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i really hope you are kidding...
OP, getting into dental school is very competitive. The truth is that there are a hundred other applicants equally as qualified as you (and some more so) who did not get in last year, this year, and may not next year either because of the sheer volume of applicants alone.
Not only do these people have the potential to be great dentists (like you do as well) but they are excited and interested in this field. If you are truly not interested in dentistry, or you are doing it just for the money, then you should consider that carefully before entering dental school.
Now, no one can know for certain whether they want to do this for the rest of their lives since we haven't actually practiced yet. Shadowing can only show you so much and lets face it, it is quite boring. But you can have a pretty good idea that this is something you want to do.
Do you want to?
-Run a business
-Be your own boss
-Work with your hands
-Perform surgery
-Interact with and help people
I personally think that seeing procedures up close when shadowing should have made you more excited about the field, but that's just me.
If there are procedures that you do not like, you don't have to do them. You can find something you like and limit your practice to that, or specialize in a certain area. You can teach, work in public health, or do research. There are alot of options.
If all that you have is cold feet at the prospect of diving into 4 years of school and $$$,$$$ in debt, then that's understandable. I am sure everyone goes through that at some point.
Many of us wanted to go into medicine originally and found dentistry after doing some homework. What you need to do is think back to what it was that made you choose dentistry to begin with.
If you are already unhappy with your choice, it will only get worse and you should probably do something else.
But if you are just a little nervous then don't worry.
It is quite enlightening to me how many of you are passionate about dentistry as pre dents. This is because I know so many dentists who wish every day that they had chosen some other field. This has been the blight of my classmates for many many years ( I have been a dentist for 26 years). Dentistry is a tough job (I happen to like it, but I am definitely in the minority of dentists I know). The procedures are highly technical, and the patient management aspect can be difficult. With that said, dentistry has given me a great lifestyle and an opportunity to be both self employed and creative.
There are many other fields where one can do this. Certinly the health career path is not the most lucrative and in reality costs far more than many other jobs which will in the long run be more financially rewarding. Pay your dues and anyone can have a career in film (not in front of the camera, but certainly in production). Culinary school is 2 years and then you are a chef...and can cook all over the world (no licensure restrictions). I have always felt (IMHO) that anyone smart enough to complete dental or Med school is probably capable of being successful at anything they put their mind to.
Dentists and physicians in my town are the working class people. The really wealthy are doing something else. Do not become a dentist for the money. Do it to make a difference, or you will be continually disappointed.
This is because I know so many dentists who wish every day that they had chosen some other field. This has been the blight of my classmates for many many years ( I have been a dentist for 26 years). Dentistry is a tough job (I happen to like it, but I am definitely in the minority of dentists I know). The procedures are highly technical, and the patient management aspect can be difficult. With that said, dentistry has given me a great lifestyle and an opportunity to be both self employed and creative. Culinary school is 2 years and then you are a chef...and can cook all over the world (no licensure restrictions). I have always felt (IMHO) that anyone smart enough to complete dental or Med school is probably capable of being successful at anything they put their mind to.
One of my classmates graduated OKU, went on to ortho training, and then summarily quit dentistry for the entertainment industry. Several of my other classmates left dentistry as well, some for medicine, some for finance. Those who did not leave immediately were the not so wealthy (family wise), were too heavily in debt to bail on dentistry, and had to work in order to pay off sallie mae or whomever. Once you start d school and stay past a year, it is tough to get out of financially.
Most dentists I have met, both from my era and the residents I train now have very little idea what is out in the real world, as they have spent the majority of their adult lives training to be dentists and have not had time to explore other options. Those dentists I have met who chose dentistry as a new or second career did not generally come from high paying jobs previously, so dentistry was an attractive choice.
There are many other fields where one can do this. Certinly the health career path is not the most lucrative and in reality costs far more than many other jobs which will in the long run be more financially rewarding. Pay your dues and anyone can have a career in film (not in front of the camera, but certainly in production). Culinary school is 2 years and then you are a chef...and can cook all over the world (no licensure restrictions). I have always felt (IMHO) that anyone smart enough to complete dental or Med school is probably capable of being successful at anything they put their mind to.
Dentists and physicians in my town are the working class people. The really wealthy are doing something else. Do not become a dentist for the money. Do it to make a difference, or you will be continually disappointed.
Dentistry has a combination of benefits unlike almost any other profession:
-Security: Esp. for general dentists (need-based), you will ALWAYS have business.
-You are your own boss: Hours, pay, expenses, employees, time off, bonuses... etc etc etc it is all up to you! You have complete freedom!
-Compensation: The average dentist is compensated more than the average medical doctor.
-Doctor: You are a knowledgable doctor, whom ppl look up to and will come to for much more than dental related issues (esp if you are open to it).
+a lot more
...What other profession offers that array of benefits?
The "really wealthy" may have inherited their money, or climbed the corporate ladder for 30 years to become CEO's and CFO's. Even in the end, as big bad CEO's, they are usually not their own bosses because of a board of directors (or all of the shareholders).
The "blue collar" men and women who built a company from the ground up and became wealthy did it against incredible odds. I think over 90% of businesses fail in the first year.
With dentistry, less than 10% fail in the first year.
A Chef has the same problems when trying to start a restaurant, and the hours are outrageous, I know because I did consider going into the food industry.
Sure there are other things you can do and make money at, but which of those careers compensates you $100,000+ out of school and $200,000+ on average when you set up your own shop?
Everyone I know who is going out into the workforce now can barely find a job and the ones that they are offered pay $40-50K
If you are careful with how you spend your money, you can become one of those "wealthy" people too. And you will be your own boss as well.
Of course I agree with you on this: you definitely shouldn't go into this field if you are doing it just for the money. And it is a shame that you know so many dentists who are unhappy in their field.
Also don't assume that if you can get into dental or medical school you can do "anything". I could not act in front of a camera, or read all the case law and torts(?) in law school. I enjoy science, and I assume most other people going into the healthcare field like science as well, otherwise it would be brutal and most likely near impossible.
Your kidding right? Plenty of work maybe in North Dakota where no one wants to go. My residents are having a tough time finding good jobs. They will not be their own bosses for several more years, at the very least, and what do they know about running a business anyway? They will need some real world experience for a while.
People look up to you? Maybe in 1958. Don't go into this to be held on a pedestal, you will be disappointed.
The freedom you describe comes with owning any business, so why just dentistry?
it is vital if you want to be happy as a healthcare provider to like people. That's who you will be dealing with, not microscope slides. Unless you are a pathologist.
The "really wealthy" may have inherited their money, or climbed the corporate ladder for 30 years to become CEO's and CFO's. Even in the end, as big bad CEO's, they are usually not their own bosses because of a board of directors (or all of the shareholders).
The "blue collar" men and women who built a company from the ground up and became wealthy did it against incredible odds. I think over 90% of businesses fail in the first year.
With dentistry, less than 10% fail in the first year.
A Chef has the same problems when trying to start a restaurant, and the hours are outrageous, I know because I did consider going into the food industry.
Sure there are other things you can do and make money at, but which of those careers compensates you $100,000+ out of school and $200,000+ on average when you set up your own shop?
Everyone I know who is going out into the workforce now can barely find a job and the ones that they are offered pay $40-50K
If you are careful with how you spend your money, you can become one of those "wealthy" people too. And you will be your own boss as well.
Of course I agree with you on this: you definitely shouldn't go into this field if you are doing it just for the money. And it is a shame that you know so many dentists who are unhappy in their field.
Also don't assume that if you can get into dental or medical school you can do "anything". I could not act in front of a camera, or read all the case law and torts(?) in law school. I enjoy science, and I assume most other people going into the healthcare field like science as well, otherwise it would be brutal and most likely near impossible.
Of course I agree with you on this: you definitely shouldn't go into this field if you are doing it just for the money. And it is a shame that you know so many dentists who are unhappy in their field.
I don't agree with this. some people are highly motivated at thier job because they wanna make the most amount of money. So what if you went into dentistry (or ANY other field just for the money) how do you know that this person is going to hate thier job in the long run?
Im gonna be the first to say this, if dentistry paid the same amount of money as, say an engineer (approx 50-60 k a year), MAJORITY of pre-dents would switch out before the week is over....
I agreeIm gonna be the first to say this, if dentistry paid the same amount of money as, say an engineer (approx 50-60 k a year), MAJORITY of pre-dents would switch out before the week is over....
The reason why its a bad idea to go into this profession specifically for the money is the training it requires. 4 years of intense school and $200-$250K in debt. There are so many other careers (you mentioned engineer) where you don't have to put that kind of investment into it.
True, 250k bites, but a dentist who is going to hate his job from day #1 can easily pay that 250k in approx 3-5 years if he/she dedicates most of his/her income to it.... So hate it for 3-5 years, then you can switch to another career.
There is no guarantee the person will hate it, but there is no guarantee they will love it either. Why would you want to risk being miserable for the rest of your working life when you are going to basically be "trapped" in that career.
Well, if they can't know wheather theyr gonna hate it or love it, how could anyone make the decision to go then? It seems to me that the only way to know for certain is to actually go through with it (get your DDS) and see what happens toward the end. There is no statistical measure that says "those who initially started dental school cause of thier love for the job actually loved working as dentists more than those who initially went into it for the $$$"
I say "trapped" because $200 grand is not easy to pay back if you decide you hate dentistry.
As I said above, as a working dentist, 200k is not hard to payback if you work fulltime.
Another reason for not going into it just for the money is that if you don't have an interest you may not even make it through dental school. I know a couple of people personally who made money their only goal and couldn't cut it.
This is a valid point and I totally agree with you. However last time I checked the stats, majority of dental dropouts happen before first year is over. This is before you even get to interact with patients and get to experience what dentistry is all about. These people simply drop out cause the science curriculum was pretty heavy, they just didn't want to spend that much time with the books & labs, and IMO, this goes for both the dentistry "lovers" and those who just did it for the $$$
Care to cite some of those statistics?
Ok, sure with an average associate position pulling in $7,000 a month post tax you can live off of $2,000 a month and pay off the loans if you hated dentistry that much I guess. But who would really want to do that?
what would they do after? I dunno, I worked as a software engineer for 4 years before quitting and deciding to push for dentistry. I am not saying everyone is like me, but I was just an example of someone switching careers after paying most of my undergrad debt.What would you do after? Go back to school? I feel like the person would just end up staying in a job they hate. Although hey, with the loans paid off in 5 years, they would be making some nice dough lol.
This isn't really a debate, we are just sharing our believes about how important should monetary gains be looked upon before pursuing a career in health careObviously you will never truly know whether you will love or hate dentistry until you do it. I don't want to debate all day with you.
This is where we both agree to disagree. I am simply saying that if money is your number 1 reason for dentistry (or any health care field) then I am a 100% sure you WILL be happy with your decision cause you will make plenty of $$$people should at least have some interest (besides money) in the field before making such a huge commitment.
Being in the hole after D1 year for $50-$60k after tuition, equipment, and living expenses (plus undergrad?) and NO job? I can't even imagine that.
Who said live on $2000 a month? Not in NYC you won't, and that is where I am. And plenty of my son's friends, not all, but the smart ones (hi grades, good internships, etc., something like a well qualified pre dent) are pulling down six figures out of college.
You can't live on $2000 a month in NYC, so those loans will have to wait. Besides, and this goes to my previous point about business skills, holding down $7000 a month and only living on 2000, is that pre tax of after tax money, because that is a huge difference.
Ok, sure with an average associate position pulling in $7,000 a month post tax you can live off of $2,000 a month and pay off the loans (edit: with the remaining $5,000) if you hated dentistry that much I guess. But who would really want to do that? What would you do after? Go back to school? I feel like the person would just end up staying in a job they hate. Although hey, with the loans paid off in 5 years, they would be making some nice dough lol.
You can't live on $2000 a month in NYC, so those loans will have to wait. Besides, and this goes to my previous point about business skills, holding down $7000 a month and only living on 2000, is that pre tax of after tax money, because that is a huge difference.