Most doctors have told me to go to Dental School

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Labkid

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I've been on the path to medical school for quite some time now. I have everything worked out, I've submitted apps, I've even worked out how I'm going to pay for it and have that all settled.

I've been worried as of late though because other than one younger physician (a chief resident) I have yet to have a US doctor say it is a good idea to become a doctor these days.

Here are a few things I've heard:

  • "Ah, so you want to become a doctor in Obama's new world of medicine. Are you sure? Well, good luck."
  • "Maybe I'd do something else if I knew what I know now"
  • "You should go become a dentist. No seriously, go be a dentist. You'll earn way more and be much happier."
These are all attendings that told me this, all of varying ages. In fact the only one who was adamant that being a doctor is still a great goal was a 70yr old surgeon who practices in Italy (I'm Italian, he's a family friend). When shadowing him a typical day was 8am-8pm with only Saturdays/Sundays off (really impressed me at 70yrs).

That last quote really worried me and is the most recent. The rest of the room laughed but he repeated it several times to me to made sure I heard it.

Now I've never shadowed a dentist because well, I don't really think I would have an interest in doing that work. I've enjoyed my time shadowing doctors. Ok, not all specialties are equally interesting but I've enjoyed myself none-the-less. What I especially enjoy is the atmosphere among the staff (bunch of close friends talking **** to each other) and being able to make connections with strangers while hopefully finding a way to solve their issues. I've always like being where there are tons of other people around that I can interact with. No one I've shadowed has ever mentioned anything strange about me that doesn't "align" with being a doctor. Still it worries me how often this is being said from well established physicians.

At this point I'm pretty much set on being a doctor (if I make it in) but I'm wondering if it may be a good idea to shadow a dentist just as a last precaution to really make sure this is what I want. I don't want to go into interviews worried about this as I think that will show.

Is this advice I keep getting from attendings something I should heed or is it just coincidence that I've run into jaded attendings?

Is my worrying a red flag?

What other than long hours, and relatively bad pay for hours worked, am I missing that makes being a physician something these attendings seem to regret doing? (From what I can tell they all live comfortably)
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Funnily enough, all of my dentists (I generally see one particular guy but they all rotate through) have expressed how disappointed/feel shorted because they didn't give the medical school route a chance. They all have made comments about wishing they'd chosen opposite, how awesome it is I get to go, and don't I dare squander it.

Just depends who you're talking to... grass is always greener on the other side.
 
The grass is always greener.

A dentist who gets lucky and either becomes a part of or establishes a good practice will be great, wealthy, happy, and have less stressful bs than many doctors. However, if you see all the less noticed dentists struggling to get a hold on anything and completely unable to handle their student debt, you'll see it's not all roses.

There is a lot of suckage that comes with being a physician, but it is more predictable at least. You will be making $150K+. It is more up in the air for dentists

In the end, it's more important to enter whichever field you prefer, rock it, and accept the negatives and positives of your job
 
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I mean, this isn't new information. Everyone on here has always known that if you're going for money, just do dentistry.
 
Medscape runs a report on this every year.

http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/compensation/2016/public/overview#page=17

You'll find the results are pretty interesting. IM for example consistently rank highest amongst physicians that would choose medicine again as a career, but the lowest in actually wanting to do their specialty. Derm has the highest number that love their specialty, but are amongst the ones that are most likely to not go into medicine again.

The question you really want to ask is - do you like medicine enough to want to do it forever. Is there something else you would rather me doing or could see yourself doing? You could pay me a million dollars a year to be a dentist, but the thought of looking in someone's mouth all day long grosses me out so that would be a no from me.
 
You are going to have a ton of people tell you it is a bad idea, for a variety of reasons, as you go further and further down the road. To be frank, you'll probably doubt your own decision a thousand times as a medical student. But, at the end of the day, if it's something you truly want to do then the red flag won't be big enough.
 
Its stressful and a lot of people do it for the wrong reasons. Even if you go into it for the right ones you can end up not liking it or being unhappy. As far as me, it's the only thing I have ever seen myself doing in my 26 years on earth so I'm takin the chance.

Also id wager that most dentists do not make more than most docs.
 
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My mom and my uncle are both dentists, and they both advised me not to go into dentistry on separate occasions citing a surplus of dentists now a days. I haven't looked into it too much, and it's probably not as bad as say pharmacy or optometry, but that did give me cause to pause when considering dentistry.
 
Dentists and medical doctors are probably comparably miserable in their own unique little ways.

Do what you wanna do if you wanna do it for reasons that aren't dumb and you have enough exposure to be reasonably confident that your reasons aren't dumb.
 
I would go to dental school but my smile is terrible. :/ #crossbiteofdoom
 
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FenderBenderEmergency said:
The question you really want to ask is - do you like medicine enough to want to do it forever. Is there something else you would rather me doing or could see yourself doing? You could pay me a million dollars a year to be a dentist, but the thought of looking in someone's mouth all day long grosses me out so that would be a no from me.
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See that's the thing. I never really thought about dentistry so I can't even say that grosses me out. All I can say is I don't really know if I like it or not thus my wondering if I should shadow a dentist to see what it's all about.

I've never really been worried with money. I'm lucky enough to have a route to pay for my med school bills and for me "enough" is a lot less than expensive cars and big houses. Which every physician I've shadowed (minus the resident) seems to have in spades. I have no idea what specialty I'll end up in but I really enjoyed my Orthopedic shadowing experience.

Anyway point is I can't really say I don't like it since I really know nothing about it. I just know I enjoy medicine a lot.
 
Then shadow! If you don't fall in love with it you'll be more sure of your decision to pursue medicine. This way you won't have that negative "what if" mindset.

Our point is don't let other people tell you what to spend the next 40+ years of your life doing.
 
As someone that has transitioned from a career in engineering and is currently applying to medical school, I can assure you that people can always find something to complain about no matter what they do for a living. The important thing to do is be educated about what you're going into, know the pros and cons, and that you are willing to live with the cons.

I feel that as long as you are realistic about what life as a physician is and you're not doing it for the money, you can be happy. I feel that people who have fantasies about curing cancer, having compliant patients who think they're God's gift to medicine, and driving back to their 5000 sq ft mansion in a Ferrari convertible will probably be pretty disappointed that such lofty goals are not met.
 
The grass ain't greener anywhere. It's all rotten when it comes to scientific professional schools.

That being said, I would choose medicine over dentistry. Almost everyone I have met in medicine is slightly jaded to some extent. Set your expectations lower, and it wont burn as bad.
 
This is why I think it's a great idea for people to try a different career before they go into medicine. I will always be thankful for my 4 years in the technology industry that showed me I will never, ever, ever be content in the business world or in a desk job.
 
Tri723 said:
The grass ain't greener anywhere. It's all rotten when it comes to scientific professional schools.

That being said, I would choose medicine over dentistry. Almost everyone I have met in medicine is slightly jaded to some extent. Set your expectations lower, and it wont burn as bad.
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As I like to say... the grass isn't any greener, it's just being fertilized with different bullsh*t. 🙄
 
wagonwheel23 said:
This is why I think it's a great idea for people to try a different career before they go into medicine. I will always be thankful for my 4 years in the technology industry that showed me I will never, ever, ever be content in the business world or in a desk job.
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This is amazing advice that ALL pre-meds should listen to. Experience something, literally anything, outside of academia before starting med school.

As for medicine, it's sort of what you make of it. When I worked in finance, I managed money for a ton of physicians, somewhere north of 100. I know some doctors that work 40 hours a week for modest pay (think ~$120k range), and are some of the happiest people I've ever seen. I know other doctors that make 7 figures working 90 hour weeks that hate medicine and everything that goes with it.

Not saying happiness is inversely correlated to hours worked, just saying the folks that enjoy medicine the most -- in my experience -- are typically the ones that have a life outside of medicine.
 
"Obama's new world of medicine"

Who is saying this phrase with a straight face and what are they talking about?
 
Yawn, another one of these posts. I wish people would use the search bar more. OP, your argument is based on anecdotes. How many doctors have you really talked to? Let me tell you, most of the doctors I've talked to have encouraged me to pursue medicine and have said the opposite of what you've heard. Bam, your argument is neutralized. See how anecdotal evidence works?
 
(2012)" Dissatisfaction with medicine is intensifying, although a majority of physicians would again choose the same career path. In 2012, just over half of all physicians (54%) would choose medicine again as a career, far less than in the previous year's report, where 69% of physicians would choose medicine again." I'd say 46 percent of physicians wishing they never pursued medicine is kind of foreboding, as it appears that number is only rising.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/761870
 
For what it's worth, you will hear those standpoints from doctors in either field.
 
piii said:
Yawn, another one of these posts. I wish people would use the search bar more. OP, your argument is based on anecdotes. How many doctors have you really talked to? Let me tell you, most of the doctors I've talked to have encouraged me to pursue medicine and have said the opposite of what you've heard. Bam, your argument is neutralized. See how anecdotal evidence works?
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A lot actually. Not just from one hospital. Not just from private practice. It's not as if I talked to three people and got that idea. Those were simply the most memorable things from what I've been told.



Working at one of the most affluent country clubs in the South East for the past 7 years has taught me one thing - even the most successful people truly think the grass is greener on the other side.
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Yup this is something I experienced at SE country clubs as well. The thing about it was that no one ever had anything positive to say about the medical profession while that wasn't always true for others. However I shouldn't be surprised when it comes to clubs like that so I didn't really take people's ideas from those clubs into consideration. It was when doctors began saying these things to me regularly that worried me.

Anyway thanks all for the advice it definitely helped me feel better about the decision.
 
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