Must read for those applying to dental school

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Hello SDN boards, it's been quite a while. I used these boards frequently while a dental student and resident. There is a thread on dentaltown that I strongly recommend those applying to dental schools read. It's not there to scare you, it's there to educate you on the realities of paying 250k and up, and what things are like when you graduate. I guess there are 2 ways to approach this. 1. Bury your head in the sand and assure yourself it will all be okay 2. educate yourself on the realities of assuming that much debt. The golden days of dentistry are gone and while you can still make a great living, taking on 300k of debt will have a significant impact on your future (inability to buy a house, practice, etc)

http://www.towniecentral.com/MessageBoard/thread.aspx?s=2&f=214&t=176385&v=1

 

[imback]

Hello SDN boards, it's been quite a while. I used these boards frequently while a dental student and resident. There is a thread on dentaltown that I strongly recommend those applying to dental schools read. It's not there to scare you, it's there to educate you on the realities of paying 250k and up, and what things are like when you graduate. I guess there are 2 ways to approach this. 1. Bury your head in the sand and assure yourself it will all be okay 2. educate yourself on the realities of assuming that much debt. The golden days of dentistry are gone and while you can still make a great living, taking on 300k of debt will have a significant impact on your future (inability to buy a house, practice, etc)

http://www.towniecentral.com/MessageBoard/thread.aspx?s=2&f=214&t=176385&v=1

Bottom line: borrow less than 250k, and thou shall be fine?

 

[DentalJedi]

I don't have an account, can anyone summarize it? This is something that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

 

[uva09]

Pre-professional students face the ballooning cost of education in virtually any field - there is nothing unique about this fact with regards to dentistry.

Medical School, Law School, Business School, etc... It doesn't matter what you pursue - the financial obstacle of tuition debt can and does exist - and is often unavoidable to some degree.

Not everyone has access to a cheap, state school. Not everyone can get into their state school. And if dentistry is your true passion, it is never wise to pass up an education option if it is your only option, regardless of the cost. Dental school becomes more competitive each and every year. Nothing is guaranteed.

Obviously the goal is get out with as little debt as possible. But the fact of the matter is this is not always possible for everyone. And dentistry remains an in-demand field with high-income potential. The opportunity cost remains low given the potential. But this potential, like any other profession, is predicated on hard work and dedication.

A savvy dentist with solid people skills, quality craftsmanship, and sharp business sense can generate top dollar income levels and overcome student debt rather quickly.

 

[mi2ni]

Hello SDN boards, it's been quite a while. I used these boards frequently while a dental student and resident. There is a thread on dentaltown that I strongly recommend those applying to dental schools read. It's not there to scare you, it's there to educate you on the realities of paying 250k and up, and what things are like when you graduate. I guess there are 2 ways to approach this. 1. Bury your head in the sand and assure yourself it will all be okay 2. educate yourself on the realities of assuming that much debt. The golden days of dentistry are gone and while you can still make a great living, taking on 300k of debt will have a significant impact on your future (inability to buy a house, practice, etc)

http://www.towniecentral.com/MessageBoard/thread.aspx?s=2&f=214&t=176385&v=1

Wow. Thank you for the post! Non of people interviewing at expensive schools seem to grasp the magnitude of what they are signing up for. Ironically, when I ask current students during lunch tours about their only regret, they all say they wish they had chosen a cheaper school!

 

[imback]

Solution: support Ron Paul

 

[yellowjeeep79]

Pre-professional students face the ballooning cost of education in virtually any field - there is nothing unique about this fact with regards to dentistry.

Medical School, Law School, Business School, etc... It doesn't matter what you pursue - the financial obstacle of tuition debt can and does exist - and is often unavoidable to some degree.

Not everyone has access to a cheap, state school. Not everyone can get into their state school. And if dentistry is your true passion, it is never wise to pass up an education option if it is your only option, regardless of the cost. Dental school becomes more competitive each and every year. Nothing is guaranteed.

Obviously the goal is get out with as little debt as possible. But the fact of the matter is this is not always possible for everyone. And dentistry remains an in-demand field with high-income potential. The opportunity cost remains low given the potential. But this potential, like any other profession, is predicated on hard work and dedication.

A savvy dentist with solid people skills, quality craftsmanship, and sharp business sense can generate top dollar income levels and overcome student debt rather quickly.

Said the dental student.

 

[imback]

Pre-professional students face the ballooning cost of education in virtually any field - there is nothing unique about this fact with regards to dentistry.

Medical School, Law School, Business School, etc... It doesn't matter what you pursue - the financial obstacle of tuition debt can and does exist - and is often unavoidable to some degree.

Not everyone has access to a cheap, state school. Not everyone can get into their state school. And if dentistry is your true passion, it is never wise to pass up an education option if it is your only option, regardless of the cost. Dental school becomes more competitive each and every year. Nothing is guaranteed.

Obviously the goal is get out with as little debt as possible. But the fact of the matter is this is not always possible for everyone. And dentistry remains an in-demand field with high-income potential. The opportunity cost remains low given the potential. But this potential, like any other profession, is predicated on hard work and dedication.

A savvy dentist with solid people skills, quality craftsmanship, and sharp business sense can generate top dollar income levels and overcome student debt rather quickly.

One line summary for you all: consider yourself lucky to be a dentist.

 

[imback]

Said the dental student.

scoffed the old dentist with a lot of debt.

 

[yellowjeeep79]

scoffed the old dentist with a lot of debt.

Amen

 

[Double Bonded]

What are your thoughts about the military yellowjeep?

 

[YoHomey]

A savvy dentist with solid people skills, quality craftsmanship, and sharp business sense can generate top dollar income levels and overcome student debt rather quickly.

That's gonna be me. Let the battle begin!

 

[imback]

That's gonna be me. Let the battle begin!

Said the redneck.

 

[YoHomey]

What are your thoughts about the military yellowjeep?

It's too late to do military at this point. It's a long app process involving physical, interview, etc., not to mention recruiters who don't want to deal with the stress of late apps. Most of the scholarships are rewarded in early Dec. after applicants get dschool acceptances which is a criterion for selection.

 

[YoHomey]

Said the redneck.

LOL. I enjoy your posts.

 

[mr24]

the main problem this dentist has was spending 500k+ on a start up practice. (unless i read that wrong)

 

[yellowjeeep79]

What are your thoughts about the military yellowjeep?

The military is exactly what I did after graduating from dental school. I figured I had life by the short hairs with my shiny new DDS degree, but the more I looked the more depressing it was. Work at a shopping mall or work for this guy 2 days a week and that guy for another day and a half. To make things worse, my wife was pregnant. I joined the Air Force for a three year hitch and really learned how to manage patients, increase my speed, and get great input from some seasoned dentists. I was lucky and my commanding officer took us young captains under his wing and let us do what ever procedures we felt we could handle. This is certainly not always the case. Several of the other dentists in my clinic had been stationed else where and were basically stuck in "amalgam mills". Dental clinic commanders are under pressure to produce numbers, just like private practice. Of course they don't make money, but every thing we did was assigned a value and the clinic commanders, under pressure to produce, will often stick the new guy in a small room with an inexperienced assistant and push you crank out amalgams.

All in all, I still think the service is a viable way to start out, but the original concept of this thread, to manage your debt from the outset, is great advice.

 

[davidae85]

Its obvious from the writer's later blog posts that the primary problem is that her and her family (particularly her mooching husband), are spending toooo much. And you also have to take into consideration that when she graduated, the economy was on a downhill crash collision. She probably overpaid for her practice startup, she admitted to losing a ton of equity on her real estate, and finally it seems like her husband is having a hard time giving up his royal lifestyle just for 5-6 years of peasant style living.

Personally, I would go the peasant life style route for a few years and dramatically reduce loan debt, then start enjoying.


However, in all fairness, I must admit dentistry is no longer like it used to be in the sense that you have to sacrifice more years of your life to reach that point that you dreamed of. this essentially means that you have to postpone starting a family, postpone luxury toys, postpone round the world vacations, and/or whatever else you may have dreamed of when you were just a little child in fantasy. Ultimately, the extra high debt is translating to a few extra years of time needing to be sacrificed.

 

[yellowjeeep79]

What are your thoughts about the military yellowjeep?

Double Bonded,
Are you a dental student or a pre dent? If you still have yet to start your dental education, def. talk to a recruiter. As was stated earlier, this year's money may well already allocated, but it might be possible to get in on next year and beyond. My oldest son is a medical student and he applied for the military's HPSP in case he only got into an out of state school. He ended up not going that route, but each branch of the service had a different deal. The one he signed up for, you were required to pay back 4 years even if you only used 3 - that would be a bit of a bummer if you didn't get in on the first year and yet you still had to pay back 4 years.

That would be an OK way to manage your debt, but it might not make sense to go that route strictly to keep your debt down. Like I said in my other post, the military might be a great opportunity to ramp up your speed, have good, cheap health care, defer your debt payment interest free, and try living in another part of the country with putting down roots. That's why I did the service, and I'm glad I did. But I'm also I glad I got out and started a practice.

 

[persenmi]

Solution: support Ron Paul

Solution: Support BILL STILL!

If you like Ron Paul you will love Bill Still. He is running on the libertarian ticket in 2012.

Also, with the direction this country is going, what do you think the chances are of getting into hyperinflation? What will happen to our mountains of debt then? I know it will mean the financial ruin of this country, but at least we won't be crushed by our debts 🙂.

 

[yappy]

This is a good topic. To those that are dentists; do you believe that going to a 250+ school inhibit people from going into a dental specialty? (In the practical sense of course)

 

[Double Bonded]

Double Bonded,
Are you a dental student or a pre dent? If you still have yet to start your dental education, def. talk to a recruiter. As was stated earlier, this year's money may well already allocated, but it might be possible to get in on next year and beyond. My oldest son is a medical student and he applied for the military's HPSP in case he only got into an out of state school. He ended up not going that route, but each branch of the service had a different deal. The one he signed up for, you were required to pay back 4 years even if you only used 3 - that would be a bit of a bummer if you didn't get in on the first year and yet you still had to pay back 4 years.

That would be an OK way to manage your debt, but it might not make sense to go that route strictly to keep your debt down. Like I said in my other post, the military might be a great opportunity to ramp up your speed, have good, cheap health care, defer your debt payment interest free, and try living in another part of the country with putting down roots. That's why I did the service, and I'm glad I did. But I'm also I glad I got out and started a practice.

Thank you for this post.
I didn't see it until after I wrote out and sent my private message but it basically answered every question I asked 😀.

 

[uva09]

Said the dental student.

My apologies. I suppose I'll wait until I have graduated and developed the wisdom of age and experience to comprehend and comment on such obvious tenets of professional success such as managing debt and keeping costs low.

 

[yappy]

What is with all the Ron Paul / libertarian stuff. I notice that it seems to attract the self-important-ayn rand types. You know, the ones that will "shrug atlas" if the world demands to much of them, because they are that important.

 

[DentalJedi]

What is with all the Ron Paul / libertarian stuff. I notice that it seems to attract the self-important-ayn rand types. You know, the ones that will "shrug atlas" if the world demands to much of them, because they are that important.

Haha I'm reading that right now and I like it. I'm not a libertarian though.

 

[SEAirLand]

This is a good topic. To those that are dentists; do you believe that going to a 250+ school inhibit people from going into a dental specialty? (In the practical sense of course)

Not a dentist, but interested in this as well. I personally would think that its still viable as your loans should be (government) fixed rate.

 

[SEAirLand]

What is with all the Ron Paul / libertarian stuff. I notice that it seems to attract the self-important-ayn rand types. You know, the ones that will "shrug atlas" if the world demands to much of them, because they are that important.

Ayn Rand was a good writer. Only issue with her is that its clearly evident that she was raised in Russia with communal food farms, etc. At the most basic sense, its like the story of the professor who decides to grade his class upon a "social" grading system. Whatever the average is, that is what everyone gets.

Everyone failed. People who worked hard stopped because they were carrying everyone else.

 

[imback]

What is with all the Ron Paul / libertarian stuff. I notice that it seems to attract the self-important-ayn rand types. You know, the ones that will "shrug atlas" if the world demands to much of them, because they are that important.

Cynicism at its best

 

[Flosstooth]

Cynicism at its best

Sorry to say.......More like realism.

Rand is wordy.....for sure, but, some of her passages will send chills down your spine.

Moochers......there are lot's of them out there.

 

[imback]

Sorry to say.......More like realism.

Rand is wordy.....for sure, but, some of her passages will send chills down your spine.

Moochers......there are lot's of them out there.

It seems we're not on the same page.