I made the switch to pre-dental from pre-medical within the last three months and am trying to apply this summer (taking DAT in two weeks). I know, a bit crazy but I completed my shadowing/pre-reqs and have a decent amount of extracurriculars so I thought I would give it my all this summer.
For my personal statement, my pre-medical journey really played a large role on how I became interested in dentistry. In my personal statement (rough draft), I describe my earlier years growing as a pre-med and briefly discussing some of the experiences that sparked my love for medicine. I also describe my time as a scribe inside the emergency department which ultimately got me interested in hands on procedures. Then, a coworker informed me about dentistry and convinced me to shadow my dentist so I reluctantly did (just out of curiosity) and it just really clicked for me. Of course, I elaborate much more on the love for dentistry but you get the idea.
I recently heard from my orthodontist that the dean of the dental school (U of Minnesota) is really interested in merging medicine and dentistry (as so many other countries have it). He told me that during my interview, because of the new dean's personal outlook and the outlook most schools are looking at (overlapping medicine and dentistry), I should play up my pre-med status and say that I truly love medicine, but basically am more interested in dentistry for blah blah blah in my interview. Thus, I chose to write about my love for BOTH medicine and dentistry, though ultimately, dentistry offers things that medicine could not for me such as the everyday art of sculpting and the artistry/creativity behind projects. However, I read in much earlier forums (pre-2011) that writing about your "pre-med" background is a bad choice. However, this is how I realized I was interested in the artistry behind procedures and discovered dentistry so I am feeling a bit confused. Let me know what you think!
For my personal statement, my pre-medical journey really played a large role on how I became interested in dentistry. In my personal statement (rough draft), I describe my earlier years growing as a pre-med and briefly discussing some of the experiences that sparked my love for medicine. I also describe my time as a scribe inside the emergency department which ultimately got me interested in hands on procedures. Then, a coworker informed me about dentistry and convinced me to shadow my dentist so I reluctantly did (just out of curiosity) and it just really clicked for me. Of course, I elaborate much more on the love for dentistry but you get the idea.
I recently heard from my orthodontist that the dean of the dental school (U of Minnesota) is really interested in merging medicine and dentistry (as so many other countries have it). He told me that during my interview, because of the new dean's personal outlook and the outlook most schools are looking at (overlapping medicine and dentistry), I should play up my pre-med status and say that I truly love medicine, but basically am more interested in dentistry for blah blah blah in my interview. Thus, I chose to write about my love for BOTH medicine and dentistry, though ultimately, dentistry offers things that medicine could not for me such as the everyday art of sculpting and the artistry/creativity behind projects. However, I read in much earlier forums (pre-2011) that writing about your "pre-med" background is a bad choice. However, this is how I realized I was interested in the artistry behind procedures and discovered dentistry so I am feeling a bit confused. Let me know what you think!
