Medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy?

[smuwillobrien]

I like science, and I like to work hard; however, I think I'd like to enjoy my life rather than spend the majority of my life working. Which of these specialities offers the best combination of lifestyle, salary, enjoyment, etc?

Any opinions are appreciated (unless you're doctorcynical).

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[bewitched1081]

well pharmacy probably but there are many people trying to get into that field right now. dentristy pays well but it might not be too appealing to look into people's mouths all day long. medicine is the "worst investment anyone could ever make," as quoted from a current gyn/urol. hahahaha.

 

[Sherif]

for phram, do you take a different test or is it MCAT too. Not to sound ignorant but aren't pharmacists just Cashiers that got a degree from phram school( I don't want to be flammed, i have no understanding so i am asking cool

 

[Megalofyia]

Originally posted by Sherif
for phram, do you take a diffrent test or is it MCAT too

PCAT


for dentistry it's the DAT

 

[bewitched1081]

Originally posted by Sherif
for phram, do you take a diffrent test or is it MCAT too. Not too sound ignorant but aren't pharmacists just Cashiers that got a degree from phram school( I don't want to be flammed, i have no understanding so i am asking cool

i know some people in pharm school right now (ucsf; #1 in pharm!!) anyway, i think they have to study harder than med students. they have lots of ochem and pharmacology, which is one of the notoriously difficult med school classes. my friend says that they have to know their stuff really well so that they can check prescriptions for interactions and other things. i guess in that sense they can save some doctors from being sued.

 

[Lochmoor]

Dont pharm's do other stuff like mix drugs --chemotherapies. Also, dont some work for pharm companies doing drug development?

I have relatives that are dds and some md's. DDS is a lifestyle type job from what i've seen. It's only 4 years of school and you can practice straight out of school. (though boards are a big biatch--more so than med boards) You can pretty much select your hours, work from 1-7 days a week depending on how much you want to make. Apparently a lot of dent. students have many hobbies--ex some wanted to play in the Senior PGA when they get older, so they played a lot of golf. Also, going to a dentist is not considered a necessity, so it's mainly fee for service aka $$$$. The downside is that you have to look at teeth/mouths all day and your success boils down to how well you can run a business, cause that's what it basically is.

From your question/post, smuwillobrien, medicine does not seem like your calling. I suggest dent just cause you can make the same amount of $$ as an md if not more while enjoying the life.

 

[babinski bob]

go do dentistry... you'll have a 4 day workweek, work 7-8 hours a day, and bring in >130K not long after graduation (esp if you own your own practice... then you can make even more than this!). If you really want to make the big dollars, finish at the top of your class and become an orthodontist. For an extra 2 years outside of dental school, you can easily find yourself earning 300K + for 4 days a week, 7-8 hour workday. that's if you want lifestyle... it's not as intectually challenging as medicine, but you'll definitely have a life outside of work which can't be said about much of medicine. While premeds make fun of predents, in the end, it's the dents that get the last laugh... all the way to the bank that is while they enjoy their weekends off w/ their family relaxing.. Despite all this, I would still never go to dental school.. I think i'd personally be bored. But that's my opinion. I'm sure the dental students have a different opinion... I'm enjoying medical school so much now, but maybe it'll be a different story once I hit the wards next year! pharmacy is also a fantastic lifestyle... no call, 40 hour workweek, make 80k+ straight out of school... you'll never earn major dollars like you will in medicine or dentistry since most pharmacists will max out around 120-130K even in managerial positions, but a great lifestyle nevertheless..

 

[SillyRabbit]

Go Dental!
It has all the benefits!

 

[fun8stuff]

Originally posted by bewitched1081
i know some people in pharm school right now (ucsf; #1 in pharm!!) anyway, i think they have to study harder than med students. they have lots of ochem and pharmacology, which is one of the notoriously difficult med school classes. my friend says that they have to know their stuff really well so that they can check prescriptions for interactions and other things. i guess in that sense they can save some doctors from being sued.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Pharm school is really easy. I have friends in pharm (3rd and 4th yrs) that say it is no tougher than the first 2 years.

No, they do not have to know drug interactions... not anymore... well only for the boards. Having worked at 2 diff pharmacies I know that the computer does all the work. Every time a prescription is filled the computer checks the patients history to see if that drug has any interactions with any of the other drugs the person is on.

Seriously, I took Anatomy and physiology with a friend of mine who is no in pharm school taking the pharmacies version of A&P and the class is a lot more watered down. She says it is all memorize. Study a night before the tests (for all classes) and party on the weekends.

It is a glorified Fast-Food job... like being the manager of a McDonalds is about how mentally stimulating it is. Hospital is a different story, but the money is in retail.

If you want to have an easy 6 yrs of college (2 undergrad + 4 pharm), be able to forget everything you memorized after the board exams, count pills all day, and regurgitate to customers (not patients) what the warning stickers say on their meds, and make 90-100k a year.... THEN pharmacy is for you!

Personally, after standing in the same small room for 40+ yrs counting pills for 40 hrs a week with no lunch breaks.... I WOULD GO INSANE! I practically did after working for 2 yrs in pharmacies as a tech...

 

[jlee9531]

Originally posted by Megalofyia
PCAT


for dentistry it's the DAT

and i think if you are a cali resident applying to cali schools you dont even need to take the pcat.

 

[Samoa]

I'm just posting to take issue with the statement above that pharmacists don't need to know drug interactions. You actually do, because the computer will flag every stupid interaction under the sun, and for some programs, you have to pick a code telling it why that particular interaction is irrelevant before it will let you fill the Rx.

Of course, there's usually a "because I said so" option. But that's not gonna cover your @ss in court when you get sued for filling one you shouldn't have.

 

[doctorcynical]

Why not do them all. Be the guy with four thousand letters behind his name that nobody respects.

 

[Beagle]

Geez, a bit harsh!!!
BTW--to the original poster, have you considered optometry or podiatry school?

Originally posted by fun8stuff
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Pharm school is really easy. I have friends in pharm (3rd and 4th yrs) that say it is no tougher than the first 2 years.

No, they do not have to know drug interactions... not anymore... well only for the boards. Having worked at 2 diff pharmacies I know that the computer does all the work. Every time a prescription is filled the computer checks the patients history to see if that drug has any interactions with any of the other drugs the person is on.

Seriously, I took Anatomy and physiology with a friend of mine who is no in pharm school taking the pharmacies version of A&P and the class is a lot more watered down. She says it is all memorize. Study a night before the tests (for all classes) and party on the weekends.

It is a glorified Fast-Food job... like being the manager of a McDonalds is about how mentally stimulating it is. Hospital is a different story, but the money is in retail.

If you want to have an easy 6 yrs of college (2 undergrad + 4 pharm), be able to forget everything you memorized after the board exams, count pills all day, and regurgitate to customers (not patients) what the warning stickers say on their meds, and make 90-100k a year.... THEN pharmacy is for you!

Personally, after standing in the same small room for 40+ yrs counting pills for 40 hrs a week with no lunch breaks.... I WOULD GO INSANE! I practically did after working for 2 yrs in pharmacies as a tech...

 

[smuwillobrien]

A lot of people seem to look down on pharmacists because they work in a drug store or supermarket type setting. Anyone have any opinions on this? Does it take away from the prestige of the job?

 

[bigbaubdi]

Originally posted by babinski bob
go do dentistry... you'll have a 4 day workweek, work 7-8 hours a day, and bring in >130K not long after graduation (esp if you own your own practice... then you can make even more than this!). If you really want to make the big dollars, finish at the top of your class and become an orthodontist. For an extra 2 years outside of dental school, you can easily find yourself earning 300K + for 4 days a week, 7-8 hour workday. that's if you want lifestyle... it's not as intectually challenging as medicine, but you'll definitely have a life outside of work which can't be said about much of medicine. While premeds make fun of predents, in the end, it's the dents that get the last laugh... all the way to the bank that is while they enjoy their weekends off w/ their family relaxing..

While all of this is true, there is no way I can forget the looks of people coming out of the dentist's office - in pain, with mouths stuffed with gauze and bizarre looking wires (remember the Simpsons episode where Lisa gets braces). Also inside of the dentist's office, I think gigantic needles, huge pliers, blood, ghastly looking hooks and root canals.

 

[elias514]

If your primary criterion is the controllability and overall quality of your future lifestyle, then you should choose dentistry. General dentists in an established private practice earn over $200,000/yr. and they work 4 days/wk (my dad is a general dentist). Emergencies are fairly rare, too. Specialists in dentistry earn outrageous amounts of money--for example, endodontists earn several thousand dollars per root canal, which takes an endodontist about 15 minutes to do. Thus, endodontists can work 2-3 days/wk and still make a sh*tload of money. Orthodontists have the best lifestyle of all; essentially they get paid to do PR.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

Dental is the way to go if you're interested in $$$$$$ and getting there quicklly.

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by Beagle
Geez, a bit harsh!!!
BTW--to the original poster, have you considered optometry or podiatry school?

 

[NRAI2001]

Originally posted by Beagle
Geez, a bit harsh!!!
BTW--to the original poster, have you considered optometry or podiatry school?

Just wondering, how much do optometerists and podiatrists make?

 

[Beagle]

It seems like a lot of people are telling you to go into dentistry bc of the money. However, it is not a good reason to go into a profession. What if you end up in dental school and are miserable? I don't think dental school is very appealing to a lot of people. Maybe you should shadow a dentist for a bit and see if you like it. You should do something that makes you happy, and not what will give you a good lifestyle with easy money.

 

[smuwillobrien]

Bad advice? Some of the most successful people on Earth are doing what they do only for the money. Where would Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, ... all of these guy be if it wasn't for money? Sure, they are in business, but the quest for money is what drove that. I don't care what anyone says. Money is a good reason.

 

[elias514]

There is a big difference between being a billionaire and earning 200K a year. I'd be happy flipping burgers for a billion dollars a year.

 

[NRAI2001]

I think i heard somewhere that dentists have the second highest suicide rate for any profession.

 

[3rdMolarRoller]

That is an Urban legend.

Dentistry is fun and exciting to me but a bore to many others. Like any profession it has its ups and downs but if you do it for the money you will REALLY hate it.