The Great Debate continues..
Yes I know, This question has been brought up a few times, and yes i did search. All of the threads I have found were outdated by a few years
and many events have occured in the world since then. So, as you can see, i have decided to bring up the question yet again.
Dentist vs. Physician.
What are the Pro's and con's of each field?
One major advantage of dentistry is shorter years in training (assuming ofc, we don't end up specializing). Its 4 years (wellllll, more like 44 months) till graduation.
Most dentists I know (sister included) work less than 40 hrs, never on call (seriously ~ NEVER), own their practice, and are pretty content with their life-style to income ratio.
The biggest advantage of dentistry tho, is that its a business oriented field (yes you have to have customer service skills, you gotta be a good "seller" too, and strong business I.Q). If you have those 3, you will be a very wealthy dentist (I can almost assure you, you will take-home above 300k a year)...... On the other hand, if you hate socializing, hate convincing a pt to get a $800 root-canal treatment instead of a $80 extraction (cause they can't "afford" it even though they pulled up in a brand new Escalade), then chances are, you'd hate this field and you won't make much $$$
Which would be considered to be harder?
Who the hell knows.... Year 1 and 2 in DS sucks (I am just DS1, but I am looking at my DS2 friends right now, its brutal). They usually stay up in the sim-labs till about 8-9 PM about 3-4 days aweek WHILE still having to go home and study for quizzes the next day (some classes, the quizzes make up 70% of overall grade, so you can't blow them off lol)
one thing that (IMO) makes DS easier than medicine is.... well.... most of us don't end up specializing (I think only 20% of graduates specialize), the other 80% goes into "primary care" (general dentist).... this putts alot less pressure on the student to be top-rank, many just wanna pass and IMO, its relatively easy to pass DS.
Which has the better lifestyle?
If we are comparing primary care of dentistry vs medicine.....
without a doubt, dentistry 100%
Which makes more money?
If you have the right business skills, dentist, 100%.
My sister knows a few of her friends with offices that generate about 160-170k A MONTH They aren't even specialists, just good-ole-GPs.
Good luck finding a healthcare specialty where you only have 4 years of schools thats got that kinda potential. This is strictly a business-mentality driven field
Do Dentist pretty much have to own a practice to be successful?
Well, I think 70% of dentists are private practice owners so... yeh. But not all are successful, simply opening shop does not equate to success, I've heard alot of honor stories of people opening 1 million dollar practices, and running them like ****, and ending up with minus income lol (seriously, paying out of their pocket).
Chances of specializing in both fields?
There are REALLY 3 heavy hitters in dentistry (pretty competitive to get into)
1) ortho (everyone wants to be an orthodontist, seriously, even those whom say they don't wanna be orthodontists, STILL deep down inside wanna do it lol)
2) Oral Surgery (these guys are Kings... seriously, half of them are dual degree holders ~ DDS and MD)
3) Pediatric dentistry ~ yeh, its getting very hot last couple of years. They have CRAZY average salaries as just associates (well above 250k)
Which is more rewarding?
They are both bad-ass fields. Lol, the debate continues if dentists should be called "Dr." outside of the clinic..... HAHAHA yeh I brought this up, SUCK IT !!!!!
No but seriously, rewarding in which way? like job satisfaction? Lets get something straight, a dentist fixing a tooth is not the same as the cardiothoracic surgeon who just had a transplant surgery okay haha.
But if your comparing primary care of both, I dunno, both seem rewarding, and sorta similar
Which has less stress?
Dentistry IMO
Any thoughts would be helpful.
-Thanks.