Dental How can I decide between medicine and dentistry?

[Catalystik]

Hello, I am currently a 3rd-year Neuroscience major and am really stuck between medicine and dentistry. I went into undergrad as pre-med. However, as my college semesters went by, I mainly focused on getting good grades and neglected clinical experience, research etc. In terms of ECs, I only have about 30 hours of shadowing a cardiologist and some nonclinical volunteering along with a few leadership positions in my university. My GPA is about 3.81 and a science GPA of about 3.72. I know my GPA is pretty solid and I think I could do great on the MCAT but my lack of medical experience and research is making me doubt my chances of getting accepted without taking a gap year.

This made me think about dentistry, which although I wasn't really interested in it, has grown on me. Also, my family owns a dental practice so getting a nice job/owning a dental practice right out of dental school would be pretty easy for me. I'm aware this is a very big opportunity for me but I still have a passion for medicine and would love to get into a speciality like opthamology or radiology. I also feel as if I would be limiting myself with dentistry and I'm not sure why. But at the same time, I feel as if I really was interested in med I wouldn't be so lazy about it and I would've already done more clinical work. Dentistry is also appealing in the sense that I could combine my passion for business with my passion for art.

1) Do you think I could still have a chance of getting into med school without taking a gap year? Is a bunch of clinical experience and research really that necessary to get in?
2) Should I instead just drop med and go into dental?

1) To attend med school without a gap year, you'd have to apply in the next two months (for MD) and by fall (for DO) in order to matriculate in Fall of 2020. Considering the average student has 1.5 years of active clinical experience as well as other supportive extracurriculars like shadowing and nonmedical community service, +/- some of leadership, teaching, and research, not to mention a competitive MCAT score (typically requiring 2 dedicated months of study to prepare), it is clear you would need at least one gap year. Don't forget you'll also need some solid Letters of Recommendation from faculty who taught you.

2) For a dental school application you need to get a decent score on the DAT, will need LORs, and will fill out an application giving details of your involvement in:

• Academic Enrichment Programs
• Awards/Honors/Scholarships
• Shadowing
• Extra Curricular/Volunteer/Community Service
• Research Experience
• Work Experience

See SDN's Pre-Dental Forum for more info on the critical ECs to include.

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[artist2022]

Going off of @Catalystik's post, to attend dental school without a gap year, you'd have to apply at least by the end of July (the application opens June 4th). You'd also need to study for and take the DAT, which does take a couple weeks to a couple months to prepare for. You'd need shadowing hours (about a minimum of 100 w/ a general dentist would be solid), but you have to show commitment with it (like you can't do all 100 in one month --> red flag). You'd also need strong LORs from your professors and also one from a dentist (not a family member though). You wouldn't necessarily need to take a gap year, but you'd need to start NOW and start studying for the DAT, write a PS, gather your LORs, and start shadowing.

One thing I'll say though is that a lot of people apply with a DAT score in hand, because your application can get really late in the cycle if you take it in the summer. Nonetheless, people have had success taking their DAT that late and applying (I was one of those people, taking it early August and submitting it at the end of August, which is pretty late).

Good luck!

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you for the reply! I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear in my post but I just finished my 2nd year of undergrad and will be a junior in the fall. I am planning on applying for the fall 2021 cycle so I have about a year until applications. Will it hurt my application if all my research and clinical experience is done during this summer and my 3rd year of undergrad?

If you get started ASAP on gaining active clinical experience where you interact with patients, you might be fine. It isn't the total hours that's important, but rather that it's a longitudinal experience. One or two terms of research would be adequate (a year is average). Physician shadowing need not be a prolonged experience, and can be done in large chunks of time. About 50 hours is average, and should include a primary care doc. As you already have nonmedical community service, can you stay involved? If not, get it going.

 

[artist2022]

I still have a full year before I apply since I’m trying for the fall 2021 admission and just finished my 2nd year of undergrad. I still feel behind for med, as I know most people have been doing clinical volunteering and research since their first year. I feel like dental would be much easier for me since I have also shadowed dentists and have a little dental assisting experience. Also for dentistry, research isn’t as important compared to med correct?

Research's not as important, but the "top" schools really like seeing it (think UCs, Ivys, etc).

Honestly, make sure you actually like dentistry instead of looking at it from sort of a med-backup point of view. If you won't enjoy drilling and filling teeth, and if you feel like you're "limiting" yourself as you said in your first post, the rest of your career will be miserable and full of what-ifs. So, just be sure.