General dentistry info...

[929_bas]

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Hello,
I am presently deferring my admission to medical school and during the intervening period am seriously considering a career in dentistry instead. I have a lot of questions that I would appreciate insight on...

First, what are the best dental schools? My grades are excellent (3.97overall, 3.98science from a good university), I have recieved a lot of academic awards, have been a TA in organic chemistry, have done some research, and although I have not yet taken the DATs, my MCAT scores were in the 90-99.9% so I am confident that I can do well on them. May I presume that I will have no trouble getting into a top program?

When, for priority consideration, should I have my applications in?

Do dental schools ever award scholarhips?

How much dental experience do dental schools like to see? Is shadowing sufficient?

I noticed that some schools say you need 8 credits of english... I took two semesters of english (2x3 credits), is that not sufficient? To get 8 credits at my school I would have had to take 9 credits... are these typographical errors or are three semesters of english generally required?

What does a gp dentist make and what hours do they work?

Is getting into ortho very difficult? Do you have to pay for the residency program or do they pay you? What are the hours like of the program?

Thanks a lot!

 

[prez_al]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA... are you for real??? Why the sudden change in plans??

I think if you posted that in the premed section, people would kill to have your spot.. just thought that was funny.

 

[floydthefish]

Hello,
I am presently deferring my admission to medical school and during the intervening period am seriously considering a career in dentistry instead. I have a lot of questions that I would appreciate insight on...

First, what are the best dental schools? My grades are excellent (3.97overall, 3.98science from a good university), I have recieved a lot of academic awards, have been a TA in organic chemistry, have done some research, and although I have not yet taken the DATs, my MCAT scores were in the 90-99.9% so I am confident that I can do well on them. May I presume that I will have no trouble getting into a top program?

When, for priority consideration, should I have my applications in?

Do dental schools ever award scholarhips?

How much dental experience do dental schools like to see? Is shadowing sufficient?

I noticed that some schools say you need 8 credits of english... I took two semesters of english (2x3 credits), is that not sufficient? To get 8 credits at my school I would have had to take 9 credits... are these typographical errors or are three semesters of english generally required?

What does a gp dentist make and what hours do they work?

Is getting into ortho very difficult? Do you have to pay for the residency program or do they pay you? What are the hours like of the program?

Thanks a lot!

Every question you've asked here has been answered in this forum in several places already. I'm sure if you spent 15 minutes looking around, you'd know all you need to.

 

[929_bas]

AHAHAHAHAHAHA... are you for real??? Why the sudden change in plans??

I think if you posted that in the premed section, people would kill to have your spot.. just thought that was funny.

I agree with you, its pretty funny and I'm sorry for the person that I screwed out of a great med school spot. I must admit it is somewhat of a burden to have options, and perhaps me getting into medical school was too easy and prevented me from seriously evaluating the situation...

I suppose I started thinking more about the realities of a medical career... the specialities I'm interested in would probably be 5-7years of residency, 80+hrs a week for little pay. Once I was out, I should still expect 60hr work weeks for reimbursement that is continually being squeezed by HMOs and federal medicare. To boot, any attempt at making my operatons capitalistic could result in an accidental felony conviction as anti-trust laws are written vaguely. In contrast, I feel that dentistry would still offer me the ability to interact w/ patients and provide valuable service, would satisfy (although arguably to a lesser degree then medicine) my love of science, and would provide a lifestyle ammicable to my diverse interests and hobbies. There are medical subspecialties that offer this, to some degree (derm, anethesiology, radiology) but they don't materially interest me and still carry a larger workload then that of orthodontics (for instance) with the aformentioned beurocratic and restrictive concerns...

That's where I stand now. Making major life decisions sucks. Whisky helps.

 

[prez_al]

Totally agree with you. The amount of residency turned me off med plus I'm not a fan of intense gore (I can't watch Trauma on TLC)... Dentistry in my opinion, is something that allows a person to live a relatively normal life while allowing yourself to develop bonds with your patients unlike many medical specialties. Plus, dexterity stuff is fun!

I would rather have multiple options than to settle for something. As for the DAT, if you can get 30+ on the MCAT, you should be fine. Are you applying for this current cycle?? If you aren't, it might defeat the purpose of your medical deferral. Lastly, I don't think I would ever trust a medical doctor who needs Jack Daniels to make a life altering decision.... that act has red flags all over!

 

[tinman831]

In contrast, I feel that dentistry would still offer me the ability to interact w/ patients and provide valuable service, would satisfy (although arguably to a lesser degree then medicine) my love of science, and would provide a lifestyle ammicable to my diverse interests and hobbies.

You won't actually know this until you actually start shadowing a dentist. Have you done any shadowing before? You should probably take a year off and reevaluate what you want in life and what will actually fulfill it before you blindly start making commitments.


OH yeah, and orthodontics VERY competitive.

 

[wigglytooth]

[Densitry]....would satisfy (although arguably to a lesser degree then medicine) my love of science...

Them's fighting words round these parts.
No one would know this unless you shadowed both physicians and dentists. Maybe you'd never know this unless you worked in both fields.

Take the year off to shadow some dentists and physicians, while working part time. Examine your life very carefully. In the end, you might find that being a physician is really what you want to do and would be worth it for you to go through the residency and have to deal with the HMO's and all else you listed. Obviously it's worth it for some people. You'll find out that being a dentist isn't such a walk in the sun all the time, either. You may hate people's mouths or the stress of owning your own business or the ton of debt you'll be in when you're done. But for the people here, the hard work and stress that goes into getting in the field and being successful in it is worth it.

 

[ItsGavinC]

hmm.....wow. well, are you doing well in medical school? well enough to get into the medical subspecialities of derm., anethes., and radio?

aka skin, gas, and rads. 🙂

 

[ItsGavinC]

What does a gp dentist make and what hours do they work?

Is getting into ortho very difficult? Do you have to pay for the residency program or do they pay you? What are the hours like of the program?

GPs typically make between $150-200k, working 4.5 days a week (25-35 hours a week).

Getting into ortho is *extremely* difficult. Some programs have stipends, but most have tuition that you must pay. The hours of the program are traditional (no call, etc.) such as 8-4.

 

[Mare]

Hello,
I am presently deferring my admission to medical school and during the intervening period am seriously considering a career in dentistry instead. I have a lot of questions that I would appreciate insight on...

First, what are the best dental schools? My grades are excellent (3.97overall, 3.98science from a good university), I have recieved a lot of academic awards, have been a TA in organic chemistry, have done some research, and although I have not yet taken the DATs, my MCAT scores were in the 90-99.9% so I am confident that I can do well on them. May I presume that I will have no trouble getting into a top program?

When, for priority consideration, should I have my applications in?

Do dental schools ever award scholarhips?

How much dental experience do dental schools like to see? Is shadowing sufficient?

I noticed that some schools say you need 8 credits of english... I took two semesters of english (2x3 credits), is that not sufficient? To get 8 credits at my school I would have had to take 9 credits... are these typographical errors or are three semesters of english generally required?

What does a gp dentist make and what hours do they work?

Is getting into ortho very difficult? Do you have to pay for the residency program or do they pay you? What are the hours like of the program?

Thanks a lot!

I congratulate you on your good thinking! That would have been a tough decision to defer Med school, but definitely the right move if you're unsure about it. Why waste time (and money!) if you're not satisfied with the profession you're studying?

Do some research on the schools you are interested in - I think most will outline what awards and scholarships they offer to students on their website.

My guess is that shadowing is sufficient - there aren't enough positions for all the potential dental students to get hands on experience before entering. You have to see the profession in action first hand to be sure you're interested in the outcome of all that studying, so do enough shadowing (and asking questions!) to be sure you want to be a dental health professional in the end.

My understanding is that the average Dentist in Canada makes about $120,000 CDN depending on location, hours, experience, etc. But I know the US is vastly different in structure.

If you were accepted to Med school, I assume you'll be accepted to most dental schools as well. They all want the same thing - a smart, well-rounded, honest, compassionate and friendly student. So assuming you have those characteristics, you'll be accepted just about anywhere.

Good luck with the decision!


Mare