For past pre meds-How did you decide to make the switch?

[Jack-of-all-trades]

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I'm going into my third year of college and have been pre med the whole time and have basically always wanted to be a doctor. The past couple months though I've all of a sudden developed a large interest in dentistry. I've shadowed both medicine and dentistry and I like dentistry much much more. I was always kind of bored and dissatisfied shadowing medicine (the only specialty in medicine I actually enjoyed shadowing was ENT which I know is similar to OMFS in many ways). I thoroughly enjoyed shadowing dentistry and I can definitely imagine seeing myself doing it for the rest of my life. I just really liked the hands on aspect of dentistry and I really liked the fact that dentists fix problems and not just prescribe medications that only seems to kind of help the problem instead of actually making the problem go away. Dentistry also just seems more laid back to me than medicine and dentists always seem to be very satisfied, whereas many physicians seem stressed and have warned me to not go into medicine.

But here's my problem. I'm afraid that if I don't do medicine that I'll always regret not becoming a physician since it was always what I wanted to do. I'm also very interested in biology and physiology and I am afraid that there is not a lot of that in dentistry. Another thing that worries me is that if I go to dental school and don't like it there are not many other options, whereas in medicine there is a lot of specialties to choose from and find something I might like if I don't like medicine that much. So for all of you that used to be pre-med and switched to pre-dental what helped you to decide to make the switch? How did you know that dentistry was right for you rather than medicine?

Sorry for the sort of long post, I'm just really looking for some kind of advice! Thanks for all replies in advance!

 

[Jack-of-all-trades]

Used to be premed now I am in dental school with no regrets.

Why would you regret not going into medicine? List it out and see if its reasonable then make the switch if you want, i personally shadowed dentists and realized how much better of a lifestyle it was compared to medicine and thats why I switched.

Even though i loved medicine and still do, I also love dentistry but even moreso I love having a life and spending as much time with my family as I want

To be completely honest I don't have an answer for why I would regret not going into medicine. Maybe it's just an idea I have in my mind that really doesn't have anything behind it. That really made me think about that.

I also like the lifestyle of dentistry as family is very important to me as well.

Thanks for the reply, it really helped!

 

[ppaa]

I was pre-med but the summer before my junior year I went abroad and realized dentistry spoke more too me. I personally hadn't been the general dentist/gotten my first cleaning until i was almost 20, so I had never considered dentistry. After shadowing, I just enjoyed dentistry more because I like using my hands and in medicine you mainly do that with surgery. After shadowing several surgeries, i wasn't into it.

I liked the aspect of having a life outside of work with dentistry. There is no doubt that there is a lot of effort that goes into both but when talking to dentists I was shadowing, it became clear which I could see myself doing.

I feel like there are a good number of specialities in dentistry, you have to do amazing in school to even get to that point. There are many people that say they are going to specialize but end up not doing that. I would maybe think about comparing a general dentist to a family doctor and use that to make more of your decision.

Good luck with your decision! There's always a possibility of regret with every decision you make but sometimes you just know what you want and you have to trust it.

 

[8_man]

To be completely honest I don't have an answer for why I would regret not going into medicine. Maybe it's just an idea I have in my mind that really doesn't have anything behind it. That really made me think about that.

I also like the lifestyle of dentistry as family is very important to me as well.

Thanks for the reply, it really helped!

I'll just go ahead and say it—a big reason why you might regret not going into medicine is because it is considered the pinnacle of healthcare professions, and you going into dentistry may give your loved ones and peers the impression that you're a quitter who is settling for less.

Once you stop caring about what others think, your choice will be obvious. Former premed with similar reasons, so I thought I'd give my two cents.

 

[AKtoTXstudent]

I'll just go ahead and say it—a big reason why you might regret not going into medicine is because it is considered the pinnacle of healthcare professions, and you going into dentistry may give your loved ones and peers the impression that you're a quitter who is settling for less.

Once you stop caring about what others think, your choice will be obvious. Former premed with similar reasons, so I thought I'd give my two cents.

this resonated with me. Public perception is that MD's are real doctors and everything else is not. Worked at a dental office this past year and a patient told me, "I had to tell my kids today that we weren't going to see the doctor just the dentist." They were afraid of getting vaccinations/needles and she obviously didn't want to scare them for their dental exam.

Starting dental school tomorrow and I'm excited/nervous (just jitters probably).

Don't crucify me for saying this ... if dentistry was another medical specialty like derm or other lifestyle specialties it would probably be highly sought after like dermatology for its work/life balance.

If I don't specialize and end up being a general dentist, from the shadowing I've done still seems to be a pretty sweet gig. I'd still pick it over Family Medicine or Internal Medicine or anything primary care related on the medical side.

Career goals:
Life outside of work? Check
work with my hands? check
Patients call me doctor? check
wife that will call me doctor? check 😉

Goodnight and hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[2TH MVR]

Former premed. Watched a lot of M*A*S*H episodes in undergrad and decided life and death situations weren't for me. Went into dentistry/ortho for the laid back easier lifestyle. For the most part .... I've had a great career. Prestige of being a "real" doctor means nothing to me. No regrets except for one. Dentistry has become a commodity. The service and respect aspect has now been replaced with the commodity aspect. Being old school .... I never liked the concept of advertising and marketing.

So ... if you're comfortable with marketing your commodity, getting online reviews, advertising free teeth bleaching with exams, $99/month braces, etc. etc. etc. go dentistry.

Now ... I would never consider general family medicine, but I would consider one of the other medicine specialties whereby respect is earned by your superior treatment rather than how many positive online reviews you've received.

Dentistry has become business. Medicine is business also, but not as much as dentistry.

 

[Jack-of-all-trades]

this resonated with me. Public perception is that MD's are real doctors and everything else is not. Worked at a dental office this past year and a patient told me, "I had to tell my kids today that we weren't going to see the doctor just the dentist." They were afraid of getting vaccinations/needles and she obviously didn't want to scare them for their dental exam.

Starting dental school tomorrow and I'm excited/nervous (just jitters probably).

Don't crucify me for saying this ... if dentistry was another medical specialty like derm or other lifestyle specialties it would probably be highly sought after like dermatology for its work/life balance.

If I don't specialize and end up being a general dentist, from the shadowing I've done still seems to be a pretty sweet gig. I'd still pick it over Family Medicine or Internal Medicine or anything primary care related on the medical side.

Career goals:
Life outside of work? Check
work with my hands? check
Patients call me doctor? check
wife that will call me doctor? check 😉

Goodnight and hope you find what you're looking for!

Thanks for the reply! Good luck with dental school!

 

[Jack-of-all-trades]

Former premed. Watched a lot of M*A*S*H episodes in undergrad and decided life and death situations weren't for me. Went into dentistry/ortho for the laid back easier lifestyle. For the most part .... I've had a great career. Prestige of being a "real" doctor means nothing to me. No regrets except for one. Dentistry has become a commodity. The service and respect aspect has now been replaced with the commodity aspect. Being old school .... I never liked the concept of advertising and marketing.

So ... if you're comfortable with marketing your commodity, getting online reviews, advertising free teeth bleaching with exams, $99/month braces, etc. etc. etc. go dentistry.

Now ... I would never consider general family medicine, but I would consider one of the other medicine specialties whereby respect is earned by your superior treatment rather than how many positive online reviews you've received.

Dentistry has become business. Medicine is business also, but not as much as dentistry.

I've been thinking about this as well and I think that I might actually like the business aspect of dentistry. I perform music and magic shows and I enjoy marketing and different things that have to do with the business side like that.

Thanks for the reply! Every piece of advice really helps!

 

[Jack-of-all-trades]

I'll just go ahead and say it—a big reason why you might regret not going into medicine is because it is considered the pinnacle of healthcare professions, and you going into dentistry may give your loved ones and peers the impression that you're a quitter who is settling for less.

Once you stop caring about what others think, your choice will be obvious. Former premed with similar reasons, so I thought I'd give my two cents.

I think that this is definitely very true with me. I care a lot about what other people think in terms of respect and things like that and I think that I have it in my mind that medicine is more respected. You're right, if I get that idea out of my head I think that my choice will become clear to me.

Thanks a lot for the reply! It really helped!

 

[Life of Pablo]

Another big thing to think about is debt. Dental school is, for the most part, way more expensive than medical school. From a financial standpoint, any field in medicine would be a better option than dental school if it meant you had to take out a $500k+ loan to attend.

 

[Teeth4Life1234]

I'm the opposite. After watching House, I totally regret my decision. Should've went to med school

 

[2TH MVR]

I'm the opposite. After watching House, I totally regret my decision. Should've went to med school

House is good. Kinda spooky with all the trial and error treatments.