Medicine or Dentistry

[arsenalfan12]

Hello everyone, I myself think I want to be a surgeon but not positive. I found out that you can become an omfs but have to go to dental school first. So far Im on the premed or preprofessional track. My gpa is 3.92 and my bcpm is 3.94. I am going to be a junior this coming fall, but have to decide whether I should study for the MCAT or the DAT. What are competitive scores and gpas to get into dental school? Also, what sort of other ECs does everyone do that is predental? I have leadership and volunteering in hospitals for first 2 undergrad years, as well as president of NSCS at my schools chapter. Am I in good shape so far to get into a dental school, I realize I have to take the DAT.

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[Aner]

Your grades are fine for dental school, as long as you keep that up on the DAT, you'd be fine. You should probably shadow an omf surgeon so you know if you wanna do that...and you'll also gain shadowing experience that will help you in admission. If you decide dental school is for you, you have the numbers for it. Good luck in your choice!

 

[SugarNaCl]

Hello everyone, I myself think I want to be a surgeon but not positive. I found out that you can become an omfs but have to go to dental school first. So far Im on the premed or preprofessional track. My gpa is 3.92 and my bcpm is 3.94. I am going to be a junior this coming fall, but have to decide whether I should study for the MCAT or the DAT. What are competitive scores and gpas to get into dental school? Also, what sort of other ECs does everyone do that is predental? I have leadership and volunteering in hospitals for first 2 undergrad years, as well as president of NSCS at my schools chapter. Am I in good shape so far to get into a dental school, I realize I have to take the DAT.

Arsenal... here it is. Ave GPA for med school is about 3.68. Ave GPA for dent is about 3.58. Last years stats. They are close...a bit more competitive for MD programs... DOs are similar to dental stat-wise... so do what you want. Just for the sanity of us and the good Lord above, please check out med vs dent posts using the search function. Too many med vs dents have been posted. Good luck to you. Follow your heart, not your head...unless your head tells you that your heart is extremely impractical.

 

[yeabuddy]

I think an important fact to remember here is that even if you do end up getting accepted to dental school that does not garantee you will be accepted into the specialty program of Oral Surgery. Going to dental school with the sole purpose of trying to get into a specialty program might not be the best idea. For example, if you were unable to get into a OMS program would you still want to be a general dentist??

Your best bet is probably gain some experience in the field of dentistry first then some in oral surgery and then decide if you want to choose dentistry or medicine.

You have the stats for either one. Good Luck

 

[USAFOMS]

I had the same dilemma in my pre-doc days. Grades were good for both, extracurriculars, MCATs, DATs, letters of rec, etc. I shadowed both dentists and physicians.

My decision to go to dental school was based on the fact I liked working with my hands, call was less, less battles with insurance companies, and less malpractice, more time at home, and more money as a general dentist than GP. I talked to a number of physicians and i was told by all but one..."If I had to do it over again, I would be a dentist". That played a big role.

Now I'm doing oral surgery, and a lot of the reasons i went to dental school are out the window, ie... less call, more time at home, etc.

I found a way to incorporate my love for dentistry with medicine, the hospital, and the thrill of surgery.

You should spend time with general dentists first because "yeabuddy" made a good point. Would you be happy as a general dentist. I would.