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Hi
I want to apply for medical/dental school*, and I need some advice**.
I know I really want to specialize in surgical specialties *** , I did some research on different medical and dental specialties, read many topics here, watched some of the procedures on youtube etc, and I came up with two specialties, OMFS and orthopedics, one is dental specialty and one medical, so I have to choose between dental and medical school ... .
here are some of my perceptions (please correct me if I'm wrong and add what I'm missing)
medical path pros:
1- I like being a physician (and in my country OMFS programs are 5 years long, without a MD. and I don't want to make the path to my goals depending on whether I can get accepted into OMFS programs at USA/UK/... or not, as I know OMFS is most hard dental specialty to match in these countries, let alone the fact that I would be a foreign student ... )
2- as a GP physician even if I lose an entire arm (someone diagnoses me with paranoia right now
) I can still do most of what people usually do in private practice. but for a dentist, even losing few fingers is a big trouble. (as a side-note, I do some sports)
3- from my understanding ortho is a lot less micro scale and is not really concerned with cosmetics, OMFS on the other hand (not counting 3rd molar extractions etc) is much more micro scale and complex; and procedures happen on the face and the neck, areas with so many nerves and blood vessels and small tendons/muscles etc, thus it's more stressful and has a higher risk.
4- OMFS traumas are often an emergency, where as many orthopedic traumas can often wait until morning (call wise. and I know many OMFS people actually don't do much trauma after residency, but I like to work with a relatively larger team and in hospital setting).
5- as i said above, I like to work with a relatively larger team and in hospital setting, dental practices (and even clinics) seem a bit lonely to me ..., one or maybe two assistants, and almost no teamwork.
6- as both specialties involve bones, joints and muscles etc, they use lots of cool tools and involve lots of bio-mechanics, but I guess it's much more on the ortho side. I have a background in electronic engineering (and also mechanic/robotics), so I'm very interested in these stuff.
7- more variety.
8- ENTs and PRs can't steal your cases and call you a dentist?!
dental path pros:
1- I can work from 3rd/4th year in private practices (it's illegal though. dental school in my country is 6 years)
2- if I couldn't match into residency, I could still do some sort of surgical procedures (and I like the hand work and creativity, hence my interest in ortho and OMFS, more on macro scale though)
3- GP dentists have a bit more prestige (and monetary compensation) compared to GP physicians.
4- dentists can have a better lifestyle, school is also a bit easier. OMFS also has much more flexibility in lifestyle, than ortho does. your bread and butter cases are actually those which get done in 30 min in your practice; if involving in hospital setting, getting calls and doing (maxillofacial) trauma cases hurts your life, you can quit it, do 3rd molars and implants all day long in your practice and still lose nothing ... . (again I do some sports and I want to maintain it, I do some (science-unrelated) readings/writings, and I want to have time for my future family)
Thanks
* I'm not from USA, I'm from Middle east, and for getting into university, in my country we have a big national exam each year called konkur (from old french conquerre), who ever has the highest score (lowest rating) has the highest priority in choosing his/her field and school, and so on ... . and based on my score I know I can get accepted in both medical school and dental school.
** I know it's best to shadow people in either field in real life but as I'm from a small city and our doctors are a bit too serious that's not easy; but I will definitely try to find someone who let me to do so and I will do it. but I also wanted to get some insights from you guys.
*** and I know getting accepted into programs isn't easy, but I'm just pointing out my goals and personal interests (and again in my country for getting into residency programs there is a national exam each year, the highest score (lowest rating) has the highest priority in choosing her/his field and school).
I want to apply for medical/dental school*, and I need some advice**.
I know I really want to specialize in surgical specialties *** , I did some research on different medical and dental specialties, read many topics here, watched some of the procedures on youtube etc, and I came up with two specialties, OMFS and orthopedics, one is dental specialty and one medical, so I have to choose between dental and medical school ... .
here are some of my perceptions (please correct me if I'm wrong and add what I'm missing)
medical path pros:
1- I like being a physician (and in my country OMFS programs are 5 years long, without a MD. and I don't want to make the path to my goals depending on whether I can get accepted into OMFS programs at USA/UK/... or not, as I know OMFS is most hard dental specialty to match in these countries, let alone the fact that I would be a foreign student ... )
2- as a GP physician even if I lose an entire arm (someone diagnoses me with paranoia right now
) I can still do most of what people usually do in private practice. but for a dentist, even losing few fingers is a big trouble. (as a side-note, I do some sports)3- from my understanding ortho is a lot less micro scale and is not really concerned with cosmetics, OMFS on the other hand (not counting 3rd molar extractions etc
) is much more micro scale and complex; and procedures happen on the face and the neck, areas with so many nerves and blood vessels and small tendons/muscles etc, thus it's more stressful and has a higher risk.4- OMFS traumas are often an emergency, where as many orthopedic traumas can often wait until morning (call wise. and I know many OMFS people actually don't do much trauma after residency, but I like to work with a relatively larger team and in hospital setting).
5- as i said above, I like to work with a relatively larger team and in hospital setting, dental practices (and even clinics) seem a bit lonely to me ..., one or maybe two assistants, and almost no teamwork.
6- as both specialties involve bones, joints and muscles etc, they use lots of cool tools and involve lots of bio-mechanics, but I guess it's much more on the ortho side. I have a background in electronic engineering (and also mechanic/robotics), so I'm very interested in these stuff.
7- more variety.
8- ENTs and PRs can't steal your cases and call you a dentist?!
dental path pros:
1- I can work from 3rd/4th year in private practices (it's illegal though. dental school in my country is 6 years)
2- if I couldn't match into residency, I could still do some sort of surgical procedures (and I like the hand work and creativity, hence my interest in ortho and OMFS, more on macro scale though)
3- GP dentists have a bit more prestige (and monetary compensation) compared to GP physicians.
4- dentists can have a better lifestyle, school is also a bit easier. OMFS also has much more flexibility in lifestyle, than ortho does. your bread and butter cases are actually those which get done in 30 min in your practice; if involving in hospital setting, getting calls and doing (maxillofacial) trauma cases hurts your life, you can quit it, do 3rd molars and implants all day long in your practice and still lose nothing ... . (again I do some sports and I want to maintain it, I do some (science-unrelated) readings/writings, and I want to have time for my future family)
Thanks
* I'm not from USA, I'm from Middle east, and for getting into university, in my country we have a big national exam each year called konkur (from old french conquerre), who ever has the highest score (lowest rating) has the highest priority in choosing his/her field and school, and so on ... . and based on my score I know I can get accepted in both medical school and dental school.
** I know it's best to shadow people in either field in real life but as I'm from a small city and our doctors are a bit too serious
that's not easy; but I will definitely try to find someone who let me to do so and I will do it. but I also wanted to get some insights from you guys.*** and I know getting accepted into programs isn't easy, but I'm just pointing out my goals and personal interests (and again in my country for getting into residency programs there is a national exam each year, the highest score (lowest rating) has the highest priority in choosing her/his field and school).
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