Join the dark side :P

[flatearth22]

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I just wanted to see some action in here cuz it seemed way too civilized for SDN.

I'm flattered that my post created enough interest for someone to go through my post history! I'm not sure how to feel about a stranger calling me illogical over the Internet tho. Kinda hurts me feelings.😀

 

[kpcrew]

Why you so mad? Do you wave your arms around and roar when you rage in real life? 🙄



Guess who else isn't a "real doctor"? People like you who won't get into medical school. 🙄



You know what your writing makes me think of? A kid who lacks the intellectual capacity to get his point across and is really frustrated and bitter about it.

Anyways, judging by your language skills and an inability to control your temper, the OP is probably a lot smarter than you (If the OP is a troll, then he is a really good one to have gotten to you so badly).

But it's not just your language skills. You are a complete failure at logic as well. And judging from your post history, you're everything BUT logical.

If you don't like the facts, that doesn't make them wrong.

kid starts bs/md program.🙄 suddenly an expert in psychology and human behavior.🙄 always knows whether or not someone will be successful in their application to medical school. 🙄

 

[Morsetlis]

Okay, I'll bite, even though I'm scared $#!+less of getting into an Internet flame war over this issue. Only because I once was a dental student (as my handle would suggest) and realized that internal medicine is a better fit for me and now I'm just a lowly pre-med. I know some of you are going to say "You're such a dumb@$$ for leaving DENTISTRY for INTERNAL MEDICINE!!" but here are my reasons for doing so:

1) No on-call: Yes, it's true that there's no "call" per se if you're a dentist (unless maybe you decide to specialize in oral surgery), and that's one of the major reasons why I chose dentistry in the first place. But after drilling tooth after tooth and realizing that I'm more oriented toward the cerebral rather than the procedural, I realized that I'd much rather be on call at 2AM in the morning diagnosing some patient's life-threatening condition than have to wake up at 8AM in the morning and look forward to eight hours of drilling and filling.

2) Freedom to choose your work schedule: Yes, there's freedom in terms of determining what hours you work as a dentist, but for me the answer became "no hours," because I just couldn't stomach looking at another tooth or holding the drill in my hand one more time.

3) Money $$$: Shameful as it is to admit it, the reason I went into dentistry was mainly for the $$. But what people (including me, until a while ago) don't realize is that dentistry is HARD WORK. It is pure physical labor for the most part, and after drilling for just a couple of hours (not even a whole 8-hour day), my wrists were hurting, my neck was sore, and I was miserable. It came to a point where I felt like you just couldn't pay me enough to touch another tooth. And that's when I decided to leave and pursue medicine instead, because I would rather be studying renal physiology than learning about dentures, but unfortunately, there was no way I could just skip the lab work and study physiology instead.

4) 4 years of school: Both medicine and dentistry require 4 years of post-college studying, and I had already completed part of my dental degree. So why did I leave for the wonderful world of unemployment and MCAT studying? Because I realized that I'd rather spend 4 years in med school, plus residency, learning about and applying knowledge about the WHOLE human body, than spend another minute with my drill. Besides, residency is paid so it's not really "school" in my opinion, although it's where the most learning takes place. It will be hellacious, I'm sure, but it will pay off in the end. We'll all be 45 some day any way, so might as well enjoy the journey.

None of this is to say that I don't appreciate or respect dentists/dentistry. It is HARD WORK, people. I definitely didn't have the hand skills that really good dentists do, and more importantly, I just didn't care enough to develop those hand skills. All I wanted to do was to study in the library, not spend another hour in the dental lab. This cemented my decision for me. Medicine vs dentistry is not a decision that you should make based on money on "lifestyle." Lifestyle means nothing if you don't enjoy your LIFE and don't feel like you're living your life to the FULLEST. You have to look inside of yourself and be honest with your strengths and weaknesses. I know that I'm a much better at diagnosis than I am at performing complex, millimeter-scale procedures, which is why I eventually choose the big picture (internal medicine) over the more detailed one (dentistry).

Of course, as in all pre-cautionary tales, YMMV.

Best,
rootcanalz

I guess that's as good a reason as any.

Pity you didn't figure that out a few years ago 🙁

 

[AZFutureDoc]

I don't get it...

 

[GrendizerDDS]

Okay, I'll bite, even though I'm scared $#!+less of getting into an Internet flame war over this issue. Only because I once was a dental student (as my handle would suggest) and realized that internal medicine is a better fit for me and now I'm just a lowly pre-med. I know some of you are going to say "You're such a dumb@$$ for leaving DENTISTRY for INTERNAL MEDICINE!!" but here are my reasons for doing so:

1) No on-call: Yes, it's true that there's no "call" per se if you're a dentist (unless maybe you decide to specialize in oral surgery), and that's one of the major reasons why I chose dentistry in the first place. But after drilling tooth after tooth and realizing that I'm more oriented toward the cerebral rather than the procedural, I realized that I'd much rather be on call at 2AM in the morning diagnosing some patient's life-threatening condition than have to wake up at 8AM in the morning and look forward to eight hours of drilling and filling.

2) Freedom to choose your work schedule: Yes, there's freedom in terms of determining what hours you work as a dentist, but for me the answer became "no hours," because I just couldn't stomach looking at another tooth or holding the drill in my hand one more time.

3) Money $$$: Shameful as it is to admit it, the reason I went into dentistry was mainly for the $$. But what people (including me, until a while ago) don't realize is that dentistry is HARD WORK. It is pure physical labor for the most part, and after drilling for just a couple of hours (not even a whole 8-hour day), my wrists were hurting, my neck was sore, and I was miserable. It came to a point where I felt like you just couldn't pay me enough to touch another tooth. And that's when I decided to leave and pursue medicine instead, because I would rather be studying renal physiology than learning about dentures, but unfortunately, there was no way I could just skip the lab work and study physiology instead.

4) 4 years of school: Both medicine and dentistry require 4 years of post-college studying, and I had already completed part of my dental degree. So why did I leave for the wonderful world of unemployment and MCAT studying? Because I realized that I'd rather spend 4 years in med school, plus residency, learning about and applying knowledge about the WHOLE human body, than spend another minute with my drill. Besides, residency is paid so it's not really "school" in my opinion, although it's where the most learning takes place. It will be hellacious, I'm sure, but it will pay off in the end. We'll all be 45 some day any way, so might as well enjoy the journey.

None of this is to say that I don't appreciate or respect dentists/dentistry. It is HARD WORK, people. I definitely didn't have the hand skills that really good dentists do, and more importantly, I just didn't care enough to develop those hand skills. All I wanted to do was to study in the library, not spend another hour in the dental lab. This cemented my decision for me. Medicine vs dentistry is not a decision that you should make based on money on "lifestyle." Lifestyle means nothing if you don't enjoy your LIFE and don't feel like you're living your life to the FULLEST. You have to look inside of yourself and be honest with your strengths and weaknesses. I know that I'm a much better at diagnosis than I am at performing complex, millimeter-scale procedures, which is why I eventually choose the big picture (internal medicine) over the more detailed one (dentistry).

Of course, as in all pre-cautionary tales, YMMV.

Best,
rootcanalz

This is exactly what I was looking for in this thread. Thank you for sharing your life experience rootcanalz. I'm glad you realized what suits you best as a life long career, even though you realized the hard way. That's what makes you better than the rest of premeds, in my opinion. You said it best when you say you are more cerebral oriented than procedural. Dentistry is very procedural at a detailed and critical level. Some people enjoy that and some don't. At the end, you're still treating people. That's why we go into medicine or dentistry. To treat and help people in a critical care manner that no other profession provides.

If anyone has any productive and useful comments to share, please go ahead and enlighten us. Otherwise, if you're here to thread-crap, then get the hell out.

Thank you!

 

[Gigantron]

kid starts bs/md program. suddenly an expert in psychology and human behavior. always knows whether or not someone will be successful in their application to medical school.

-Forgets to mention that this "kid" calls him out for not getting into a medical school as well.

-Removes MDapps link. 🙄

Seriously though, if you're a condescending, misogynistic, unhelpful, rude, spiteful, hateful prick in real life as well as online, you're going to need MUCH more than a couple of interviews at a few schools to get you through this cycle. The only thing you have going for you is the fact that you were rejected by BU. What else do you have? Your avatar tells me that you're asian. That must suck given how this application cycle has panned out for you so far. Perhaps the re-applicant forum could be of more assistance in this desperate time.

But, in all honesty, this is why I am glad that medical schools require an interview process, so that they can make sure to weed out condescending jerks like yourself. The ADCOMS must have LOVED you during interview day. Perhaps this is why you haven't heard of anything other than a rejection so far. As for the other interviews you've had? Well, like I said, if you're every bit of the person I know in real life as well as online, they won't count for ****

 

[deleted307836]

Great post rootcanalz. Best of luck with medicine.

 

[nowanmd]

I am an internist. I have been practicing about 12 years post residency. I have a couple of friends who are dentists (they went to colombia dental school) When they went to dental school they shared many of the same classwes with colombia med students. Personally I think dental school is harder than med school (in their clinical years they actually have to gain proficiency in many dental procedures- we jusr have to be enthusiatic, study and learn). I think you guys are putting too much emphasis on prestiege- dentists, MDs DOs- all should take pride in their accomplishments. I don't think that anyone is more prestigous than the other.

 

[Freakfarm0]

I'm pretty sure without radiologists, that the hospital wouldn't function. Without what they do, the internists, orthos, and pretty much all other specialties involving some type of imaging, wouldn't be able to do what they do.

While I do think every specialty is important, radiologists would probably be my pick for least important. I worked for orthopedists for a few years, and they literally read and were correct about 100% of the images they looked at. Physicians have eyes, and they are all trained to use them to some extent.

I think radiologists are a huge security blanket. But, in the end, I'm glad rads is a specialty. It probably saves the hospitals/clinics time and money (in the long run).

 

[Morsetlis]

While I do think every specialty is important, radiologists would probably be my pick for least important. I worked for orthopedists for a few years, and they literally read and were correct about 100% of the images they looked at. Physicians have eyes, and they are all trained to use them to some extent.

I think radiologists are a huge security blanket. But, in the end, I'm glad rads is a specialty. It probably saves the hospitals/clinics time and money (in the long run).

I guess you haven't learned your lessons from Econ 101.

The Radiologist is important because his job is to solely read radiographs.

 

[Freakfarm0]

I guess you haven't learned your lessons from Econ 101.

The Radiologist is important because his job is to solely read radiographs.

Why do buffets not crash and burn? A waiter's job is to solely wait on tables.

Are they important? Sure. But I can still get the food on my own.

 

[BurntFlower]

Enjoy the highest suicide rate among any profession, OP.

I believe it's physicians who have the highest suicide rate among all professions.

 

[GrendizerDDS]

I believe it's physicians who have the highest suicide rate among all professions.

👍

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2301/do-dentists-have-the-highest-suicide-rate

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...00908/the-occupation-the-highest-suicide-rate

 

[TropicalKitty]

Why don't we ask a police/national guard: what's stopping him from joining the "dark side" and become a soldier? A soldier gets to fight terrorism, "save the world", protect American way of life etc etc.

FYI, many police/national guardsmen have been and are "soldiers." Also, the nat'l guard does get called out to protect the American way of life. I can name many who have been in various branches of the military. 🙂

Resume entertaining MD vs DDS/DMD banter...

 

[MedicinaeDoctor]

That's because you're a typical Indian though.

wow.

 

[MedicinaeDoctor]

....enjoy the journey.
...Lifestyle means nothing if you don't enjoy your LIFE and don't feel like you're living your life to the FULLEST.

emerson status. every once in a while, there's a great post on sdn. this was one of them. no sarcasm intended.

 

[jcruiser]

Dentistry is actually a great field. Provided you're good with your hands and love working with teeth. The lifestyle is also great. I know a dentist who owns a practice and makes half a million a year. He specialized in endodontics and he's been working for over 10 years and has a huge patient base. He loves working -- I mean, he's one of those guys that are excited to go to work and depressed to leave.

I shadowed another dentist 1-2 months ago and asked him how he could cope by 'doing the same thing every day' (a few pre-meds in this thread brought that up). He shot me down almost immediately, telling me that every single patient is going to be exponentially different from the next and that's what he likes about dentistry. Yes, it is just working with teeth, but it's also working with crowns, root canals, cleanings, etc. Most dentists are always on the run -- there's practically no break. If you've got a filled up schedule for any given day, you better not be slacking and keeping your patient waiting or you risk losing them. And that's basically the trade off, dentistry is hard work in school and hard work out, but you get a couple days off per week with an awesome salary. You've gotta love your job or you'll be miserable, which is what gave me second thoughts. You can't just "kind've" love your job.

 

[paul411]

'doing the same thing every day' (a few pre-meds in this thread brought that up)

The truth is that even most medical doctors are "doing the same thing every day" in the broad sense of that phrase.

 

[JonnyL]

I find it amusing that he's so hell-bent on prestige when he (apparently) has no interviews thus far.

Nice.

 

[tmh]

You are the single greatest poster on this board.

 

[Plunk]

Why don't we ask a police/national guard: what's stopping him from joining the "dark side" and become a soldier? A soldier gets to fight terrorism, "save the world", protect American way of life etc etc.

Last I checked national guardsmen were soldiers that do "fight terrorism, "save the world", protect the American way of life etc etc". And are no way related to the police.

 

[azerkail]

Teeth are boring and you don't save lives.

Also, there are several specialties with little or no on-call and make triple of what you make - Radio/Derm - and they save people's lives

Just sayin'

actually didn't some guy in the news die recently of a tooth infection?

 

[Member000000]

Teeth are boring and you don't save lives.

Also, there are several specialties with little or no on-call and make triple of what you make - Radio/Derm - and they save people's lives

Just sayin'

Oral Maxillofacial Surgery. Dentists, not MDs. Granted, their schedule is just like normal surgeons as they get emergency calls.

Also to the national guard comment, they can and do defend our country and are called soldiers. Some people have jobs that they enjoy that the military does not offer, but they're still willing to serve and die for their country.

 

[Nick153452]

Firstly, dentists have a higher degree of suicide than any other medical profession if I am not mistaken.

Secondly, the reason I want to go to medical school is because I want to know that what I did that day changed somebody's life. If I wasn't on call, I would feel that I was not needed and my work can put off till later.

Lastly. Have you not seen the movie Hangover? Enough said.

 

[paul411]

Firstly, dentists have a higher degree of suicide than any other medical profession if I am not mistaken.

Unfortunately, you are mistaken. Medical doctors have higher suicide rates than dentists [1][2]. There is very little evidence that dentists are more prone to stress-related suicides than the general population [3]

The high suicide rate among dentists is an urban myth popularized most notably by 'Seinfeld'.

 

[mdhopeful65]

.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

GTFO. this is pre-allo

Exactly. GTFO my pre allo.

 

[BurntFlower]

Firstly, dentists have a higher degree of suicide than any other medical profession if I am not mistaken.

Secondly, the reason I want to go to medical school is because I want to know that what I did that day changed somebody's life. If I wasn't on call, I would feel that I was not needed and my work can put off till later.

Lastly. Have you not seen the movie Hangover? Enough said.

The first is incorrect. Physicians have a higher degree of suicide.

 

[BurntFlower]

Unfortunately, you are mistaken. Medical doctors have higher suicide rates than dentists [1][2]. There is very little evidence that dentists are more prone to stress-related suicides than the general population [3]

The high suicide rate among dentists is an urban myth popularized most notably by 'Seinfeld'.

👍

 

[GrendizerDDS]

Exactly. GTFO my pre allo.

NEVER!!!

PS: I've been hibernating for the winter (seriously)

 

[biggiesmallsiz1]

if you are going for a DO, might as well add another D and go the DDO rout.

 

[JESSFALLING]

You make people smile, we make people... not die.

Poor oral health can be deadly too. Non-cosmetic dentistry should be considered a medical necessity and should be covered by all medical plans. Also, dentists are often the first health care professionals to spot signs of diabetes, oral cancer, hypertension, etc. If your annual dental visit doesn't include a rigorous oral exam, you should consider finding another dentist because this is partly why they go through such rigorous training...they're doctors, after all.

 

[link2swim06]

Not to knock radiology and derm a ton, but they're not out there savin' lives all the time. This whole "saving lives" thing is kind of a simplified explanation for why to do medicine.

Right....those bc most doctors are pros at spotting cancer on CT scans....and who really needs intervenational procedures like stents and biopsy anyways.

Also its not like melanoma is the most common type of cancer or anything.

Just sayin...

 

[MT Headed]

...and dentists automatically test for HIV now, apparently.

I was listening to NPR a few days ago and they interviewed a guy who ran free health events. He said that in a crowd of 600 people, usually 590 want dental work, 595 want an eye exam/glasses, and maybe 10 want to see the GP doctor.

They never did say why. Maybe it's because lots of people get primary care covered at work but not eye/dental. Maybe it's because tooth and eye problems are more obvious than high blood pressure or diabetes? Strange.

 

[catzzz88]

Its interesting that no one mentioned the physical strain of dentistry. My ex is in Dental School and they have a big problem with posture/back/neck pain because of long hours hunched over patients staring into their mouths. I have scoliosis so this sounded really unappealing. They try to get people to focus on good posture, but the truth is that it takes a lot of self control to sit in the posture that they want you to (I tried it). They have a big problem with older generations of dentists having neck and back problems that literally put you out of work. Then what do you do? Its not like you can be a consultant... so they usually end up teaching at a dental school or something. The physical strain makes it difficult to return to work if you have a small injury. This is not really as much of a problem for doctors (except really specific professions).

Idk, just wanted to add to the info. Good thread though.

Best,
C

 

[blkshrtdynasty]

Just wanted to see whats stoping y'all from it.

I think the risk of ending up a dentist is greater if you go to dental school vs. MD. I could be wrong.

 

[Crim1]

Dentistry is boring.

 

[catzzz88]

The high suicide rate among dentists is a reality.

Of course it is... amalgam exposure causes "Mad Hatter" syndrome. Just like all of those Hatters breathing in mercury all day.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning: "excessive timidity, diffidence, increasing shyness, loss of self-confidence, anxiety, and a desire to remain unobserved and unobtrusive."Wait... Who here has mercury poisoning based on this description? Show of hands?

 

[Chrome19]

I am an internist. I have been practicing about 12 years post residency. I have a couple of friends who are dentists (they went to colombia dental school) When they went to dental school they shared many of the same classwes with colombia med students. Personally I think dental school is harder than med school (in their clinical years they actually have to gain proficiency in many dental procedures- we jusr have to be enthusiatic, study and learn). I think you guys are putting too much emphasis on prestiege- dentists, MDs DOs- all should take pride in their accomplishments. I don't think that anyone is more prestigous than the other.

Exactly!

 

[SoonerFromTexas]

I don't understand why everyone in the pre-allo forum thinks dentistry is some huge money maker. Someone in my very immediate family told me to not go into dentistry because of financial reasons. It costs a lot of money to finish out a dental office and all of the ops. The overhead of running a dental office is huge.

 

[SunsFun]

I don't understand why everyone in the pre-allo forum thinks dentistry is some huge money maker. Someone in my very immediate family told me to not go into dentistry because of financial reasons. It costs a lot of money to finish out a dental office and all of the ops. The overhead of running a dental office is huge.

The grass is always greener. Also, there is over-saturation of dentists in many places where I would like to live. Lastly, you need to be able to run your business and be a salesman. I don't think I am gifted in that regard and would like to have an option to make decent living working for a hospital.

Also, has anyone mentioned that dentists actually have lower suicide rates than doctors? Just making sure we got that covered.

 

[sliceofbread136]

-Forgets to mention that this "kid" calls him out for not getting into a medical school as well.

-Removes MDapps link. 🙄

Seriously though, if you're a condescending, misogynistic, unhelpful, rude, spiteful, hateful prick in real life as well as online, you're going to need MUCH more than a couple of interviews at a few schools to get you through this cycle. The only thing you have going for you is the fact that you were rejected by BU. What else do you have? Your avatar tells me that you're asian. That must suck given how this application cycle has panned out for you so far. Perhaps the re-applicant forum could be of more assistance in this desperate time.

But, in all honesty, this is why I am glad that medical schools require an interview process, so that they can make sure to weed out condescending jerks like yourself. The ADCOMS must have LOVED you during interview day. Perhaps this is why you haven't heard of anything other than a rejection so far. As for the other interviews you've had? Well, like I said, if you're every bit of the person I know in real life as well as online, they won't count for ****

You're such a dbag in every post you make... like holy moly does anyone talk to you IRL?

 

[notbobtrustme]

Enjoy the highest suicide rate among any profession, OP.

Actually, physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession. Dentistry having the highest rate is an urban myth.