Nurse anesthetists - much better investment than dentistry?

[AONLINE]

I know of a nurse anesthetist that makes $270k-300k a year with a 40-hour work week. She has $180k in student loans from the graduate anesthesia program, which is about the same amount of what I own from dental school. As a new grad associate dentist in the same metro, I make half of what she makes and I can only achieve her current level of income if I become a practice owner. Can't help but think that being a nurse anesthetist nowadays is a much better investment than being a dentist... What are your thoughts?

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[nobeldds]

You should be able to make the same income without being an owner… and then you still have the option of being an owner and making more, and working on your own terms and then you still have the option of specializing and making even more. It really depends what you value. CRNAs have no further option, and does not have the same unique easy access to business ownership that a dentist does. I know some MD anesthesiologists making that much and working more hours…

 

[somefuturedoc]

On paper I'm sure it could be. A lot of things have a better debt-to-income ratio than dentistry. But you're leaving out the intangible factors, such as having to be a nurse, working in nursing for years before even applying to CRNA school, being supervised by an MD your entire career, and performing anesthesia all day. Literally none of that is appealing to me and I'm sure many others feel the same. So if you're interested in it then yeah it could be a better investment. But for the majority of us, it probably isn't.

 

[PerioDont]

I know of a nurse anesthetist that makes $270k-300k a year with a 40-hour work week. She has $180k in student loans from the graduate anesthesia program, which is about the same amount of what I own from dental school. As a new grad associate dentist in the same metro, I make half of what she makes and I can only achieve her current level of income if I become a practice owner. Can't help but think that being a nurse anesthetist nowadays is a much better investment than being a dentist... What are your thoughts?

really depends on what your definition of 'better' is.

I do see your point, but I would not measure your career success by a position as a new grad associate as that transition and being a newbie generally sucks. I have friends that made less than 100k in their first year out as new grads. In the new market economy, there will be hygienists that will make more than new grad dentists.

You are actually on the more reasonable side of student loan debt so thats good.

there are definitely many paths and factors to success whether as a CRNA or DDS.

 

[TanMan]

I know of a nurse anesthetist that makes $270k-300k a year with a 40-hour work week. She has $180k in student loans from the graduate anesthesia program, which is about the same amount of what I own from dental school. As a new grad associate dentist in the same metro, I make half of what she makes and I can only achieve her current level of income if I become a practice owner. Can't help but think that being a nurse anesthetist nowadays is a much better investment than being a dentist... What are your thoughts?

That's not very much money for having to work 40 hours a week. Yeah, you can invest a little and yield more as a function of percentages... but think of it like investing small and gaining small absolute returns. I'd rather go big and make bigger returns.

 

[PikminOC]

On paper I'm sure it could be. A lot of things have a better debt-to-income ratio than dentistry. But you're leaving out the intangible factors, such as having to be a nurse, working in nursing for years before even applying to CRNA school, being supervised by an MD your entire career, and performing anesthesia all day. Literally none of that is appealing to me and I'm sure many others feel the same. So if you're interested in it then yeah it could be a better investment. But for the majority of us, it probably isn't.

Noway they dont work as much as you think I'm between getting the advanced degree.

 

[DocMon16]

I know of a nurse anesthetist that makes $270k-300k a year with a 40-hour work week. She has $180k in student loans from the graduate anesthesia program, which is about the same amount of what I own from dental school. As a new grad associate dentist in the same metro, I make half of what she makes and I can only achieve her current level of income if I become a practice owner. Can't help but think that being a nurse anesthetist nowadays is a much better investment than being a dentist... What are your thoughts?

My sister is about to be a CRNA, just signed her first contract. She has a fantastic and wonderful career ahead of her but I am not sure what you mean by "better." Depends on what you're looking for. I know a few CRNA's...don't know of any that make this kind of money (its obviously possible). Really depends on what you're looking for in the end, for my sister it's perfect, for many others it's perfect too. Not so much for me...lol

 

[Cold Front]

I know of a nurse anesthetist that makes $270k-300k a year with a 40-hour work week. She has $180k in student loans from the graduate anesthesia program, which is about the same amount of what I own from dental school. As a new grad associate dentist in the same metro, I make half of what she makes and I can only achieve her current level of income if I become a practice owner. Can't help but think that being a nurse anesthetist nowadays is a much better investment than being a dentist... What are your thoughts?

It’s all about mindset. Dentistry has a much wider range of income levels than nursing. Dentists can make $100k a year on 2 days a week schedule, or $3M a year as a highly established business person within couple offices with associates. It’s really up to the dentist how they choose their path within the field. Nurses on the other hand, have less autonomy on their income and it’s purely supply and demand based profession. Covid created a huge nursing shortage, so their income went up significantly and I think the nursing demand will remain very high as the nation ages more, older nurses retire early, the pandemic continues to linger, etc.... so I wouldn’t be surprised if CRNA’s make $400k a year in few years. Personally, I would still choose dentistry over nursing, you just have to approach dentistry patiently and it should deliver your expectations. Think being a dentist with 5-15 years experience, then ask yourself if you would trade it to be a CRNA. Majority of dentists would say no.