Medicine Vs Dentistry Vs Law - Which one should I go into?

[reree17]

I generally get high grades. I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 5. My dad is a doctor and I loved what he did. I have always had a passion for helping people aswell as passions for health, medicine and science.

However I also like dentistry. Apart from the obvious interest in the mouth and teeth I think I would love to do oral surgery (I am aware you have to be at the top of your class).

I am also a president of my school's debating club and I love debating and negotiating. So far I have not lost (and I am not joking) an argument during my time at the debating club. I have also won debates against teachers on behalf of the class (our teachers like students to debate if the teacher doesn't want students to partake in a particular activity, and the class usually get me to argue for them).

Salaries are not really that important to me since in broad careers such as medicine, dentistry and law it depends on various factors. Same for specialties.

You probably think that being in high school I am too young to be worrying about this. Well I live in the UK and I'm going to be in Sixth Form in less than a year so the A-Levels you choose are specific to careers.

So what do you think? So far I have interned with a GP and liked the experience. Merry Christmas and a happy new year! 🙂

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[EBTrailRunner]

Flip a 3-sided coin.

 

[reree17]

Another thing to add - I understand the hard work needed and long hours required for each career. I am also aware none of you can make the decision for me but would love if you could give some guidance, thanks!

 

[Neurosis]

if i were you, the decision would really only be between medicine and dentistry...even then do you really want to spend a large part of your life checking others (often poor) oral hygiene. I just imagine dentistry to be one of the most under appreciated and perhaps unrewarding professions of them all. The reason I said forget law is because for every doctor/dentist there's like crap load of lawyers.

 

[UVAbme2009]

You're what, 16 maybe? You don't have anywhere near the insight necessary to make a decision on your career. Nor are you going to understand any true advice you're given here.

 

[nysw]

Do all three, future Dr. reree17, MD, DDS, JD.

 

[dr zaius]

So the only reason you're considering law is because you're good at debating? Consider that logic for a second. Unless you're truly interested in practicing law (which includes quite a bit more than arguing) this is probably a bad idea.

It sounds like you need to shadow more physicians and dentists.

 

[dr zaius]

You're what, 16 maybe? You don't have anywhere near the insight necessary to make a decision on your career. Nor are you going to understand any true advice you're given here.

And that is one of the downsides of the countries with the high school --> medical school programs.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Wait until you grow up alittle to decide. Spend your childhood enjoying life instead.

 

[flatearth22]

OP lives in the UK. Go into dentistry - lots of teeth to fix over there 👍

 

[reree17]

You're what, 16 maybe? You don't have anywhere near the insight necessary to make a decision on your career. Nor are you going to understand any true advice you're given here.

I get your point however I have done work experience before and shadowed GP's and Nurse's for a week. I need to decide before I choose the wrong A-Levels and end up not getting into university for the degree I want because the A-Levels I chose are not relevant to it. I think I will be able to understand some advice given on here, don't underestimate purely based on age.

 

[reree17]

Wait until you grow up alittle to decide. Spend your childhood enjoying life instead.

I get your point but like I said, it'll be a matter of time before I choose my A-Levels and I don't want to choose irrelevant ones for my desired degree.

 

[reree17]

So the only reason you're considering law is because you're good at debating? Consider that logic for a second. Unless you're truly interested in practicing law (which includes quite a bit more than arguing) this is probably a bad idea.

It sounds like you need to shadow more physicians and dentists.

I know law involves documentation, contracts, deals etc.

 

[UVAbme2009]

I get your point however I have done work experience before and shadowed GP's and Nurse's for a week.

Cool man. And I've spent the last 8 months seeing patients 6 days a week on average and I still don't truly know what I'm getting into.

I'm not trying to be rude here. I'm just telling it like it is.

 

[flatearth22]

Lots of ignorance on pre-allo today.

Once again, OP lives in the UK. Med/Law/Dental school begins at age 18 over there. He/she needs to choose A-levels that show an aptitude for the career he/she wants to pursue. If medicine/dentistry then ideally picking Bio, Chem, Physics, etc. If law then ideally picking History, English, Law, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong OP).

I don't know what the situation is like in the UK but over here in the US law school is a terrible investment. You're better off posting in a UK-specific forum because 99% of the people here are Americans and Canadians.

 

[Neurosis]

OP lives in the UK. Go into dentistry - lots of teeth to fix over there 👍

 

[Onres]

12

 

[mmmmd]

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now in each of these three scenarios?

 

[Danlee07]

How about not being just a dillwad and being understandable? Of course we don't exactly know what we want to do when we're that young, but the person's just asking for some advice; of course, we're not going to truly know even when we get into the field, but we just hope to have the best idea before we enter it. Not every country is like America where even the lowest of SATs can get into community college and have a chance to redeem yourself at every single step. Or choose your major in your 3rd year and still graduate on time. Most countries give one chance for everything at each step (i.e. high school, college), and if you don't make it, then you're going to be working really hard for little pay. Also, you determine why you want to do something right when you start college; some start as early as the last 2 years of high school. You choose the rest of your life in the last 2 years or as a freshmen in college based on perceived reasoning since you don't get as many opportunities to shadow and volunteer as in America. I'm also "telling it like it is."

I had a hard time coming up with some reasons to become a dentist other than just lifestyle and money which is why I eliminated that, but for you, consider job security first, how much you enjoy studying that field for a long time, and then think of some reasons. And since dentistry and medicine might overlap in coursework, I'd try to keep my opportunities as open as possible. Try to think of why you may want to practice law first rather than the other two for reasons other than debating. For example, maybe as a lawyer, you want to affect the governing laws since law opens up doors including becoming a judge or you want to learn and practice your rights and responsibilities.

If you're fortunate enough to shadow, intern, or volunteer, try to expose yourself to as many situations. What I mean is to find a "normal, typical" environment, find one that is more lifestyle friendly, and also find a very hard working, stressful environment in whichever field you work in to give yourself the best idea. There are many fields other than these three, so you may have done some thinking already, but try not to just limit yourself to these three...

 

[seafood92]

OP I say if you can imagine yourself doing dentistry, then go for it. Great salary, work hours, and opportunities (serving underprivileged areas, ORAL SURGERY). I keep trying to talk myself into doing it, but eh I just can't stomach looking at people's teeth and maybe getting into a oral surgery program if I kick ass all dentistry school. If you can you should definitely take advantage of that.

However, you did ask a pre-med forum what they think 🙄. So of course all of us think MDs/DOs kick the most ass.

 

[reree17]

Cool man. And I've spent the last 8 months seeing patients 6 days a week on average and I still don't truly know what I'm getting into.

I'm not trying to be rude here. I'm just telling it like it is.

Okay, I understand 🙂

 

[iniquus]

hey let's let some internet strangers decide what i should do for a living. you're in high school--focus on college and you'll hopefully figure it out then. you might end up not considering any of these careers, or worse, not qualified for any of them.

 

[reree17]

Lots of ignorance on pre-allo today.
Once again, OP lives in the UK. Med/Law/Dental school begins at age 18 over there. He/she needs to choose A-levels that show an aptitude for the career he/she wants to pursue. If medicine/dentistry then ideally picking Bio, Chem, Physics, etc. If law then ideally picking History, English, Law, etc. (correct me if I'm wrong OP).

I don't know what the situation is like in the UK but over here in the US law school is a terrible investment. You're better off posting in a UK-specific forum because 99% of the people here are Americans and Canadians.

You're right, and thank you 🙂

How about not being just a dillwad and being understandable? Of course we don't exactly know what we want to do when we're that young, but the person's just asking for some advice; of course, we're not going to truly know even when we get into the field, but we just hope to have the best idea before we enter it. Not every country is like America where even the lowest of SATs can get into community college and have a chance to redeem yourself at every single step. Or choose your major in your 3rd year and still graduate on time. Most countries give one chance for everything at each step (i.e. high school, college), and if you don't make it, then you're going to be working really hard for little pay. Also, you determine why you want to do something right when you start college; some start as early as the last 2 years of high school. You choose the rest of your life in the last 2 years or as a freshmen in college based on perceived reasoning since you don't get as many opportunities to shadow and volunteer as in America. I'm also "telling it like it is."

I had a hard time coming up with some reasons to become a dentist other than just lifestyle and money which is why I eliminated that, but for you, consider job security first, how much you enjoy studying that field for a long time, and then think of some reasons. And since dentistry and medicine might overlap in coursework, I'd try to keep my opportunities as open as possible. Try to think of why you may want to practice law first rather than the other two for reasons other than debating. For example, maybe as a lawyer, you want to affect the governing laws since law opens up doors including becoming a judge or you want to learn and practice your rights and responsibilities.

If you're fortunate enough to shadow, intern, or volunteer, try to expose yourself to as many situations. What I mean is to find a "normal, typical" environment, find one that is more lifestyle friendly, and also find a very hard working, stressful environment in whichever field you work in to give yourself the best idea. There are many fields other than these three, so you may have done some thinking already, but try not to just limit yourself to these three...

OP I say if you can imagine yourself doing dentistry, then go for it. Great salary, work hours, and opportunities (serving underprivileged areas, ORAL SURGERY). I keep trying to talk myself into doing it, but eh I just can't stomach looking at people's teeth and maybe getting into a oral surgery program if I kick ass all dentistry school. If you can you should definitely take advantage of that.

However, you did ask a pre-med forum what they think 🙄. So of course all of us think MDs/DOs kick the most ass.

Thank you very much 🙂

 

[circulus vitios]

Becoming a lawyer because you "like to argue" is a bad idea.

 

[saveourpens]

OP lives in the UK. Go into dentistry - lots of teeth to fix over there 👍

 

[dr zaius]

hey let's let some internet strangers decide what i should do for a living. you're in high school--focus on college and you'll hopefully figure it out then. you might end up not considering any of these careers, or worse, not qualified for any of them.

How hard is it to read the original post? He/she is in the UK and has to decide prior to going to college.

 

[jcruiser]

Shadow a lawyer, dentist, and family physician. See which one stands out the most to you. Then shadow some more. If you like debating then you should debate with yourself on the pros and cons of the lifestyle. Will you like this for the rest of your life? Is it rewarding? Questions like that. Then go for it.

 

[UVAbme2009]

How hard is it to read the original post? He/she is in the UK and has to decide prior to going to college.

We get that, bro. The point we're trying to make is that nobody is going to give truly helpful advice here.

You want to be a doctor?

Do you like medicine, surgery, pediatrics, family, OBGYN, psychiatry, emergency, neurology or anesthesia?

What subspeciality do you want to focus on?

Do you want to work academic or private practice?

What environment do you want to work in? Big city? Rural? Underserved?

Do you want to work part time or full time?

See how this goes? Explaining what it's like to be a physician is impossible.

 

[dr zaius]

We get that, bro. The point we're trying to make is that nobody is going to give truly helpful advice here.

You want to be a doctor?

Do you like medicine, surgery, pediatrics, family, OBGYN, psychiatry, emergency, neurology or anesthesia?

What subspeciality do you want to focus on?

Do you want to work academic or private practice?

What environment do you want to work in? Big city? Rural? Underserved?

Do you want to work part time or full time?

See how this goes? Explaining what it's like to be a physician is impossible.

Those are all good questions. Telling him/her to "focus on college" is not applicable advice, though.

 

[Neurosis]

Becoming a lawyer because you "like to argue" is a bad idea.

this 👍

 

[absolutdokta]

I am also a president of my school's debating club and I love debating and negotiating. So far I have not lost (and I am not joking) an argument during my time at the debating club. I have also won debates against teachers on behalf of the class (our teachers like students to debate if the teacher doesn't want students to partake in a particular activity, and the class usually get me to argue for them).

Suddenly I have been given greater insight into a lawyers mind and the problems with tort

 

[scarshapedstar]

Your role model should be Orly Taitz. She did all three... well, almost.

Dentist, attorney, real estate agent.

 

[coyotelime]

OP lives in the UK. Go into dentistry - lots of teeth to fix over there 👍

Harsh and common misconception about British people if you're being serious, I was in London for a term and their teeth is just as good as ours.

👍 If it was sarcasm.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Law if you can get into a top 20 law school.

Denistry if you want money/job security due to shorter training period. However, denistry does involve looking down people's mouths all day so weigh that in.

Medicine elsewise.

 

[reree17]

hey let's let some internet strangers decide what i should do for a living. you're in high school--focus on college and you'll hopefully figure it out then. you might end up not considering any of these careers, or worse, not qualified for any of them.

Did you even read my reason for deciding on my career choice now?

 

[dynex]

I get your point however I have done work experience before and shadowed GP's and Nurse's for a week............I think I will be able to understand some advice given on here, don't underestimate purely based on age.

Those two statements prove that you won't understand some advice. First off you can't decide if going to medical school is for you if you shadow nurses. Completely different styles of care, and professions. So if you shadowed GPs and nurses for a week, and nurses dont count, then you shadowed someone who counts half a week. People spend months shadowing and don't know.

 

[gettheleadout]

Did you even read my reason for deciding on my career choice now?

Unlikely.

Because you are in a time-sensitive situation I don't know that there is some crystallizing advice any of us can give you beyond recommending you get firsthand experience in the professions as much more as possible while you can. All three are quite different regardless of the nation you practice in. If you have additional reasoning for being interested in law it might help if you shared that, but considering the first half of your OP I would say you at least appear to be the most interested in medicine. Why the significant doubts now? In any case, I'd say focus on ruling law out or confirming it, as you can choose essentially the same A-levels for prep for either medicine or dentistry, correct?

 

[reree17]

Those two statements prove that you won't understand some advice. First off you can't decide if going to medical school is for you if you shadow nurses. Completely different styles of care, and professions. So if you shadowed GPs and nurses for a week, and nurses dont count, then you shadowed someone who counts half a week. People spend months shadowing and don't know.

They were nurse practitioners, and were based in a GP surgery. I shadowed with the GP's for 5 days and the nurse practitioners for 2 days and the activites they carried out they said is also what the GP's carry out. The person stated 'You don't have the insight necessary to make a decision on your career' and work experience does help, however I never said that ONLY work experience will contribute to my decision.

 

[Law2Doc]

Law if you can get into a top 20 law school.

Denistry if you want money/job security due to shorter training period. However, denistry does involve looking down people's mouths all day so weigh that in.

Medicine elsewise.

The OP isn't in the US so top 20 isn't the same issue.

The short answer is that if you can picture yourself happy in a field other than medicine, then medicine is probably not the right choice. Go with dentistry.

 

[maybemed2013]

In the U.S. we have MD/JD where you can earn a medical and law degree simultaneously, and D.D.S/D.O where you earn your medical and dental degree simultaneously if you have it in the UK I suggest looking into it.

 

[varsityblue]

In the U.S. we have MD/JD where you can earn a medical and law degree simultaneously, and D.D.S/D.O where you earn your medical and dental degree simultaneously if you have it in the UK I suggest looking into it.

+1 This is true. The great thing about grad school is that you can mix and match programs to fit your interests.

 

[pkwraith]

]
Salaries are not really that important to me since in broad careers such as medicine, dentistry and law it depends on various factors. Same for specialties.

That's nice and everything. But, it's certainly going to matter to you when you're actually in the profession.

I'm not familiar with the employment and debt status in the UK for professional work, I assume debt load is much lower but the salary is also lower. It won't hurt to look over the salary distribution, employment figures of each professional, and see if it's reasonable for you. Most people don't really make fiscal decisions that early in the US (if at all!), but since you guys are starting early over seas, might as well get a head start.

A lot of people in the US went for law because they assumed law = reasonable payment and job prospects. And now, they're burned because of atrocious unemployment, debt, unmanageable salary because they didn't care to do the research("Oh, I love law. I don't care what they pay me!").

 

[Sephiroth]

Silly stereotypes aside, what is the state of dentistry in the UK? Because I've heard it is a much bigger field in the US than most countries, as we tend to be more neurotic about teeth than most other countries (especially in regard to orthodontics). So I'm not sure how similar practicing dentistry in the UK would be to practicing it in the US.

(crap, now i think i just stereotyped my own country...)

 

[UVAbme2009]

They were nurse practitioners, and were based in a GP surgery. I shadowed with the GP's for 5 days and the nurse practitioners for 2 days and the activites they carried out they said is also what the GP's carry out. The person stated 'You don't have the insight necessary to make a decision on your career' and work experience does help, however I never said that ONLY work experience will contribute to my decision.

I don't care what they said, an NP doesn't do or know half of what a physician does. I encourage you to re-read what you just wrote in 10 years and have a good laugh at yourself.

As it's been said, go get experience and see what you like the most. When I was your age I wasn't even thinking about being a college student. When I finally did, I wanted to be a biomedical engineer. Then it was getting a PhD in philosophy and being a professor. Then it was high school math teacher. Then it was medical school. Then I was in medical school, wanted to quit and go to culinary school. Then, I wanted to be an emergency physician. Now I want to be a high risk obstetrician. That could change, but it won't.

My point is that until you actually experience working in a field, you can't possibly know what you want to do. We can't help you figure that out here either. Make your choice now and expect it to change. I'm obviously biased, but I would lean toward medicine because of the sheer volume of things you can do with an MD. You don't even have to practice medicine.

 

[scarshapedstar]

Silly stereotypes aside, what is the state of dentistry in the UK? Because I've heard it is a much bigger field in the US than most countries, as we tend to be more neurotic about teeth than most other countries (especially in regard to orthodontics).

Yeah, it's pretty scaled back. Dentistry here is like a cottage industry. Over there it's more like being a mortician - you make a decent living because everyone has to see you once.

 

[anbuitachi]

Not sure about UK but for US, if you are interested in all 3, here's how I'd decide.

If you want money and a life: go Law, law is also the easiest to finish. If you can make it to medical school here, chances are you can make it to a top 20 school seeing how most of it is grade based unlike medicine and pre meds are known for high grades.

If you want less money and less of a life: go dentistry. It's easier to get into than medicine and have less material to master esp during clinical years. Residency is not as intense as medicine. You'll have time for a family and w/e you want to do.

If you want soso money and no life: go medicine. pre med is a lot of work. medical school is even more work. medical school is more difficult to get into than law or dental school. residency takes a huge toll on your mind and health and life in general, ranging from 3-7 years in the US.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

how about podiatry or optometry? I don't know how the UK system works, but make sure you check out all your health related options before you set anything in stone!

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I honestly think you have to first take in consideration:
-What kind of people you will have to work with,
-How much money you intend to make and what you will be happy with,
-Where you will live,
-And what you are are most enthusiastic about.

Do what makes you happy and don't ever let anyone try to change your mind! 😀

 

[LLB2MD]

If you want money and a life: go Law...

Ranking law as #1 for out of these options for "having a life" made me laugh. Hard. The money part was laughable too.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Not Law... no jobs... I have several friends and some family members who are 'lawyers' (as in they have JDs) and they all screamed at me for even considering going into law over medicine... The jobs are few and far between right now...

Between dentistry and medicine= Well... do you like teeth? Would you be happy only looking at teeth the rest of your life, or would you like to look at other systems as well? I think medicine gives more variety, but.... That is up to you...