Petroleum Engineer Changing Career to Dentistry

[cohumi]

Hello everyone I am currently considering changing my career at the age of 29. Last year I graduated with a BS in Petroleum Engineering last year and after working in the field for a year have decided its not for me.\. I got this degree to work in the office as a reservoir or completions engineer but that didn't work out and am currently a field engineer working 105 hour weeks two weeks on and one week off. Its a miserable existence that i need to get out of. As for my application qualifications my GPA was a 3.53 and maybe in the volunteering community service section I was in the army deployed to Afghanistan 2012-2013.

If I was to quit I would need to complete the prerequisite courses of Biology, Organic Chemistry, Micro Biology and General Biochemistry. From what I understand the order of operations would be that the school year 2018-2019 would be to complete Bio and O-Chem, Summer 2019 study and take the DAT and apply to dental school, Fall 2019 take Micro Bio and Biochem then wait for admission to fall 2020? The main thrust of my question is since you need to take the DAT after you've completed most (or all?) of your prerequisites i would be two years out minimum of entering dental school since you need to apply a whole year before you intend to go? Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Also I was curious what the feasibility of quitting now and taking the DAT without having done bio or ochem and cramming with a prep course for 1.5 months (July to August)?

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[aggie-master]

I think your two year plan is what makes the most sense, but if we are strictly talking about the DAT I think you could kick butt on it with two months of non-stop studying for it even if you haven’t taken O-Chem and Bio in college.

I studied for the DAT for three weeks while working 40 hours a week and did pretty well on it. I think if you spend 70 hours a week studying for 9 weeks you could teach yourself enough to do okay on the O-chem section and dominate in the other sections.

 

[Bingwen]

I think as far as the DAT goes it depends on your comfort in chemistry. Ochem can be a hard subject to understand in a class let alone trying to teach yourself; and some, if not all, prep courses will probably assume that you have the basics of organic down.

I think your two year option is your best bet and a good plan. The DAT only contains general bio, general chemistry organic chemistry and basic algebra. I am assuming given that you have an engineering degree that you are probably comfortable with the math aspect. So since you would be taking the DAT after a year of Bio and Ochem you should be fine if you get some study time and make sure you are good on the PAT and reading comp.

You also need to consider your entire app if you want to apply this cycle. Do you have any dental shadowing? Do you have any recent volunteer experience? Do you have Biology, Chemistry or Physics professors that would write you a letter of rec? Do you have a dentist that would write you a letter of rec? If you are missing some of these things I think you might want to consider applying next summer.

Just my thoughts, I hope they help.

 

[LFA20]

How much you making now??

 

[AKtoTXstudent]

How much you making now??

This is an important question when it comes to opportunity costs

 

[aggie-master]

This is an important question when it comes to opportunity costs

Probably more than he’ll make in his first few years as a dentist except he doesn’t have the $4,500 a month after tax student loan payment every month.

I was only making 45k before dental school and the potential debt was a lot less back then than it is now so for me it was a good decision. If you make 100k before dental school you are likely never going to get a good ROI on dental school.

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

Probably more than he’ll make in his first few years as a dentist except he doesn’t have the $4,500 a month after tax student loan payment every month.

I was only making 45k before dental school and the potential debt was a lot less back then than it is now so for me it was a good decision. If you make 100k before dental school you are likely never going to get a good ROI on dental school.

You make that statement in a perfect world (vacuum theory). I believe it would be wise to consider such things as recession, unemployment, etc. Many people lost jobs in their older age and had to start from the bottom of the tax bracket after a year of unemployment and then a year or two bouncing temp jobs with low pay and zero health insurance. Factor in you have a family that relies on you (be you a man or woman).

 

[cohumi]

You can make as much or more here, if things are busy like they are now you could pull in 200k a year here but would average probably in the low 100k once everything’s evened out since it’s based on bonuses you get for work completed. For example my salary is 65k if I work 60 hour weeks then you get overtime for the next 40 hours. Then you get 0.8% of each well completed so about a grand per well.

I did some basic calculations based on earning 110k vs 150k, saving ten percent and earning seven percent on those savings. By 2050 it’s slightly in the dentists favor assuming six years of no income, no increase in wages and no debt (assuming I take an army offer). In reality if you stayed here and saved your money for the incoming oil downturns you would do better here I’d say but the difference is the amount you work. Working hundred hour weeks is like having 2.5 jobs.

 

[aggie-master]

The hourly pay in dentistry is definitely pretty good. I have averaged over $100 for my career and probably make between $130 and $140 per hour now and I am just an average dentist. I know some very successful dentists that make double that.

 

[cohumi]

The hourly pay in dentistry is definitely pretty good. I have averaged over $100 for my career and probably make between $130 and $140 per hour now and I am just an average dentist. I know some very successful dentists that make double that.

I was wondering if you could work 6/7 days a week to try and get ahead on your loans. Would that mean having one primary practice you work at and then be a fill in all over the state or something like two practices?

 

[aggie-master]

I was wondering if you could work 6/7 days a week to try and get ahead on your loans. Would that mean having one primary practice you work at and then be a fill in all over the state or something like two practices?

I probably could work extra but it wouldn’t be at the same income per hour. The demand for my dentist services in my practice is right around 32 busy hours per week. If I started working 40 hours I would not produce but a slight bit more and I would start getting holes in my schedule because the demand won’t be there. Option B for me would be to start doing hygiene to fill out 40 hours which would be easy to do but my production per hour doing periodic exams + prophy is garbage compared to the production I make doing crowns, bridges, implants, or multiple exts. Option C would be to drive an hour to the city and work part time for a corporate dental office but they often pay part timers $500 a day which is less than half of what I average.

In any of those scenarios it would be like working overtime but getting paid half time instead of time and a half. The job is hard on your neck and back and I think my body needs at least two days to recover from it each week. I think someone in their 20s could definitely handle six days a week but the older you get the harder it is on your body.

 

[cohumi]

That’s really impressive, may I ask the path you took to get to your current situation?

 

[redfish955]

I would send out a ton of resumes for manufacturing engineer. Most of the companies just want a BSE in any field and mechanically inclined. It should be similar to completions engineering. They just want to make sure your smart enough to run six sigma projects and ect. These companies can range anywhere from IBM, lockheed martin, ford, caterpillar, and ect. If you think there is a subset you would be interested in this would be a good place to train yourself and let people know your serious about the career. SME - Certified Manufacturing Technologist (CMfgT) Certification. Your also less than 2 years away from a ton of different other stem fields. Actuary, CS, mechanical engineer, and ect. From what I understand petroleum engineering has become a bit saturated because of the high pay and the low oil prices.