Last minute doubts

[Mocizzle]

Hi everyone, I recently got into a great dental school and was excited to go, but I've been doing a ton of research before I drop this deposit and take the loan out to make sure if I want this and can't help but feel each day that passes i'm more unsure than the last. I would like to point people to the comments at the bottom of this blog Why to not choose dentistry • Become A Dentist

1. There seems to be this concern of having to 'convince' patients of procedures that they need as opposed to them actually needing/wanting it in and of themselves
2. A high chance for unethical practice especially as a fresh graduate working as an associate due to owners hounding you to 'produce' more even if the patient doesn't need it
3. The lack of patient satisfaction resulting in personal dissatisfaction since apparently "everyone hates the dentist" and ironically I kind of hate going to the dentist too, but it's because i understand i need to that I do go voluntarily
4. It seems so many practicing dentists are just straight up depressed, (even my own said he almost snapped 2x and went into finance or something)
5. Seems more and more the idea of owning your own practice is becoming increasingly difficult and having to work in more rural areas is becoming more of a reality

Pros: Great lifestyle, paid per procedure as opposed to a flat salary so $$ goes up with experience, working with your hands is fun, relieving people of pain is rewarding (but it seems most patients whom are in a well educated area wouldn't be in pain for the most part)

It seems the top three concerns are mitigated by going into a specialty, however to be completely honest the only specialty I like is oral surgery, which i think would be amazing to be completely honest and is really the only thing keeping me in this game and from quitting

I can't help but think maybe i'd feel happier if I just went into medicine?
cons of medicine though: unless you match into a specialty catering to lifestyle you're work life balance is terrible. We have family friends who are cardiologists whom I cannot imagine are making anything less than half a million but openly claim they work on avg 70+ hour weeks. Wth? I aint doing that ish for 2 million idc. I wouldnt mind sucking it up for a period of residency but that would not be palatable as a permanent thing.
But it seems with medicine maybe I wouldn't have to deal with this same b.s that dentistry is? I don't really care about work being 'fun' I just want it to be decent, make me feel fulfilled, and give me a good lifestyle; i'll even take a paycut to have the previous things I mentioned. Opthamology seemed cool, or cardiology but at half the hours seemed great? I'd probably never own my clinic as a dentist does but at least i'd be in a hosptial/multiclinic in a nice city area with full benefits. What turns me off is i'd hate the idea of being in family med or primary care, or being an internist working 50+ hours weeks. Also it would take me another 2 years to get into medical due to me needing some clinical experience and taking the mcat, my science gpa is 4, total like 3.9, academically i'm confident (always been good student) i got a 99.8% on my DAT and of course the mcat is much harder but feel confident i could do mid tier and up God willing

I honestly just feel so uneasy, taking the pre med classes everything felt fine, shadowing felt fine too. Do the dentists I shadowed just have it good? Is it because I never really thought about it this much? Should i just put my head down and grind and hope i get into a specialty i want? Or hop ship and just go medicine?

any advice would be great thanks

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[chromaticscale]

The grass is always greener on the other side. I can tell you that I am finishing up med school now, and even though I went into medicine because I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else, I am always hearing the negatives about medicine e.g. decreasing reimbursement rates even for subspecialties like cardiology, more bureaucratic tape (also hard to start your own practice so best to do partners or join a group), annoying EHR problems, etc. Burnout is a significant issue and now residencies are working on addressing this...
The best thing is to be honest with yourself. Think about why you want to do oral surgery. Is it because of the money and prestige? Why would you hate the idea of being in family med or primary care (typically M-F 8-5 so predicable schedule), even though the lifestyle would be better than that of a cardiologist? Ophthalmology is one of the most competitive to get into. but remember that going into medicine means a long road of learning (4 years med school plus 3-5 years of residency). Derm is probably the most competitive but has the best lifestyle because there are rarely skin emergencies, but you are gonna have to work your a** off by killing every exam and doing lots of research.
Also, speak to current physicians and dentists about your dilemma and thoughts. Best of luck and I hope you choose the path that makes you happy.

 

[Mocizzle]

The grass is always greener on the other side. I can tell you that I am finishing up med school now, and even though I went into medicine because I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else, I am always hearing the negatives about medicine e.g. decreasing reimbursement rates even for subspecialties like cardiology, more bureaucratic tape (also hard to start your own practice so best to do partners or join a group), annoying EHR problems, etc. Burnout is a significant issue and now residencies are working on addressing this...
The best thing is to be honest with yourself. Think about why you want to do oral surgery. Is it because of the money and prestige? Why would you hate the idea of being in family med or primary care (typically M-F 8-5 so predicable schedule), even though the lifestyle would be better than that of a cardiologist? Ophthalmology is one of the most competitive to get into. but remember that going into medicine means a long road of learning (4 years med school plus 3-5 years of residency). Derm is probably the most competitive but has the best lifestyle because there are rarely skin emergencies, but you are gonna have to work your a** off by killing every exam and doing lots of research.
Also, speak to current physicians and dentists about your dilemma and thoughts. Best of luck and I hope you choose the path that makes you happy.

i like oral surgery because you are a surgeon on the schedule of a dentist to be completely honest, money and prestige are great too but i'm not picking a profession for just that! Thing is your post is really refreshing as well, grass is always greener I agree. I just want to be an honest doctor and feel its becoming increasingly harder in dentistry to do it i dunno maybe I am just having some bad experiences. As for family/primary because it just seems really boring but your right the hours are way better than some of these higher tier specialties. Thanks though man

 

[Woe_is_me23]

i like oral surgery because you are a surgeon on the schedule of a dentist to be completely honest, money and prestige are great too but i'm not picking a profession for just that! Thing is your post is really refreshing as well, grass is always greener I agree. I just want to be an honest doctor and feel its becoming increasingly harder in dentistry to do it i dunno maybe I am just having some bad experiences. As for family/primary because it just seems really boring but your right the hours are way better than some of these higher tier specialties. Thanks though man

I can guarantee that there is primary care that is very much not boring. Have you shadowed in fam med at all? Or IM? Or OBGYN? You should do that before you make any conclusions— I think shadowing is great in part because you unlearn your assumptions (something I still need to do for many specialties).

Anyway, imagine the following:
Delivering a baby on a remote island in Alaska. Boring? Nah. Managing the treatment of a small child with cardiac dysfunction. Boring? Not in a million years. Coordinating care for an acutely ill mother of 3 that’s been under your care for 10 years. Boring? No way! Having a panel of patients that trust you with their lives and family histories. Boring? Absolutely not, if you’re at all intrigued by the human experience.

Just sayin’

 

[Mocizzle]

I can guarantee that there is primary care that is very much not boring. Have you shadowed in fam med at all? Or IM? Or OBGYN? You should do that before you make any conclusions— I think shadowing is great in part because you unlearn your assumptions (something I still need to do for many specialties).

Anyway, imagine the following:
Delivering a baby on a remote island in Alaska. Boring? Nah. Managing the treatment of a small child with cardiac dysfunction. Boring? Not in a million years. Coordinating care for an acutely ill mother of 3 that’s been under your care for 10 years. Boring? No way! Having a panel of patients that trust you with their lives and family histories. Boring? Absolutely not, if you’re at all intrigued by the human experience.

Just sayin’

Well said, maybe boring wasnt the right word, I did shadow family but personally didnt feel it was right for me I guess going back to why I liked dental I like the idea of being hands on with just a modest amount of talking between patients, I think i'd much more tend towards a surgical specialty, it's just the hours seem really tedious to become one and even practicing as one, is there a such thing as just being part time Lol?

 

[Woe_is_me23]

Well said, maybe boring wasnt the right word, I did shadow family but personally didnt feel it was right for me I guess going back to why I liked dental I like the idea of being hands on with just a modest amount of talking between patients, I think i'd much more tend towards a surgical specialty, it's just the hours seem really tedious to become one and even practicing as one, is there a such thing as just being part time Lol?

There is such a thing as part time depending on subspecialty— it’d just be a long road before you’d get there, and it’d be kind of a rarity from my understanding

 

[Anonymoose_65]

Your entire post seems void of genuine interest in either the field of dentistry or medicine and void of interest in actually serving people. It seems to revolve entirely around lifestyle, reputation, and money. Of your 4 pros to becoming a dentist, only one of them has anything to do with working with people - and, even then, the caveat you present is that you might have to work with less educated people?!

It says a lot, the fact that you're this far into the game and only now researching the profession you are about to commit several years of your life to. Before you make up your mind, I would suggest you spend some serious time volunteering in larger hospitals and community clinics in under-served areas where you can get a more complete understanding of what the medical field entails. It would be beneficial to work in an ER and/or procedure based clinics where you will see the hours and dedication that physicians and surgeons are willing to put in to help their patients.

If you want hands-on work and good hours, have you considered becoming a welder, carpenter, plumber?
More seriously, I would say look into becoming a PA where you have tonnes of patient exposure, the opportunity to work with your hands, and also have decent hours.

I would advise you not to go into medicine if you can only see yourself going into ROADs. It would be a serious waste of money and time if you did not make the scores to be competitive for those residencies.

I don't really care about work being 'fun' I just want it to be decent, make me feel fulfilled, and give me a good lifestyle; i'll even take a paycut to have the previous things I mentioned

Honestly, what do you find fulfilling? Maybe this is the place to start.
Good hours, good pay, good lifestyle. It's very difficult to have all three, all the time, in medicine.