Female Dentist Debt and Family Life

[predentstudentL]

I have recently been accepted to dental school and I have had a lot of questions from friends and family regarding being a female dentist and the debt involved. I was just wondering if there are there any young (28-32 yo) female dentists with a copious amount of debt ($400k) that want to have a family life or do have children at the moment?! I love love love dentistry but I don't want to screw up having a family life for a career. I would love any helpful hints or tips. I'm trying to figure out what will truly be best for my life and my future. Please help

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[dr37]

As with any job, you will have responsibilities towards your career - so with dentistry. it pays well, affords you a good lifestyle, you can chose to work part time/fulltime based on your situation and so far vast majoirty of people I have met - they love it.

And while working -- I think I am falling in love with dentistry all over again! Going back, I wouldn't change anything about the choices I made about my career. Coming to family and children ; whatever profession you chose - you would have to balance your life both ways - so with dentistry - settle down in your career and then have kids - i wouldnt suggest having kids during school/training - its too overwhelming - not that people havent done it - but its relativly difficult.

Yes there are student loans - as with any education - (yeah they are little more) but everyone pays them back eventually - some take little longer and some can do it little earlier. At the end - remember why you chose to go to dental school - for the profession - do a good job at it and it will be fine.

Good luck 🙂

(Sorry for any typos-typing from phone)

 

[predentstudentL]

As with any job, you will have responsibilities towards your career - so with dentistry. it pays well, affords you a good lifestyle, you can chose to work part time/fulltime based on your situation and so far vast majoirty of people I have met - they love it.

And while working -- I think I am falling in love with dentistry all over again! Going back, I wouldn't change anything about the choices I made about my career. Coming to family and children ; whatever profession you chose - you would have to balance your life both ways - so with dentistry - settle down in your career and then have kids - i wouldnt suggest having kids during school/training - its too overwhelming - not that people havent done it - but its relativly difficult.

Yes there are student loans - as with any education - (yeah they are little more) but everyone pays them back eventually - some take little longer and some can do it little earlier. At the end - remember why you chose to go to dental school - for the profession - do a good job at it and it will be fine.

Good luck 🙂

(Sorry for any typos-typing from phone)

Thank you! I understand no matter what I do in life I'll have to balance work and family life just like everyone else. I would really like to know what struggles do young female dentists that have children face and how do they surpass them? How do they take off time for maternity leave when their payments are piling up? Do they have enough time to take the kids to school, to practice, ect?! I want to be an extremely involved mother but still have a nice career that I love.

 

[justsusan]

Thank you! I understand no matter what I do in life I'll have to balance work and family life just like everyone else. I would really like to know what struggles do young female dentists that have children face and how do they surpass them? How do they take off time for maternity leave when their payments are piling up? Do they have enough time to take the kids to school, to practice, ect?! I want to be an extremely involved mother but still have a nice career that I love.

this is going to be very difficult for you. I honestly don't believe that you can do it all..not as a general dentist. I'm turning 30 this year and we've put off having kids until we've established our careers. I've been practicing as a general dentist for 4 years and don't think I could have (or will be) able to be an extremely involved mom. Dentistry takes a huge toll on you physically and mentally. When I get home sometimes I don't have it in me to listen to anyone because I've been engaging all day.

Maybe you could do it if you have a great support network..help from your parents to watch the kids. As things stand for me, however, I know we will have to have a full-time nanny.

 

[west coast1]

First of all I want to give you props for thinking about this beforehand. I am not a female dentist, but am a dental student with a wife, a toddler, and another baby on the way.

Education can be attained throught out your life, but there is only a small window of time when you can bare children. If family is really a priority for you, I think you know what you need to do. I am so grateful for a wife who views motherhood as the most important thing she can do. We feel that "no success can compensate for failure in the home."

Dental school is only 4 years, but the debt you will be in will take a long time to pay off. You can't just have a baby the minute you are out of dental school if you need to work to get out of your hole of debt. If you choose to work while you have children you will not be able to give your full-time and attention to them. Sure you can get child care, but the person who takes the best care of your kids is the person who loves the kids the most. You may regret the memories you will miss.

I guess the other choice is to become a dentist and then just not practice or practice part-time. But thats alot of debt for your husband to pay off. The best thing you could do for your future family is to get a career now and start saving. If your husband is continuing school, I am sure he would appriciate the extra help.

I obviously have a stong opinion on this, sorry if it comes off too bold, but we have just had so much joy as we have started our family that I wanted to share this with you. Sure a lot of women may not agree with this, but their priorities may be different then yours.

 

[dr37]

As other people have said before - its all about knowing what exactly you want and how would you go about it. I know we as mothers would want to be as much inlovled with the kids as much we can - but prolly with any 9-5 job you have - say engineer, say managment, say finance, say nurse, doctors, scientists anyone, they all have loans and they all have families - anything will keep you out of home for atleast this time of day - so as you would manage with thise roles, prolly somehow you will manage here too. A solid support from family is must - as with any working professional. You will need defintly need a good baby sitter - someone from family or outside to take care of your child. I wouldnt view it as a compromise - that oh i couldnt be there to care for my kid - I am out there working to provide for my child, for his/her education/needs/home family etc... Yes we all go home tired, but if we chose to have kids - then prolly thats what we need to do. Neverthless to say its easy - but just saying its not impossible. Definitly work for couple years before having a kid so that you have some financial "safety net" which will help during maternity time. Work 4 days a week, dont work saturdays - you know bootm line is - know what you want and find a way to balance around it, take vacations with your family - whatever time you spend - spend quality time with them. Be involved with other parents in your neighborhood, chose to live around sub-urbs so you living costs are lower, dont buy that swanky new care yet - get a house you can actually afford - you know like spend money where its really necessary and that will provide you with financial stability and lower your payments on debts, like we females are crazy about shopping - it will onvolve sacrifices - but hey, who said its gonna be easy?

Good thing about dentistry is - unlike business and finance professionals - there is not a lot of travelling involved. I was raised by a professional mom - yes there were times we missed her, but that made us appreciate her efforts even more, the way she made all her efforts to make sure she was there when we needed. It brings you cloer to your sibling - older siblings especially they way they take incharge for you and care for you.

Being a mother and having a strong career - its not for everyone - but people around us have done it and are doing it - and we will do it too.

Just my two cents.

 

[Newgoalsdentdoc]

Excellent post. You almost answered your own question and didn't know it. You said 'I'm trying to figure out what will truly be best for my life and my future." First, are you married and do you have a family, yet? I'll finish answering after you reply. I have a lot to share with you that might be of help.

 

[GTFOOMICT]

It's important to you to have a family and a career. I think that's a good life to lead.

However, if your career comes with $400k in debt, it will just be an anchor on your career and your family.

Find another way to pay for it if you want to do it part time.

 

[beannaithe]

I started with $270k in debt, been practicing for 2 years and putting off starting a family for a few years due to the debt. I look forward to being a mother (eventually), but chose dentistry because I can work a full week and still have time to spend with a family outside the office.

I live in a relatively saturated area due to my husband's job and so I'll be near family when we're ready to have kids.

You need to figure out how involved you want to be as a mother. If you're planning to stay at home after you have kids, dentistry with a $400k pricetag isn't for you. For someone like me, I plan to work full time and juggle family with professional commitments. So dentistry was.

If you want both, you'll make it happen. But you'll have to really want both.

 

[justsusan]

I started with $270k in debt, been practicing for 2 years and putting off starting a family for a few years due to the debt. I look forward to being a mother (eventually), but chose dentistry because I can work a full week and still have time to spend with a family outside the office.

I live in a relatively saturated area due to my husband's job and so I'll be near family when we're ready to have kids.

You need to figure out how involved you want to be as a mother. If you're planning to stay at home after you have kids, dentistry with a $400k pricetag isn't for you. For someone like me, I plan to work full time and juggle family with professional commitments. So dentistry was.

If you want both, you'll make it happen. But you'll have to really want both.

I just want to add that I think juggling family and professional life is probably more difficult as a general dentist than as a specialist..

 

[aliciaworking]

I just want to add that I think juggling family and professional life is probably more difficult as a general dentist than as a specialist..

Why? Could you enlighten us? I'm trying to decide which is better for raising a family/being a mom - Specialize or being gen den...
Thanks!

 

[yappy]

I think it comes down to office time. Many GP's must keep their office open for walk-ins, emergencies, hygiene, etc. while specialists book their office according to the referrals they get. Hence, you can plan / compact your schedule in a much nicer manner as a specialist than you can as a generalist. This is just my understanding of the matter.