Hey there.
I'll try to make this short so all of you lovely helpful people don't have much to read. Thanks in advance.
I just finished my degree and all of my sciences. I worked extremely hard, and I can tell you that as of right now, I regret it, and the last ~3 years of my life have left me in a sort of depressed state. I actually felt pretty accomplished after doing so well in my classes, but when they were over it almost felt like I was in the middle of a storm and now that storm is over. I now see the consequences of my actions, and I don't believe it was school that caused them, but the completely unbalanced lifestyle I was living while in school. School and success were the only thing that mattered.
I have a 4.0 sGPA and a 3.93 oGPA, and during that time I lost friends due to prioritizing school over social, I neglected my body and now have so many postural issues from sitting and studying most hours of the day (was previously a university soccer player), and between these two things I have been dealing with something I never ever thought I would encounter: depression.
Let me be honest with my intentions of becoming a dentist. I am a very entrepreneurial person. I like starting little projects and seeing where they go. I produce music, I coach soccer, I help my dad run a water softening business. I do all sorts of random things. When I got into college, I told myself that the only way my entrepreneurial side projects remains fun for me, is if i don't have to depend on them for income. When that happens, it becomes more stress than fun and I no longer want to do it. So, I thought to myself, whats a sort of "day job" that you can do for financial security that you won't hate, but will also give you the ability to financially fund your hobbies, and also give you something to fall back on incase you fail hard, or incase you fall out of love with what ever project you're working on. I've always liked teeth, I've always liked the idea of being in the medical field, so at the time with a young adolescent brain it all made sense to me. What happens if in 10 years you realize you suck as an entrepreneur? I told myself "It's okay! I'll still have an amazing job as a dentist."
Fast forward to now. I've been depressed for maybe ~5 months, ever since I finished my last science class, and I've been on and off about is dentistry for me, questioning not only dentistry but so many of my life choices (I have an amazing wife I married at 20 and she's been so unbelievably supportive, works full time along with getting a masters, I question things with her even though deep down I know she's beyond amazing). Maybe this is just a negative by product of the depression, if any of you have suffered depression I'm sure you know that sometimes you think things and believe things that don't make sense. You fail to see the larger picture, you fail to live outside of the current moment your in, and that current moment is usually clouded by so many negative feelings. Basically I feel like I don't know enough about the life as a dentist to really make an informed decision. So, I'm going to say what I think I want out of life at this point, and the possible concerns I have about fully committing to dentistry, and hear the feedback from people who've gone though this process.
Right now, what I think I want is something similar to what I originally wanted. I want a job that can provide me with enough stability to fund my random side projects, a job where scheduling and work hours can get to a point where they're very flexible, and finally a job that won't cripple me physically (after seeing what sitting in a chair all day can do to you, I worry about what tinkering with small teeth all day may do to my arm in the long run). I don't know if dentistry is the answer, hell I don't know if there is an answer maybe I'm asking for too much.
Here are my concerns with dentistry. These are the things that loom in my head and cause me to be very skeptical about my current career path. I'm asking this here because I've been trolling these forums for years now, and there are so many people who have gone though this path, and my more mature side has really learned to trust people who came before me, and to hold their opinion in very high regards.
1) For those of you that are in/have graduated from dental school, how do you feel about the 4 years you've given to your career? When I first started this, being fresh out of high school, time was not a factor for me. Having matured I now see how important time is. I don't want dental school to take up every hour of my day for 4 years.
2) Adding onto the end of that last question, my goal used to be to become an orthodontist. I was so self-conscious of my teeth for so long and just recently got braces at 23 years old. If I can help people rid themselves of that awful feeling of not wanting to smile, I would love that. However, after gunning for the top of my class in undergrad, let alone dental school, I just don't know if it's worth it for me anymore. If I re-evaluated what I want from dental school, say to merely pass and become a general dentist, is it possible to do that without completely devoting myself to school? If I treated dental school like my full time job, worked really hard 8-5 with maybe an hour of studying a day outside of school, could I pass with that type of commitment alone?
3) Do you dentists out there view this profession as a physically demanding one? I'm not going to lie, I'm in a PTSD-esque mindset right now over my physical health. I recently got insurance after not being able to afford it, and multiple physical therapists are telling me I've really messed up my posture. It's fixable, but it will take a year or so of therapy and some lifestyle changes. I'm wondering if being a dentist would contradict those lifestyle changes they're referring to.
4) Finally, and I think this is the biggest one for me, how many of you knew for a fact 100% going into dental school this is what you wanted. At times I think dentistry is such a solid profession for me for so many reasons, but then for whatever reason I think of so many reasons why its not the path for me. You're in an office all day, you're so reliant on your physical health (what happens if I break my arm, have back pain from working on patients all day, or any other type of physical problem). Is common for things like carpel tunnel or physical pains to cut a dentists career short? After investing so much time and money into something, and to have it cut short would really suck. Maybe its the depression making my hyper analyze every possible negative outcome. I never used to think of my career choice in this light, but after discovering how not-invincible I truly am, aka growing up, these things constantly nag me. Did any of you have thoughts like this going in? If so, how did you overcome that negativity?
Alright, I fear if already typed way to much. I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to finally share what I've been feeling for a while with a community who has been though this process, and knows what it entails. Any insight you may have will be so highly appreciated. I have been living in a state of should I or shouldn't I for long enough now, and its time I stop trying to answer these questions by myself and turn to people who know far more than I.
Thank you so much,
Ryan
I'll try to make this short so all of you lovely helpful people don't have much to read. Thanks in advance.
I just finished my degree and all of my sciences. I worked extremely hard, and I can tell you that as of right now, I regret it, and the last ~3 years of my life have left me in a sort of depressed state. I actually felt pretty accomplished after doing so well in my classes, but when they were over it almost felt like I was in the middle of a storm and now that storm is over. I now see the consequences of my actions, and I don't believe it was school that caused them, but the completely unbalanced lifestyle I was living while in school. School and success were the only thing that mattered.
I have a 4.0 sGPA and a 3.93 oGPA, and during that time I lost friends due to prioritizing school over social, I neglected my body and now have so many postural issues from sitting and studying most hours of the day (was previously a university soccer player), and between these two things I have been dealing with something I never ever thought I would encounter: depression.
Let me be honest with my intentions of becoming a dentist. I am a very entrepreneurial person. I like starting little projects and seeing where they go. I produce music, I coach soccer, I help my dad run a water softening business. I do all sorts of random things. When I got into college, I told myself that the only way my entrepreneurial side projects remains fun for me, is if i don't have to depend on them for income. When that happens, it becomes more stress than fun and I no longer want to do it. So, I thought to myself, whats a sort of "day job" that you can do for financial security that you won't hate, but will also give you the ability to financially fund your hobbies, and also give you something to fall back on incase you fail hard, or incase you fall out of love with what ever project you're working on. I've always liked teeth, I've always liked the idea of being in the medical field, so at the time with a young adolescent brain it all made sense to me. What happens if in 10 years you realize you suck as an entrepreneur? I told myself "It's okay! I'll still have an amazing job as a dentist."
Fast forward to now. I've been depressed for maybe ~5 months, ever since I finished my last science class, and I've been on and off about is dentistry for me, questioning not only dentistry but so many of my life choices (I have an amazing wife I married at 20 and she's been so unbelievably supportive, works full time along with getting a masters, I question things with her even though deep down I know she's beyond amazing). Maybe this is just a negative by product of the depression, if any of you have suffered depression I'm sure you know that sometimes you think things and believe things that don't make sense. You fail to see the larger picture, you fail to live outside of the current moment your in, and that current moment is usually clouded by so many negative feelings. Basically I feel like I don't know enough about the life as a dentist to really make an informed decision. So, I'm going to say what I think I want out of life at this point, and the possible concerns I have about fully committing to dentistry, and hear the feedback from people who've gone though this process.
Right now, what I think I want is something similar to what I originally wanted. I want a job that can provide me with enough stability to fund my random side projects, a job where scheduling and work hours can get to a point where they're very flexible, and finally a job that won't cripple me physically (after seeing what sitting in a chair all day can do to you, I worry about what tinkering with small teeth all day may do to my arm in the long run). I don't know if dentistry is the answer, hell I don't know if there is an answer maybe I'm asking for too much.
Here are my concerns with dentistry. These are the things that loom in my head and cause me to be very skeptical about my current career path. I'm asking this here because I've been trolling these forums for years now, and there are so many people who have gone though this path, and my more mature side has really learned to trust people who came before me, and to hold their opinion in very high regards.
1) For those of you that are in/have graduated from dental school, how do you feel about the 4 years you've given to your career? When I first started this, being fresh out of high school, time was not a factor for me. Having matured I now see how important time is. I don't want dental school to take up every hour of my day for 4 years.
2) Adding onto the end of that last question, my goal used to be to become an orthodontist. I was so self-conscious of my teeth for so long and just recently got braces at 23 years old. If I can help people rid themselves of that awful feeling of not wanting to smile, I would love that. However, after gunning for the top of my class in undergrad, let alone dental school, I just don't know if it's worth it for me anymore. If I re-evaluated what I want from dental school, say to merely pass and become a general dentist, is it possible to do that without completely devoting myself to school? If I treated dental school like my full time job, worked really hard 8-5 with maybe an hour of studying a day outside of school, could I pass with that type of commitment alone?
3) Do you dentists out there view this profession as a physically demanding one? I'm not going to lie, I'm in a PTSD-esque mindset right now over my physical health. I recently got insurance after not being able to afford it, and multiple physical therapists are telling me I've really messed up my posture. It's fixable, but it will take a year or so of therapy and some lifestyle changes. I'm wondering if being a dentist would contradict those lifestyle changes they're referring to.
4) Finally, and I think this is the biggest one for me, how many of you knew for a fact 100% going into dental school this is what you wanted. At times I think dentistry is such a solid profession for me for so many reasons, but then for whatever reason I think of so many reasons why its not the path for me. You're in an office all day, you're so reliant on your physical health (what happens if I break my arm, have back pain from working on patients all day, or any other type of physical problem). Is common for things like carpel tunnel or physical pains to cut a dentists career short? After investing so much time and money into something, and to have it cut short would really suck. Maybe its the depression making my hyper analyze every possible negative outcome. I never used to think of my career choice in this light, but after discovering how not-invincible I truly am, aka growing up, these things constantly nag me. Did any of you have thoughts like this going in? If so, how did you overcome that negativity?
Alright, I fear if already typed way to much. I'm sorry for that. I just wanted to finally share what I've been feeling for a while with a community who has been though this process, and knows what it entails. Any insight you may have will be so highly appreciated. I have been living in a state of should I or shouldn't I for long enough now, and its time I stop trying to answer these questions by myself and turn to people who know far more than I.
Thank you so much,
Ryan
) 
