IF I wanted plastic surgery, why I would apply to dental school

[Chga]

i would advice to take the medical school way...
both med and dental school are really stressful. if you claim that USMLE is harder, then its going to be equally harder for everyone else in all med schools... your result is still going to be scaled to everyone else.

I would rather be super stress out for shorter period of time then be "semi" stressed out for a really long time... i rather be younger and make less money then make 500k/year and be older.
money is overrated.. (not that i dont like money)

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[Istr8nthem]

i would advice to take the medical school way...
both med and dental school are really stressful. if you claim that USMLE is harder, then its going to be equally harder for everyone else in all med schools... your result is still going to be scaled to everyone else.

I would rather be super stress out for shorter period of time then be "semi" stressed out for a really long time... i rather be younger and make less money then make 500k/year and be older.
money is overrated.. (not that i dont like money)

Unfortunately, a 6-year OMFS program would fall under the category of "extremely stressful for a very long time." If the OP has never spoken with or spent time shadowing an OMFS resident, I suggest they do so. They will quickly realize that this route is NOT the less stressful of the two. I am around OMFS, Derm, plastics residents daily, and trust me, OMFS residents have it the worst by far!!! Check into it, you will quickly learn the answer to your original question.

 

[DSpagnoli]

What I did mean to say is that, based on the acknowledgments I have received and my personal comments, people look back 30 years from now and think: would it have been worth pursuing life/death surgical procedures vs. cleaning teeth for the rest of your life.

Cleaning teeth for the rest of your life???? You are seriously downplaying the role of dentistry, as if it were some sub-par area of medicine....

 

[Danny0230]

Cleaning teeth for the rest of your life???? You are seriously downplaying the role of dentistry, as if it were some sub-par area of medicine....

I agree... even his apologies are insulting... 'cleaning teeth for the rest of your life,' wow... I'm sure most of us don't really want to be rude, tinman, but these comments really are unfair towards us as predents/d-students and towards the dental profession.

This thread should really be closed, it's going nowhere and is a bad representation of SDN and the overall objective of a friendly community aimed at helping each other

 

[Montserrat]

You've been bludgeoned enough in this thread, and my comment isn't a bash - it's an observation.

From your assumption of dentistry, I think that you should spend more time shadowing because your descriptors are devoid of many things that the profession is about. If you are ultimately interested in plastics, you should go to medical school. I have a friend who is a plastics resident at Ohio, and she's doing great. Other than assigned reading and rotations that have nothing to do with plastics, she feels that she's at least on that track. However, in OMFS, you'll have to deal with things that are even further away from your goal, and that is something that will weigh on your mind every day that you'd be on call. An OMFS residency is already challenging - don't make it harder by choosing it for the wrong reasons.

 

[dentstd]

Curry, I would get a new name on this forum. It's only for your own good.

I was thinking that myself. May I suggest some names?...SugarKCl. ArmoredTeeth, ItsGavinG

With respect to the cleaning teeth thing, dentists don't clean teeth. Hygenists do that. We're cavity fillers. You can either save lives or fill cavities. Actually, most doctors don't even save lives. They just talk to patients and prescribe random drugs. Soooo.... you can either guess which drugs to precribe your patients or you can fill cavities. MD or DMD. Your choice.

 

[DSpagnoli]

I was thinking that myself. May I suggest some names?...SugarKCl. ArmoredTeeth, ItsGavinG

With respect to the cleaning teeth thing, dentists don't clean teeth. Hygenists do that. We're cavity fillers. You can either save lives or fill cavities. Actually, most doctors don't even save lives. They just talk to patients and prescribe random drugs. Soooo.... you can either guess which drugs to precribe your patients or you can fill cavities. MD or DMD. Your choice.

Just to add so that he does not think we are just cavity fillers,

filling cavities, diagnosing abnormal pathology (yes even possibly life threatening path), occasional endo, implant restorations, fixed prosth (PFM, all porcelain crowns, gold crowns, ect), removable prosth (bridge work, dentures)...there are so many custom restoration possibilities it is endless. The new technology makes diagnosis and treatment possibilities endless, surgical extractions, whitening treatment, perio treatment, the list goes on.

 

[dentstd]

Just to add so that he does not think we are just cavity fillers,

filling cavities, diagnosing abnormal pathology (yes even possibly life threatening path), occasional endo, implant restorations, fixed prosth (PFM, all porcelain crowns, gold crowns, ect), removable prosth (bridge work, dentures)...there are so many custom restoration possibilities it is endless. The new technology makes diagnosis and treatment possibilities endless, surgical extractions, whitening treatment, perio treatment, the list goes on.

Yea, I know. But if you were to diminish a career, we come down to cavity fillers. Kinda like how pharmacist are pill pushers. Big bottle to small bottle. Big bottle to small bottle.

Docs are drug prescribers, pharms are pill pushers, and we're cavity fillers.

 

[UNR.Grad]

I understand that men can't have babies.

http://www.malepregnancy.com/

I met the guy who created the website in one of my classes, he gets threats/applause all the time from people who think it's really true.

*edit* sorry, very off-topic.

 

[bisconito]

On a serious note, any health care professional knows that they are a service provider. If you are not willing to treat anyone that needs help, then you should be handling anything other than patients. Health professionals are just a small part of the community; there must be someone to clean your water and another to make sure that your car does not fall apart. I believe that you have a lot of misconceptions about health care, and you should figure these while you still have the opportunity to change in undergrad. However, your problem is a lack of maturity and since no one has probably told you this... You are no more valuable than anyone else in this world, and you are no better than any patient that you could treat in the future. If you cannot be humble enough to accept this, then you are in the wrong alphabet soup; nobody cares about your title or how much money you earn. Your worth as a person is built on the lifelong sacrifice to make better the lives of others.

 

[NewMexDent]

Here is a chant I made up (all by myself) for CurryPower:

Just do med!
Don't do dent!
Just do med!
Don't do dent!
Just do med!
Don't do dent!

Now, here's a plea:

Please, please, please, please go to med school. I really don't want to face the possiblity that you could end up in the same school as me.

In my honest opinion:

I get the feeling from your posts, CurryPower, that you are seriously considering dentistry and I think you should stop. It is clear that you value medical school much higher than dental school and if you go to dental school you may always wish you had just gone to medical school.

You seem to be really interested in numbers - board scores, top 10 schools, salaries, residency matches etc. Stop trying to make correlations and misconstrued assumptions based on arbitrary numbers. Go to med school, work hard and everything will be just fine.

 

[DwyaneWade]

I am not pre-dent but I had one simple question for the OP.

Why are you so scared of the USMLE?

It is a test. A Multiple-choice test. Is it difficult? You bet? Am I going to study my @ss off? Yes I am. Do people do worse than expected? Yes. But if you feel like you are doing well now, why do you feel like you couldn't do well in medical school? Go to a P/F school, spend 2 years doing plastics research and studying your stuff, cram for the boards in the last 6-8 weeks and work hard on your rotations. I have an upperclassman friend at a "not nationally acclaimed" school who did this and is probably going to match in integrated plastics.

Why is this so hard? Why is this so much harder than going the dental route?

Please enlighten me.

 

[armorshell]

I am not pre-dent but I had one simple question for the OP.

Why are you so scared of the USMLE?

It is a test. A Multiple-choice test. Is it difficult? You bet? Am I going to study my @ss off? Yes I am. Do people do worse than expected? Yes. But if you feel like you are doing well now, why do you feel like you couldn't do well in medical school? Go to a P/F school, spend 2 years doing plastics research and studying your stuff, cram for the boards in the last 6-8 weeks and work hard on your rotations. I have an upperclassman friend at a "not nationally acclaimed" school who did this and is probably going to match in integrated plastics.

Why is this so hard? Why is this so much harder than going the dental route?

Please enlighten me.

You basically just described the dental route.

 

[dentstd]

I am not pre-dent but I had one simple question for the OP.

Why are you so scared of the USMLE?

It is a test. A Multiple-choice test. Is it difficult? You bet? Am I going to study my @ss off? Yes I am. Do people do worse than expected? Yes. But if you feel like you are doing well now, why do you feel like you couldn't do well in medical school? Go to a P/F school, spend 2 years doing plastics research and studying your stuff, cram for the boards in the last 6-8 weeks and work hard on your rotations. I have an upperclassman friend at a "not nationally acclaimed" school who did this and is probably going to match in integrated plastics.

Why is this so hard? Why is this so much harder than going the dental route?

Please enlighten me.

How'd you do on the miniboards and the Pre-Tests?

and the dental exam changed format to partially including thinking questions instead of rote memorization questions. Current dental students are crying about it.

 

[rkamsterdam]

In the OP’s defense,

I think that it’s perfectly okay to attend dental school with the ultimate dream of becoming an oral surgeon (dds/md), but one has to realize the realities involved in achieving this goal or disappointment is more than likely.

Curry, omfs residencies are extremely difficult to attain. A student with high boards and a dds/dmd from a “top” school is no shoe in. He/She still must ace a grueling interview/match which weeds out even top tier contendersI would speculate that this is as competitive as landing a plastics residency position post med school.

Because of the competitive nature of dental residencies and the nature of dental education, you must first have a desire to become a general dentist and able to see yourself content as a generalist. If not, you’re setting yourself up for a disaster and without this mindset your 4 yrs in dental school will be hell while your schedule is filled with restorative in between the few surgical procedures you desire.

I also do not think its so bad for a dental student to desire a good lifestyle. I think all of us want good pay with a relatively short work week and the advantages of owning your own business—we all desire this though it’s a bit taboo to overtly state it like curry does. Plus, I think it is essential to desire a profitable/efficient business model so your practice can survive. Or course, this business model must be principally based on social responsibility – an oath to give ethical treatment to your patients.

Thirdly, I think its acceptable for an oral surgeon/resident (though not a sophomore in undergrad) to attend a plastics fellowship to add this to his/her practice. I think this is analogous to a GP taking some Ortho CE’s with the idea of offering more ortho to his patients.

Curry, the truth is many of us may actually have a goal similar to yours. However, most here have a passion for dentistry beyond your superficial desire for the lifestyle money or atleast they have better tact at posing questions. you have much to learn- you're only a sophomore, think about it-- while you may be above average in intelligence within your age group there is still obviously alot you need to learn in regards to emotional intelligence- the more important smarts when out in the real world as a dental professional. Seriously, stay on track by concentrating on today and your classes this semester and things will go much more smoothly. and for your own good, get drunk and get some strange ass!

Of course, Im just a predent, what do you guys think?

 

[SugarNaCl]

All I know is if dentistry isn't science, I don't know what it is... unless of course you are grossly ignorant about the field. Sugar would sure rather be a great DDS than a mediocre MD any day. Go with what you like best, and if that doesn't fit, go with what you think you can be your best at. Fact is, not one person is right 100% of the time, buddy.

One year down means nothing in undergrad however. Sadly, I know many who blew undergrad after maintaining a great GPA for the first 2 years 🙁

Bottom line... do what you like even if you are a troll...or even if trolling is what you like. I'm sure you can make an honorable profession out of it...however the profit may be lacking 😕

Oral surgery = top 5% on boards AND top 5% of class and with an average entering GPA into dental school of nearly 3.6 in 2006, I think you will have some FIERCE competition.

 

[armorshell]

and the dental exam changed format to partially including thinking questions instead of rote memorization questions. Current dental students are crying about it.

From what I understand about the new format, people aren't whining about the vignettes, they're whining about the curve. Apparently a lot of people think they're weighting the curve too heavily towards the middle. We'll all find out next year I suppose,

 

[DwyaneWade]

You basically just described the dental route.

I understand. But he doesn't seem to want to be a dentist, he seems to want to be a "doctor" more. So why bother going the dental route? It's not any easier at all!

 

[DwyaneWade]

How'd you do on the miniboards and the Pre-Tests?

and the dental exam changed format to partially including thinking questions instead of rote memorization questions. Current dental students are crying about it.

Yes, I have friends in dental school and sometimes I wonder how they do it. It is laughable that the OP thinks dental would be easier.

As for miniboards and Pre-tests I assume you mean shelf exams, our school does not use those.

 

[armorshell]

I understand. But he doesn't seem to want to be a dentist, he seems to want to be a "doctor" more. So why bother going the dental route? It's not any easier at all!

My point precisely, it'd actually probably be harder, or at least more complex to achieve his goal through dental school.

 

[armorshell]

Thirdly, I think its acceptable for an oral surgeon/resident (though not a sophomore in undergrad) to attend a plastics fellowship to add this to his/her practice. I think this is analogous to a GP taking some Ortho CE’s with the idea of offering more ortho to his patients.

Nothing wrong with it in all, I'm all for expanded scope oral surgery. However, I'm of the opinion that if one wants to be an oral surgeon, one should actually want to be an oral surgeon. Curry hasn't expressed any interest in anything even remotely related to actual oral surgery, i.e. taking out teeth, orthognathics, or implants, which he'll have to learn in great detail to eventually, possibly achieve a goal only they're only remotely related to.

What's the point?

 

[DwyaneWade]

What's the point?

The point is to avoid the stress and competition of med school, which is just weak. If you want something in life you have to go get it and you have to work for it, Curry. There are no shortcuts.

 

[armorshell]

The point is to avoid the stress and competition of med school, which is just weak. If you want something in life you have to go get it and you have to work for it, Curry. There are no shortcuts.

Well that was his misguided intention, but you're just trading one kind of hard for another. Yeah, sure you may not have to do research, but you definitely have to do lab work. Didactics are a wash at most schools. Dental education is loaded with highly subjective grading. I could go on, but for the sake of time I won't.

I absolutely agree with you though Dwyane, the issue here isn't whether or not he's right about the "dental school is easier" thing, it's why he's not willing to work for something that he wants, which I agree is totally weak.

 

[DwyaneWade]

You mean he wants to be a "physician", a "surgeon", a "barbie doll maker", etc. He wants to achieve his doctorate - just like dentists recieve their doctorate, just like pharmacists, optometrists, etc.... receive their doctorates. I guess I do have a chip on my shoulder about that, but I've been around too many physicians who have the attitude that they are "doctors" and that makes them better tha everyone including GOD. No, their just physicians. No more, no less. Just as Curry will be once he figures out what the hell he wants.

No offense meant, just using common phrasing that (you are right) should be applied to multiple fields. 👍

 

[Frederico Albin]

I'm a freshmen and I'm a doctor navy 😛





jk 😛

 

[bluejellybelly]

I seriously doubt anything you would say could be any stupider than anything this guy has said. I actually got a little dumber when I read it the first time. It's like an intelligence vacuum or some kind of concentration gradient diffusing away my thinkase.

I love you. Seriously. For that, you get all the money in my bank account right now. Rough $9 bucks.

 

[Composite A2]

You know CurryPower at some point you will be working on actualy people in either field, who don't care where your power comes from curry, or beansprouts.

You seem to be forgetting that this is a people business and you are cutting and sewing and doing surgery on actual people not just writing formulas on a piece of paper do get an A.

People like you do get in and do whatever speciality they want.


Unfortunately you guys make the worst doctors. But never the less I bet a hundred dollars you will become one.

 

[flyingkao]

Your worth as a person is built on the lifelong sacrifice to make better the lives of others.

If everybody understood and followed this, the world would be a much better place.

Thumbs up 👍.

 

[jj2chemastray6]

I know an oral surgeon DMD, MD who did a plastic surgery residency. He was the person who first told me about those 6 year programs. When I asked him, knowing where he is now, if he would do it again if given the chance, he stayed silent, just thinking for at least thirty seconds if not longer. It was a long time for me to keep looking at him as he remained silent. He eventually replied he thought he would do it again but tried to impress upon me how difficult the journey was. He also added if I ever wanted to go that route, like him I'd probably be eating Easy Mac for a very long time lol. 😎