

[trypmo]

I still think a doctor is a nice job cause you can be there for a families entire life cycle (birht to the end). As well, no matter what the salary the rewards are well beyond what money can buy.

Yep, and dentists can be there from first baby teeth to full dentures in a similar way! 😎

 

[bonez318ti]

I doubt that healthcare will be fully socialized in our lifetime.

The reason why healthcare is such a growth industry is because there is still some sembelance of a market economy. Even with as many constraints as there are (ie: medicare reimbursements to providers which prevents the market from setting the true value of a specific procedure), the industry has a wide enough breadth that other aspects have not been severely constrained.

For example: drug costs... even though there is talk of 'sky rocketing' drug costs, i don't think that the government will place price constraints on drugs. Think about the ramifications.. the only reason why drug companies spend billions of dollars developing drugs is because they are aiming for a 'blockbuster drug' , which will earn enough to cover the development costs of that drug, as well as subsidize the development of other (poorer selling) drugs, and of course, provide a nice profit to share holders. If the US put any kind of constraint on the pricing of drugs, this payoff would be severely limited.. and investments will go towards higher growth fields... meaning there will be less medical innovations.

Did you know that most other socialized health care systems(like australia) only pay a fraction of the cost that we pay in the states, the drugs are baught wholesale for their health care system at a price determined by the country's law, so if a drug company wants to sell a specific drug in that country, it has to do so at the price dictated by the country. In effect, the US consumers (and by extension - medicare/caid and insurance companies) are subsidizing drug costs for other countries..

 

[kmnfive]

Teachers make salaries that are competitive with other professions requiring a bachelor's degree. Additionally, their position receives this salary for working 9 months a year.

So... I feel teachers are rather well compensated.

exactly, what YzIa said, and besides, high school teachers with a masters degree earn upwards of 50K. which is not bad considering the amount of work needed for a masters degree. and it all depends on what type of teacher you are; instructors at colleges can make significantly more. right?

i agree that my arguement is weak in the sense that it holds no real life value applicable to our social standards today; i was just saying--it would be interesting. On the other hand, promoting high salaries to those who can muster through the process of becoming a physician soley on academic merit is a bad policy. while i'm too young to offer a real world life-educated opinion, i would like to fantasize that some doctors came into their jobs because they really wanted to, not beacuse they wanted to live in manhatten and own a fourty foot yacht. all im saying is medicine for at least some people should be something that they are, not just something they do as a job. and to reach that, wouldnt it require more than just financial greed?

 

[vikaskoth]

Want fewer hours with six figure pay, doing general med, Work at a VA clinic
My mom just started working at one, she works 4 days a week with paid leave, and sick leave. She told me that if you start at VA clinics as a young doc, you get a raise every couple of years and when you retire your pension is 75% of what you were earning so at least 75,000. Pretty sweet deal for someone family oriented and doesn't wanna be on call cause she never is

 

[vikaskoth]

There is also nothing wrong with being in medicine because it pays well. Medicine isn't anyones calling and all that flowery nonsense. Its a serious profession that demands a lot of sacrifice and hard work from an individual. We live in a capitalist society and physicians ultimately provide a service, you have to be realistic about what you can do as a physician and if your willing to sacrifice and work hard for over 8-12 to earn a 6 figure salary and live a comfortable lifestyle, its nothing to be ashamed of, if your at that point you deserve it.

 

[vikaskoth]

i mean 8-12 years

 

[vigils]

Just thought I might add my two cents that I heard dentists have a super high suicide rate. I mean who the hell wants to stick their hands in peoples mouths all day. Dentists suck.

 

[aphistis]

Just thought I might add my two cents that I heard dentists have a super high suicide rate. I mean who the hell wants to stick their hands in peoples mouths all day. Dentists suck.

The suicide thing has been debunked so many times I don't even pay attention to it anymore.

As for the rest of your post, you should talk to a friend of mine who's studying to be a gastroenterologist, so he'll be sticking his hands up people's asses all day. He and I both agree I got the good end of the digestive tract. 😀

 

[dshnay]

Dentistry is actually an excellent profession, as long as you don't mind working in someone elses mouth, and sitting on your a*ss 8 hours a day.

 

[trypmo]

Speaking of the digestive tract, ever think of how a human is topographically equivalent to a torus? Just like a donut or a coffee cup. I wonder whether that has some cosmic significance.

I need sleep. 😴

 

[gingernrum]

Whats a VA clinic?

 

[aphistis]

Speaking of the digestive tract, ever think of how a human is topographically equivalent to a torus? Just like a donut or a coffee cup. I wonder whether that has some cosmic significance.

I need sleep. 😴

I think you mean "topologically," but I hadn't ever thought of it in quite those terms. Interesting.

 

[dandelion]

Am I the only one here who is for socialized medicine?

Yes, I've worked hard in my classes, was studying for the MCAT 10 hrs/day for a couple of weeks, & tried to be a friendly & helpful volunteer, etc etc. & I expect (provided I get in!) med school to be a lot of work, to be working hard 70-80 hours a week during the 3-7 years of residency.

But that does not compare to unloading boxes in a warehouse all night or repeating the same five motions ten hours a day on a factory assembly line. Or cleaning toilets or even working at McDonald's. Fact is that the worst jobs are paid the least. (Min wage in FL: $5.15/hr).

We should all thank our lucky stars that we have the family resources & personal abilities to get where we are (because intelligence is a gift, too).

I believe that health care should be a basic right in a first world country. While $62k is a small sum compared to current physicians' salaries, it is nearly double the current US GDP per capita, & I would certainly be able to live a nice life on that much.

If you can't tell, I'm a good little socialist, & I plan on rocking the system from the inside.

 

[jhugti]

Want fewer hours with six figure pay, doing general med, Work at a VA clinic
My mom just started working at one, she works 4 days a week with paid leave, and sick leave. She told me that if you start at VA clinics as a young doc, you get a raise every couple of years and when you retire your pension is 75% of what you were earning so at least 75,000. Pretty sweet deal for someone family oriented and doesn't wanna be on call cause she never is

VA (veteran's administration) hospitals aren't as peachy as they might sound either... notoriously ridden with red tape and beaurocracy

also, just because a given doctor is not on call doesn't mean nobody is... ie. clearly there is SOMEONE on call at the VA... it just happened not to be your mom