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I am considering applying to a few dental programs as a back up plan. Do you think this would hurt my chances of getting into a M.D. program if they found out?
M.D. and D.D.S.
- Thread starter ezmoney1
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What's your passion for dentistry?
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i don't think there's anything wrong with having a back up plan as long as neither one is half-baked. i think any adcom would accept a reasonable explanation during an interview...they themselves must have had backups in mind. just don't make it look like you don't really care which one you get and you're shooting for medicine because of prestige over dentistry...that's not the best argument to make to get yourself into med school...
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ezmoney1 said:
in an interview situation u also don't want to make it look like u will give up on medicine so easily... so when u are asked the question, "what will you do if you don't get in?", the best answer is to say that you would work to find out which areas were decient, work to improve in those areas, then reapply. If they really push you, such as by asking what would you do if you still did not get in, then it might be wise to say, "well i would then begin to invesitgate alternative careers that would allow me to work in patient care, such as dentistry." etc etc. Plan on getting asked this quesion at least once.
mx_599 said:
Thats exactly right, you shouldnt apply to many dental schools to begin with, and definitely not to schools that have medical and dental schools. Dont apply to NYU med school and dental school for instance, you would have to pick in that situation.
I would say apply to top dental schools, like columbia, Upenn, etc.. schools that you probably would not get into their med schools anyway, but have a great dental school that you would go to. Chances are, if you are a viable MD applicant it shouldnt be that hard to get into one of the top dental schools.
I thought about this myself and this was my strategy. Remember, no school that has both schools! they will know, keep em separated.
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I think you should a decision about which career you really want. The adcoms for both medical and dental schools try to sniff out the people who aren't really serious. Medical school - if you're not interested in medicine then you're gonna hate your life and want to drop out at some point due to the stress and lifestyle factors. Even most people who are very interested in medicine probably have considered quitting.
Most dental schools are already suspicious about people using dental school as a back up plan. Dentistry is a good field, better than most in medicine anyway. It's an opportunity to do hands-on surgical stuff as well as have patient interaction with good pay and excellent hours. That's better than most specialties and it's not as competitve. Now as I am entering the last year of med school I actually wish I considered dentistry more. Medicine may be more prestigious to the public, but being happy with your career is alot more important.
If you're concern about how competitive you are for med school, have you considered applying to DO programs and carribean MD programs, or even schools in Europe? The competitveness for these programs are similar to DDS programs. One drawback to dentistry is that it seems that onmce you're in alot of programs are still weeding people out while in medicine once you get in, they try to keep you in. Good luck! and answering your question..YES, it will hurt your chances if dental school find out you're applying to both. Plus there is a question about this on applications.
Most dental schools are already suspicious about people using dental school as a back up plan. Dentistry is a good field, better than most in medicine anyway. It's an opportunity to do hands-on surgical stuff as well as have patient interaction with good pay and excellent hours. That's better than most specialties and it's not as competitve. Now as I am entering the last year of med school I actually wish I considered dentistry more. Medicine may be more prestigious to the public, but being happy with your career is alot more important.
If you're concern about how competitive you are for med school, have you considered applying to DO programs and carribean MD programs, or even schools in Europe? The competitveness for these programs are similar to DDS programs. One drawback to dentistry is that it seems that onmce you're in alot of programs are still weeding people out while in medicine once you get in, they try to keep you in. Good luck! and answering your question..YES, it will hurt your chances if dental school find out you're applying to both. Plus there is a question about this on applications.
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but dentistry is not a "backup" to medicine by any means. 👎 Also, if you can't get into med schools, then you will certainly not get into one of the top dental schools, as one of the above posters recommended you apply to. You may get into a dental school, but not the top ones. Also, I recommend you do not try to hide it from the admissions committee, because on the dental school application there is a question that asks if you are applying to, or have applied to, any other professional schools
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Gurl21 said:
sorry to burst your bubble, but for a lot of people dentistry is in fact a backup plan. Sure there are people that start wanting to go into dentistry and not medicine, but this is not the case all of the time. If you were pre-med, you would realize this.
Gurl21 said:
WOrst post ever
No one is attacking dentistry vs medicine so dont start.
If you dont hide the fact your applying to both your being stupid. And you will be surprised how much easier the dental admissions process is, I have experience with this exact scenario. Apply to top schools and all schools and see what happens, I think youll be surprised...
If you feel the need to apply to both programs concurrently you should not be applying to either at this point. You need to get more experience in both fields, if in fact you are interested in both. If you're only interested in medicine stick with that. You won't be happy doing dentistry if you really wanted to do medicine. They are completely different professions. Everytime you go to work you may wish you had followed through on your true aspiration. It's not fair to yourself or your future patients. They deserve doctors who are passionate about medicine/dentistry. I've seen these physicians/dentists who don't really like the work they do. They're unhappy, angry, and resentful towards their patients. Don't wind up like that. This is the rest of your life we're talking about. Do the research.
Many pre-meds/dents think medical school and dental school are very similar. This is not true. Yes, we take similar basic science classes but each program goes into greater depth in certain areas. Dental students don't do nearly the amount of systemic path and pharm that med students do, and med students don't do nearly the amount of oral path, oral and head radiology, and laboratory work that dental students do. As a dental student you will spend thousands (yes, thousands. no joke) of hours doing labwork: cutting preps, fabricating gold crowns, pouring up casts, waxing teeth, making dentures, rpds, bridges, etc... Furthermore the last 2 years of dental school are pure patient treatment. It's not like clinical rotations in medical school. It's just you and the patient, doing dentistry. In medical rotations you are part of a team involving attendings, residents, interns, and med students.
My point it to do either program without being passionate about it is a recipe for disaster. Each one is too rigorous to maintain the motivation necessary to succeed and remain sane unless you love it. Frankly, you will hate your life.
There are plenty of ways to make money. Get a job in sales, become a realtor, go to law school (you'll still be miserable but you'll get out a year sooner and make more $), importer/exporter...or maybe you just want to focus on the exporting? That's a Seinfeld reference, fyi.
Don't rush into it. There's no hurry to start practicing. I'm sure many people in med/dental school would have happily taken a little more time to enjoy those wonderful early 20s.
Take care and good luck.
Many pre-meds/dents think medical school and dental school are very similar. This is not true. Yes, we take similar basic science classes but each program goes into greater depth in certain areas. Dental students don't do nearly the amount of systemic path and pharm that med students do, and med students don't do nearly the amount of oral path, oral and head radiology, and laboratory work that dental students do. As a dental student you will spend thousands (yes, thousands. no joke) of hours doing labwork: cutting preps, fabricating gold crowns, pouring up casts, waxing teeth, making dentures, rpds, bridges, etc... Furthermore the last 2 years of dental school are pure patient treatment. It's not like clinical rotations in medical school. It's just you and the patient, doing dentistry. In medical rotations you are part of a team involving attendings, residents, interns, and med students.
My point it to do either program without being passionate about it is a recipe for disaster. Each one is too rigorous to maintain the motivation necessary to succeed and remain sane unless you love it. Frankly, you will hate your life.
There are plenty of ways to make money. Get a job in sales, become a realtor, go to law school (you'll still be miserable but you'll get out a year sooner and make more $), importer/exporter...or maybe you just want to focus on the exporting? That's a Seinfeld reference, fyi.
Don't rush into it. There's no hurry to start practicing. I'm sure many people in med/dental school would have happily taken a little more time to enjoy those wonderful early 20s.
Take care and good luck.
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Hoya11 said:
Hoya,
I also have experience applying to both. (My heart wasn't into medicine but I applied because both my brother and sister are doctors (MDs).) I didn't find out until this year that SOME dental schools are pretty hard to get into. You might find that getting into a top notch dental school is not easy as you think. Your 3.4 GPA is below the average acceptance GPA for the following dental schools:
UCSF entering class of 2005: 3.59 (http://dentistry.ucsf.edu/admissions/admiss_program1-stats.html)
UCLA entering class of 2004: 3.59
Harvard entering class of 2004: 3.78 (http://dentalstats.tripod.com/03-04.htm)
Ezmoney1,
If you're really interested in medicine, then you should consider DO schools as an alternative.
University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (class entering 2002) 3.17 24.9
(http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradprof/healthprof/premed/osteopathicstats.html)
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I agree with drhobie. great post.
I think you should first decide which field you want to go into and then apply. I understand that right now you just want to get in somewhere. You want to get on a path and feel like you are heading somewhere (and get your parents off your back). But the paths go into different directions.
I know people in Dental School that were strong in didactics but could not handle the lab work. They had problems with every assignment. They were simply not good with their hands. Maybe they would have great in pharm school or teaching or research or some field of Medicine. But they were miserable in Dental School. And are probably still hating every minute of their work.
There are people in Medicine that wish they had gone to Dental School. You don't have to worry about insurance problems as much, malpractice is not as high, the pay is good, you determine the hrs. You are done in 4yrs.
If you rush into the wrong program you will regret it. And you might quit after accumulating a huge debt. make a decision, then commit. If you don't get in the 1st time, try again. I have a buddy you applied 3 times to Med School and finally got in.
Good luck.
I think you should first decide which field you want to go into and then apply. I understand that right now you just want to get in somewhere. You want to get on a path and feel like you are heading somewhere (and get your parents off your back). But the paths go into different directions.
I know people in Dental School that were strong in didactics but could not handle the lab work. They had problems with every assignment. They were simply not good with their hands. Maybe they would have great in pharm school or teaching or research or some field of Medicine. But they were miserable in Dental School. And are probably still hating every minute of their work.
There are people in Medicine that wish they had gone to Dental School. You don't have to worry about insurance problems as much, malpractice is not as high, the pay is good, you determine the hrs. You are done in 4yrs.
If you rush into the wrong program you will regret it. And you might quit after accumulating a huge debt. make a decision, then commit. If you don't get in the 1st time, try again. I have a buddy you applied 3 times to Med School and finally got in.
Good luck.
QuietGuy said:
Who said anything about 3.4?
I had a 3.7 when I was applying to md schools and getting doors slammed in my face.
And I know what you mean the top notch schools are still very hard to get into im not taking anything away from them.
