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Dr. JL,
I read somewhere that you are recuperating from an injury (Am I correct?). I hope you are getting better. I enjoy reading your posts because they are very informative. I hope that you would continue to share your insights even after you get back to work full-time.
I went to an optometry school (University of Alabama at Birmingham) where we took first 2 years of basic science courses with dental students, so I think that I can compare the rigor of the two schools slightly better than you. In all classes we took together (physiology, pharmacology, etc.), the average test scores of the optometry students were always 1-2 points higher than that of dental students, and I had an impression (observing the stress levels of the two groups of students) that optometry school was slightly more rigorous than dental school( in my school at least).
Having said that, I really do not have any idea about the 3rd and 4th years of dental school, even though one of my sisters is a dentist.
Are the 3rd and 4th years of dental school considerably more difficult than the 1st and 2nd years?
Maybe, the scores of OD students where higher than those of DDS students because the DDS students had to devote more of their time to labs.
But I would agree with JL, in that dent. school is a lot more tougher than optometry school. Essentially, its surgery vs. non-surgery, which reflects the higher incomes of dentists. Potential of income is pretty much equal, however, it is tougher for the OD to accumulate wealth, due to several reasons which are absent in dentistry.