how useful is a dental degree.......

[riva128zx]

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....for getting into an MD school? The MCAT looks easier this time around but my grades were never high. So I'm hoping a dental degree would be a strong stepping stone. Any experiences?

( My background: I'm currently a practicing general dentist. I never realized that I'm not cut out for private practice until I finished residency and started working. )

 

[Mazz]

...

 

[gryffindor]

Wait a minute, the question is always "I'm a med student/medical resident but I want to switch to dental, how can I do this?" Now we have someone asking the reverse? 😕

You do realize there are other ways to use your DDS besides private practice? If you don't, maybe you need to go over to www.dentaltown.com and do some reading this weekend.

And to answer your question, your degree probably won't be too useful except for having some prior knowledge since you've taken some of the basic science classes already.

 

[DrNush]

so basically u tried getting into med school, failed, and finally settled for dental school, with the final goal of getting into medicine? geeeezzzz... and then we wonder why some med students are egomaniacs 🙄

 

[riva128zx]

You do realize there are other ways to use your DDS besides private practice?

It's easy to talk of how you can use a DDS for getting positions in pharmaceuticals, research, HMOs, etc. Theoretically, all that is true but these opportunities are very few and far between for someone who only has a DDS but no relevant experience.

It's not that I hate dentistry. I just have an issue with private practice. This is a student forum and most won't comprehend my work issues so I don't want to bother with the details in the day of a dentist's life.

I just basically wanted to know how much the degree will help in getting accepted to med school. I thought this would be a decent place to ask. There are sometimes quite a bit of dentists and dental students who wish they would have gone the med route, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experiences to share.

 

[NyCzPeter]

....for getting into an MD school? The MCAT looks easier this time around but my grades were never high. So I'm hoping a dental degree would be a strong stepping stone. Any experiences?

( My background: I'm currently a practicing general dentist. I never realized that I'm not cut out for private practice until I finished residency and started working. )

lol comon guys obvious troll. Lets close this one up

 

[La fea]

so basically u tried getting into med school, failed, and finally settled for dental school, with the final goal of getting into medicine? geeeezzzz... and then we wonder why some med students are egomaniacs 🙄

uh oh! can of worms 😀

 

[riva128zx]

lol comon guys obvious troll. Lets close this one up

Is this a response?

You could just not reply at all if you don't know anything about dentists going back to school for medicine.

 

[gryffindor]

It's easy to talk of how you can use a DDS for getting positions in pharmaceuticals, research, HMOs, etc. Theoretically, all that is true but these opportunities are very few and far between for someone who only has a DDS but no relevant experience.

It's not that I hate dentistry. I just have an issue with private practice. This is a student forum and most won't comprehend my work issues so I don't want to bother with the details in the day of a dentist's life.

I wasn't even thinking about doing any of those things you mentioned, although they are possibilities. If you hate private practice, then you need to find something else. No one is going to hand you a job in dentistry or even if you have an MD, it's up to you to seek out the opportunity you want. This means talking to all dental related people you encounter and proactively looking for something else that suits you (ie "networking"). The non-private practice jobs that I was thinking about are more along the lines of practicing at a health clinic or working at a dental school. Have you called the dental schools in your area to see if they can use clinical or didactic faculty in any department? This company lists several positions available at correctional care facilities and reservations where dentists are needed - http://www.ajriggins.com/CHS/CHStempjobs.html - and people here could suggest if they know of others. The armed forces always needs dentists, those people are far removed from private practice.

If you really don't mind teeth and it sounds like you don't, you just hate the business end of things - then once again, I really suggest you read the forums on Dentaltown and see how versatile a dental career can really be before investing 7 more years of your life into studying and being a resident only to end up in a career with its own set of issues. Try finding a physician who doesn't gripe about insurance, medicare, malpractice or non-MDs interfering with pt care.

 

[tinman831]

How about we stop with the assumptions and post something helpful?

 

[Waitlisted2009]

.

 

[dentstd]

I never realized that I'm not cut out for private practice until I finished residency and started working.

Is it dentistry or is it working that you don't like. How do you know you like medicine? Do you like talking to patients all day?

 

[DrNush]

uh oh! can of worms 😀

mmmm.. yummy 😆

 

[Guy Smiley]

....for getting into an MD school? The MCAT looks easier this time around but my grades were never high. So I'm hoping a dental degree would be a strong stepping stone. Any experiences?

( My background: I'm currently a practicing general dentist. I never realized that I'm not cut out for private practice until I finished residency and started working. )

Is it all of dentistry you want out of or just private practice? If you gave some more background, readers might be able to give you more pertinent advice.

 

[phremius]

I wouldn't be so quick to judge the poster's circumstances, there are definitely those whom for some reason or another do not and/or cannot mesh with the realities of private practice.

Dentistry viewed from the perspective of a dental student, or worse a pre-dent, can vary greatly from the reality of practicing dentistry as a career.

 

[chund]

I have no experience...
Trying to be objective... Before you have the chance to interview, I would think seeing how far you have come through dentistry only to now realize you do not mesh would seem, pardon the word, flaky to them... Obviously there are so many factors involved, I would have no clue.. You could call some med schools up directly and mention your case and see if you get any realistic feedback.. If they do, it could be worth looking into, if they hang up on you.. then look into something else.. GL

 

[KinKs]

The OP really does seem like an imposter. Here is the scenario, you have invested 4 years and a good bit of money into becoming a dentist. You seem to have been in dentistry for too short a time to have made a profit from your efforts. However, you now wish to go spend another 4 to 6 years becoming an MD.

Good luck with that one.

 

[Waitlisted2009]

.

 

[pietrodds]

What makes an impostor? People change careers all the time

most don't inccur a monetary penalty of 700K(200K tuition + 500K lost income) to switch careers... the reality is you just can't switch careers when you commit to professional school so do your homework BEFORE you sign your life away.

 

[WilsonJing]

Hey man,
I have not heard of any MDs with a dental degree. Most of my friends who didnt get in this year are mostly working on graduate degrees Masters and PHDs trying to get into med school. There are two advantages to this one it gives you more time to do things associated with medical school, application, testing and interviews. I mean once you are in dental school, thats a 4 year commitment, you cant just take weeks off at a time to go interview. Also doing graduate work gives students more interactions with faculty to develop networks. My friend is working in UCSF in AIDs studys trying to get into Med school. His PI was an old professor at UCLA med. In dental school, most of the teachers/personale are very dentistry focused. They have spent their whole lives concentrating on dentistry. Finally, personally I feel if you dont have your heart in dentistry, why give up 4 year of your life using it as a mediocore stepping stone to medicine? Why not nursing? thats more related to medicine with a shorter time commitment. I mean hypothetically speaking, if you were given admissions now would you drop everything and just go? With most options the opportunity to just leave is there. However in dental school, you have to realize that people there have been wanting to be dentists for a long time and schools usually except everyone to graduate and pass boards. Its not that easy to just get up and leave.

 

[jfitzpat]

most don't inccur a monetary penalty of 700K(200K tuition + 500K lost income) to switch careers... the reality is you just can't switch careers when you commit to professional school so do your homework BEFORE you sign your life away.

Not all of us make the right choice the first time around. I wanted to be an attorney for just about my entire life. It took actually practicing it to realize how much I hate it. I don't think any financial advisor would have recommended switching to dentistry, but I'd rather start in a little bit of a hole than be miserable for the next thirty years.

 

[TheSwede]

Not all of us make the right choice the first time around. I wanted to be an attorney for just about my entire life. It took actually practicing it to realize how much I hate it. I don't think any financial advisor would have recommended switching to dentistry, but I'd rather start in a little bit of a hole than be miserable for the next thirty years.

Word!

I did law school, graduated cum laude, got very nice jobs but there was always one thing. I didn't like the aspect of reading 200 - 300 pages just to solve a tiny problem. Everything must be perfect and nothing can never go wrong. Basicly this means that you spend 14 hours day making sure nothing is "missed". I love law on a theoretical level but I don't want to pratice it. It's just too boring and slow.

Its quite normal to feel this way and its better to do something about it than to feel miserable the rest of your life. I just admire you guys in the States that have to put out 300 k for your education. In Sweden, every education is entirely free, therefore a switch wont cost you more than the income you lose as a dental student instead of working at the big law firm.

 

[riva128zx]

The OP really does seem like an imposter. Here is the scenario, you have invested 4 years and a good bit of money into becoming a dentist. You seem to have been in dentistry for too short a time to have made a profit from your efforts. However, you now wish to go spend another 4 to 6 years becoming an MD.

My reason for wanting med school has to do with my private practice experience in dentistry. It's kind of long and pointless for me to talk about that here because most SDN posters are not practicing dentists but dental students.

I admit that I'm not a perfect dentist and I want to enter med school. But that doesn't make me a dental hack who is negligent in providing care. I go the extra mile for every patient I treat. I'm also regularly taking dental continuing education. In fact, yesterday, I submitted a payment of ~$4000 for a weeklong course in June. I have far more CE hours than the average colleague from my graduating class.

Entering med school will be a financial loss for me but I frankly don't care. It's just me in my life, and my living standards aren't high.

And the emphasis of this thread is whether a DMD or DDS will help tremendously for getting into med school, not about whether I'm making the right decisions.

 

[Waitlisted2009]

.

 

[jfitzpat]

And the emphasis of this thread is whether a DMD or DDS will help tremendously for getting into med school, not about whether I'm making the right decisions.

They are going to be related. On its face, haivng a DDS or DMD will be helpful because the school will know that you are capable of completing a graduate level program akin to med school. The bigger issue is going to be justifying to the committee why you want to be a physician instead of a dentist.

 

[aphistis]

They are going to be related. On its face, haivng a DDS or DMD will be helpful because the school will know that you are capable of completing a graduate level program akin to med school. The bigger issue is going to be justifying to the committee why you want to be a physician instead of a dentist.

This one wins my vote for most insightful post of the thread thus far. 👍

 

[Guy Smiley]

My reason for wanting med school has to do with my private practice experience in dentistry. It's kind of long and pointless for me to talk about that here because most SDN posters are not practicing dentists but dental students.

I admit that I'm not a perfect dentist and I want to enter med school. But that doesn't make me a dental hack who is negligent in providing care. I go the extra mile for every patient I treat. I'm also regularly taking dental continuing education. In fact, yesterday, I submitted a payment of ~$4000 for a weeklong course in June. I have far more CE hours than the average colleague from my graduating class.

Entering med school will be a financial loss for me but I frankly don't care. It's just me in my life, and my living standards aren't high.

And the emphasis of this thread is whether a DMD or DDS will help tremendously for getting into med school, not about whether I'm making the right decisions.

Believe or not, there are a few practicing dentists on here. I was just curious what you don't like about private practice. I am not in private practice, but am in public health. I was just wondering if you might like working in public health. While some places in public health are porr quality experiences, not all are. I think I have a great job, I really enjoy seeing most of my patients, and were I not interested in pursuing further education i.e. residency, I would definitely stay where I work for several more years to come. I was wondering if you might be looking for an area of the profession where you didn't feel like you have to sell work...but you didn't really answer why you don't like private practice so I am just guessing why.

 

[Taurus]

I have not heard of any MDs with a dental degree.

That's because you haven't been around long enough.

While interviewing this past season, I met two MD's who were previously dentists. One was a PD for an internal medicine program and the other was a radiologist. If the OP wants to do med school and understands the costs and risks, then I don't see a problem.

 

[riva128zx]

They are going to be related. On its face, haivng a DDS or DMD will be helpful because the school will know that you are capable of completing a graduate level program akin to med school. The bigger issue is going to be justifying to the committee why you want to be a physician instead of a dentist.

But as I mentioned originally, my academic grades were never high. My biggest concern is whether a DDS or DMD will help compensate for such grades when applying to med schools.

I made the original post here because most of SDN viewers are students, and I figured they would have a better idea than some practicing dentists out of school for ten years.

 

[riva128zx]

Believe or not, there are a few practicing dentists on here. I was just curious what you don't like about private practice. I am not in private practice, but am in public health. I was just wondering if you might like working in public health. While some places in public health are porr quality experiences, not all are. I think I have a great job, I really enjoy seeing most of my patients, and were I not interested in pursuing further education i.e. residency, I would definitely stay where I work for several more years to come. I was wondering if you might be looking for an area of the profession where you didn't feel like you have to sell work...but you didn't really answer why you don't like private practice so I am just guessing why.

If you are a practicing dentist and are really eager to know my reasons, PM me and I can explain.

I'm not writing them up openly because I don't want to attract attention from pre-dental or dental students for the wrong reasons.

 

[jfitzpat]

But as I mentioned originally, my academic grades were never high. My biggest concern is whether a DDS or DMD will help compensate for such grades when applying to med schools.

I made the original post here because most of SDN viewers are students, and I figured they would have a better idea than some practicing dentists out of school for ten years.

If you are asking whether it is going to be a magic bullet, I would doubt it. I don't think that having a DDS would take a normally non-competitve applicant and suddenly make them competitive.

As a non-trad who left another field to enter dentistry, schools really seemed to want two things out of me. First, they wanted my profile (as in undergrad prereqs and DAT) to be competitive with their other applicants and second, they wanted a really good reason when I wanted to become a dentist. I would imagine that med schools would be looking for similar things.

 

[Taurus]

If you are a practicing dentist and are really eager to know my reasons, PM me and I can explain.

I'm not writing them up openly because I don't want to attract attention from pre-dental or dental students for the wrong reasons.

I'll be interested to know. Just share it with everyone. It'll be educational for everyone.

 

[umkcdds]

have you considered the military? or considered working as a civilian contracted dentist at a military post?

either one of those will let you work as a dentist, have short hours, stability, all without the crap that goes along with owning a private practice. the civilian contract dentist lets you do it without being in the military.

to directly answer the specific question, if i were on an admissions committee of a med school, i would question your motives and desire to really become an MD - you would have some explaining/convincing to do. you seem unable to make up your mind, and that would be a negative to me. i would want to accept a student that is in it for the long-haul and knows what they are getting into.

it would be a negative if i were on the admissions committee, which i am not.

so, without asking an admission advisor directly (which i would suggest you do just that - call and talk to the dean of admissions at your nearest med school) all you can get is conjecture and opinions.

 

[hsara00]

to directly answer the specific question, if i were on an admissions committee of a med school, i would question your motives and desire to really become an MD - you would have some explaining/convincing to do. you seem unable to make up your mind, and that would be a negative to me. i would want to accept a student that is in it for the long-haul and knows what they are getting into.

it would be a negative if i were on the admissions committee, which i am not.

.

I hope not every one in the Comittee thinks like you. There are people who change careers for very good reasons and I don't think comittee should and will look at them in a negative way. There are so many people who know 100% why they want in life.

 

[JustBePM]

so basically u tried getting into med school, failed, and finally settled for dental school, with the final goal of getting into medicine? geeeezzzz... and then we wonder why some med students are egomaniacs 🙄

I wonder who REALLY IS the egomaniac...

the one who wants to live his dreams and become a medical doctor, or the one who calls himself a DOCTOR (i.e DrNush) while a dental STUDENT.

 

[MSKalltheway]

I have not heard of any MDs with a dental degree.

There are plenty of them. They are called Oral Surgeons.

 

[Drill Doc]

If you have decided that you really want to be an MD, I feel that your DDS can only help. Like it was said earlier, the key is going to be dealing with the adcomm.

There is only one real way to find out. Try.

Probably will have to take at least the MCAT and score well.

No reason you have to justify to us here why you don't like practicing dentistry. But you will have to explain this well to any school....

If medicine is your true passion, go for it.

 

[CanuckDDS]

There are plenty of them. They are called Oral Surgeons.

Not trying to be facetious or a dick but... it is actually Oral and MAXILLOFACIAL Surgeons. Sorry, but the term oral surgeon is outdated and doesn't really tell the story of who OMFS guys are.

To the OP....apply to meds. Do whatever you want! If you don't give it a shot and that is what you want to do you'll be pissed off for your entire life.

I want to become a fighter pilot but i'm too tall. And I can't fly planes🙁

 

[stp27]

Not trying to be facetious or a dick but... it is actually Oral and MAXILLOFACIAL Surgeons. Sorry, but the term oral surgeon is outdated and doesn't really tell the story of who OMFS guys are.

To the OP....apply to meds. Do whatever you want! If you don't give it a shot and that is what you want to do you'll be pissed off for your entire life.

I want to become a fighter pilot but i'm too tall. And I can't fly planes🙁

I know you weren't being a jerk but really.

 

[CanuckDDS]

I know you weren't being a jerk but really.

i know, i know...i can't freakin' help it!

sorry.