MD to Dentistry ?

Started by Craysee
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Craysee

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10+ Year Member
Hello all, well I hope I am posting this is the correct place. I don not have the love for my field as i feel I should have. Honestly, I don't think I ever felt completely happy after residency.

I have always said that the only other profession I would do or consider is dentistry. So I was wondering if anyone out there has encountered someone in my position...A practicing MD deciding to leave to pursue dentistry?

How was the transition?
How is the admission process? would I have to take the DAT?

btw, I'm not interested in dental anesthesia as I am looking for a change.
 
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You're crazy alright. Even if you made the change RIGHT NOW you're looking at being a dentist 5 years from now. You will have lost 4 years of income and paid tuition via debt or your savings.

Why not just hustle those 5 years and pick up extra hours and semi retire at the end? Work a day a week at a surgicenter after that and find something to give back to.

The satisfaction that most anesthesiologists get from their career makes me suspicious that you won't be happy with dentistry either.
 
I know of someone who had an MD and a PharmD, and then went to dental school after that. Its possible.

However, you really need to think hard about the opportunity cost of your lost income and paying around $200,000-400,000 for dental school.
 
Maybe you should consider providing anesthesia in different dental settings (pediatric, general, endodontic, perio, os). That way, you can get a first hand view of dentistry and can query the dentists about their practices, obstacles, etc.. First ask yourself: 1) Do I want the responsibility of an office, staff, management headaches ? ( you can also, just be an associate) 2) Do you want to be married to your patients? In anesthesia, except for pain management practice, you don't typically see your patients on a repeated basis. Who knows, maybe this is what you are missing. 3) Depending on where you decide to practice, competition may be fierce. Does where you live much matter to you? 4) As the previous poster mentioned, the cost of dental school is astronomical. In your situation, though, that shouldn't be a problem. A little weekend hospital call and doing some endoscopy suite anesthesia will pay the bill. Even doing anesthesia for your professors in their in-house practices or offices can pay the bill. When I was in D school, an upperclassman went on to specialize in endodontics, then went to med school, and then became an ER physician. He no longer uses the DDS in his title. Bottom line... you can do what ever you want. Don't just dive in. Just make an informed decision by asking the right questions and seek information from the right sources. Remember, there's nothing like getting up everyday and doing something that you don't like and aren't suited for. Good luck
 
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With an MD and anesthesia you could go to any dental school pretty much. Choose a cheap one and you're looking at 160k in tuition. But you could easily moonlight...and youve been making 300+k for the last 5 years so I wouldn't think money is a huge issue.

A GA permit and dentistry is a rockin combination. Give it a go...dentistry is def. a lot more fun than it seems...physicians seem to think its boring, but it's little mini-surgeries all day everyday 😀
 
Considered doing a pain clinic? Not as much $$ but it should be easier with relatively less liability.
 
OP: Before going for another professional degree I would consider what was missing and if you could fulfill that need by doing something within your career path. It seems like there are a lot avenues one could take as an MD in the form of fellowships - CCM, Pain medicine, etc.

For example: I've heard that some anesthesia providers feel like they lack autonomy because they're beholden to the schedule of surgeons. By doing a pain fellowship you could start a pain management clinic or buy into another one and own a clinic where you set your own hours. I'm sure you know all your own options - just pointing out that you maybe able to get professional satisfaction without doing another doctoral program.
 
Sublimazing said:
With an MD and anesthesia you could go to any dental school pretty much.
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Greetings,

Having advanced degree helps but I would not think it gives wide open admission to any dental school per one wishes. I assume the AC will need to evaluate the whole package but I reckon he will need to take DAT and achieve an acceptable score. DP
 
You'd have to take the DAT, do the whole admissions circus. Maybe before you look for someone who did what you are trying to do, you should look closer at dentistry. A lot of people here are talking financials, but if you truly don't like what you do now why stay in it?
It's sort of funny that as health professionals we feel completely sucked in and cemented into place because of $. But internet moguls can start over and do something new (granted they have millions of dollars usually). If you don't think so much about the money, you really maybe getting a chance to start over. But know that you 😍 dentistry. Had a professor that was dds, pharmd; not the same, but hell that's what blazing trails is.:luck:
 
I would make sure it is not a case of you being the kind of person that will not be happy with your job no matter what.

If that is the case, maybe you should look for a job where you only work 3 days a week in your current specialty and maybe make a little less but get to enjoy life more.

Dentistry is my second profession and I used to think I would he much happier at work as a dentist for various reasons but in reality I'm just someone that loves my free time and doesn't like having to be somewhere for X hours per day X days a week.

I'm still happy I made the change because my income went up 500% and in a few years I'm going to cut back to 4 days a week, 7 hours a day which gives me more free time to enjoy and I don't mind going to work.

Since you already have a very high paying job, I worry that you'll regret the costs (lost income plus dental school expenses) when you finally get to the point of practicing dentistry and dealing with all the potential negatives about the job.
 
DrNakLeng said:
Is that an option? I have only seen omfs residencies that accept dmd/dds and offer an accelerated MD.
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Look at UAB. They have a track for you to go from MD to OMFS but you do have to do like 2 and a half years of dental school during the residency
 
DrNakLeng said:
Is that an option? I have only seen omfs residencies that accept dmd/dds and offer an accelerated MD.
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Big Hoss
 
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