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Pre-Med thinking about dental...
Started by Ellabelle
Usually these kinds of posts are followed by some sort of witch hunt from everyone on the dental side. People tend to think that Pre-meds making this decision are doing it because they think it will be easier to get in or graduate. That's probably not your case, and I am sure you have done sufficient research into the dental profession. Your best bet is to start shadowing general dentistry and other specialties to see if it is for you. The featured article, Dr. Inman, above has some good point to consider orthodontics over medicine. Do you know why you are interested in dentistry?
Personally, it was a lifestyle choice. I think I would actually prefer medicine, but chose dentistry because I would still feel the satisfaction of improving patients' health, still study science, but would not have to sacrifice as much sleep, which is really important to me. I just didn't see myself waking up at all hours of the night and staying awake endless hours. That would make me miserable. Sometimes I still doubt myself, but I presume doubt would also linger if I was going to med school. I would ask myself if the sacrifice was really worth it, etc. Doubt can plague me either way, so I made the most logical choice for myself based on lifestyle. Either way, you have the potential to have a positive impact on people's lives, which is really rewarding.
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Shouldn't you have your own reason(s) for switching?
Yes, I was in your shoes about 4 years ago. I started as pre-med in college and was going to apply to medical school, but changed my mind and switched to dentistry and never looked back. The main things changing my mind, in no particular order, were...
1) The ability to be your own boss someday (exceedingly hard to do in medicine these days)
2) Working with my hands to perform procedures
3) Knowing from day 1 of school what field of the medical spectrum I'd be working in after graduating
4) The ability to specialize if desired - only doing a 2-6 year residency if it's what I really wanted
5) Forging relationships with patients and their families over a long time period - very personable profession
6) In my opinion, DMD/DDS overall involves less red tape than MD/DO (ambulance chasers, health care reform, etc)
7) I'd work business hours with a very set schedule - something hard to do as a MD/DO
Also, it's been said by a bunch of people, but I believe it to be true. If dentistry evolved as a speciality of medicine rather than developing its own separate schooling program, it would be a ROAD speciality, and the D would mean both dermatology and dentistry. But, I like that it's NOT this way. In my mind this puts me in a ROAD speciality without having to land a highly competitive residency after medical school.
That's not to say there aren't some big negatives about dentistry, but I have more pros than cons. For MD/DO, I had more cons than pros.
1) The ability to be your own boss someday (exceedingly hard to do in medicine these days)
2) Working with my hands to perform procedures
3) Knowing from day 1 of school what field of the medical spectrum I'd be working in after graduating
4) The ability to specialize if desired - only doing a 2-6 year residency if it's what I really wanted
5) Forging relationships with patients and their families over a long time period - very personable profession
6) In my opinion, DMD/DDS overall involves less red tape than MD/DO (ambulance chasers, health care reform, etc)
7) I'd work business hours with a very set schedule - something hard to do as a MD/DO
Also, it's been said by a bunch of people, but I believe it to be true. If dentistry evolved as a speciality of medicine rather than developing its own separate schooling program, it would be a ROAD speciality, and the D would mean both dermatology and dentistry. But, I like that it's NOT this way. In my mind this puts me in a ROAD speciality without having to land a highly competitive residency after medical school.
That's not to say there aren't some big negatives about dentistry, but I have more pros than cons. For MD/DO, I had more cons than pros.
OP:
I struggled with dent vs med for a long time. It wasn't because of the negatives of one career vs another; but, because they both seemed very interesting to me. I had experience in health care and knew I wanted to continue my education but I just could not decide what path to follow. In the end I decided on dentistry and am very excited about the future; but, I think I would have been pretty happy in medicine as well.
I think you should shadow each professional, figure out what you want out of life and how your career will work into that, and find the best fit. The truth is that if you're like me you could make a host of situations work. GL I think you picked a great labor sector to work in.
EDIT: Some unsolicited advice - keep your GPA high (3.5+) as you go through undergrad and you'll have many options available to you.
I struggled with dent vs med for a long time. It wasn't because of the negatives of one career vs another; but, because they both seemed very interesting to me. I had experience in health care and knew I wanted to continue my education but I just could not decide what path to follow. In the end I decided on dentistry and am very excited about the future; but, I think I would have been pretty happy in medicine as well.
I think you should shadow each professional, figure out what you want out of life and how your career will work into that, and find the best fit. The truth is that if you're like me you could make a host of situations work. GL I think you picked a great labor sector to work in.
EDIT: Some unsolicited advice - keep your GPA high (3.5+) as you go through undergrad and you'll have many options available to you.
I never switched from medicine to dental medicine, but here are my observations after starting dental school:
1) Dental students are far happier and fulfilled despite comparable work load and LONGER classroom hours.
2) The vast majority of medical students at the same institution hate school and are absolutely miserable.
Those two observations plus the anecdotal personal experience of having met many physicians saying they would do dental if given the choice again, and you should have your answer if you're a fence-sitter.
To be a physician, you should be absolutely passionate about it. You don't have to be passionate about dentistry to enjoy it or dental school. Both require equitable perseverance and effort, however.
I'm not "passionate" about dentistry per se, but I absolutely love dental school and my profession. I wouldn't be able to say the same about medicine.
Plus med school kids are exceptionally neurotic and, in my experience, overtly pretentious (I live with one).
1) Dental students are far happier and fulfilled despite comparable work load and LONGER classroom hours.
2) The vast majority of medical students at the same institution hate school and are absolutely miserable.
Those two observations plus the anecdotal personal experience of having met many physicians saying they would do dental if given the choice again, and you should have your answer if you're a fence-sitter.
To be a physician, you should be absolutely passionate about it. You don't have to be passionate about dentistry to enjoy it or dental school. Both require equitable perseverance and effort, however.
I'm not "passionate" about dentistry per se, but I absolutely love dental school and my profession. I wouldn't be able to say the same about medicine.
Plus med school kids are exceptionally neurotic and, in my experience, overtly pretentious (I live with one).
I was in a similar predicament about two years ago. I, like you, was very invested in pursuing a career in healthcare with a medical degree. That is, until I began learning about dentistry and found that a lot of the things I liked in medicine I could also do with a dental career. There were really two main reasons for me to choose dental school over medical school.
The first, I really like the idea of having my own business. Whether it is a few years after graduation or later on. Not only from a financial perspective, but also the promise of having a work schedule that I am comfortable with; the options to work as much as I want and take time off without having to talk to my boss. Of course, It's something that is also possible to do with medicine, but the upcoming healthcare structure in the US is making competition against big hospitals more difficult. Dental practices are a safer heaven in this respect, since most of the private practice revenue will come from lucrative services rather than basic medical needs.
The second reason is scope of practice and my own interests. Let me first say that I really like the idea of using my hands to fix things, so let me focus this comparison on specialties that are mainly manual in nature (surgery). I thought a lot about what sort of paths within medicine would let me use my hands extensively and help me build my own practice. ENT and ophtho caught my eye, but choosing medical school would have essentially meant committing myself to only a very small portion of medicine. I would have had to be ok with the idea that perhaps I would end up doing something non-surgical or unlikely to lead to private practice. Dentistry on the other hand, is very manual in nature - radiology and pathology are probably the exceptions-, and most if not all dental specialties are applicable to private practice, so dental school was better for what I want to do.
So there are my two reasons. There is also the fact that if I later begin to crave that hospital life, there are plenty of opportunities for dental specialties in a hospital setting. One thing I do need to mention, you have to like teeth, and you have to be excited about being a general a dentist first before applying to dental school. The specialties are sort of the "icing on top". Hope this helps.
The first, I really like the idea of having my own business. Whether it is a few years after graduation or later on. Not only from a financial perspective, but also the promise of having a work schedule that I am comfortable with; the options to work as much as I want and take time off without having to talk to my boss. Of course, It's something that is also possible to do with medicine, but the upcoming healthcare structure in the US is making competition against big hospitals more difficult. Dental practices are a safer heaven in this respect, since most of the private practice revenue will come from lucrative services rather than basic medical needs.
The second reason is scope of practice and my own interests. Let me first say that I really like the idea of using my hands to fix things, so let me focus this comparison on specialties that are mainly manual in nature (surgery). I thought a lot about what sort of paths within medicine would let me use my hands extensively and help me build my own practice. ENT and ophtho caught my eye, but choosing medical school would have essentially meant committing myself to only a very small portion of medicine. I would have had to be ok with the idea that perhaps I would end up doing something non-surgical or unlikely to lead to private practice. Dentistry on the other hand, is very manual in nature - radiology and pathology are probably the exceptions-, and most if not all dental specialties are applicable to private practice, so dental school was better for what I want to do.
So there are my two reasons. There is also the fact that if I later begin to crave that hospital life, there are plenty of opportunities for dental specialties in a hospital setting. One thing I do need to mention, you have to like teeth, and you have to be excited about being a general a dentist first before applying to dental school. The specialties are sort of the "icing on top". Hope this helps.
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One key differentiating factor between the two fields is the people skills/Buissness dealing required to be a very successful dentist vs. physician. The demand for physicians is so large, that the personality of the professional holds very little weight in comparison to dentists. You can find a GP around every corner. Thus, your bedside manner is the key differentiating factor among successful dentists and those not successful.
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OP, I've actually been kicking around the idea of dentistry for a while now too. I've actually been accepted into med school but after quite a bit of soul searching, I'm not sure if it's for me. My advice would be to get as much info on both fields as possible and try to make an informed decision. Don't rush into anything that you aren't sure of.
As for me, I'm trying to find all the downsides of dentistry to make sure I'm not suffering from a "grass is greener" mentality.
As for me, I'm trying to find all the downsides of dentistry to make sure I'm not suffering from a "grass is greener" mentality.
You got into medical school for a reason. That in and of itself should be good enough of a thought to make you satisfied with your decision.
At the end of the day it is a personal choice. The best thing to do for you is to make a list of the pros and cons of each field -- it can even be done mentally-- and decide what you want to do and where you see yourself.
Good luck and I have faith in you!
Why do people always say that dentistry affords one the ability to own their own business?
Don't most physicians go into private practice as well? I mean all the doctors I go to own their practice. Just curious why that is always listed as a positive for dentistry.
Don't most physicians go into private practice as well? I mean all the doctors I go to own their practice. Just curious why that is always listed as a positive for dentistry.
I was in your shoes, and switched over to dentistry. Honestly, at the end of the day, it came down to the lifestyle I wanted to live (family, children, hobbies, out-of-work involvement, etc.) and the years of schooling (essentially, 4 years to be a General Dentist). The first one was my main motivation by far.
I was pre-med initially. My age was a big determining factor (started DS at 30)... I didn't feel like spending 4 years Medical school + 3-5 residency to finally start a career.
I am not a dentist yet, but I have a very good feeling I made the right call. Four other things helped me decide was comparing primary care physician to a general dentist (life style vs money vs amount of time to graduate vs work hours)... as these were the 2 most likely areas I was gonna end up in, I felt that general dentistry offers better on all 4 criteria
I think it's very common for someone who likes science and healthcare to declare themselves a pre-med before they have considered all of their options. I was in your shoes too. I pursued dentistry because:
-my dad is a physician and strongly encouraged me to find another path (but not dentistry necessarily).
-i have always wanted to own my own business. someone mentioned that lots of physicians own their own practice, but i don't think that is the case. usually they are part of a group practice or part of a group practice within a hospital.
-i want to be my own boss. dentistry allows you to have a lot of wiggle room in what you can do for your patients (i. e. donating your services if they can't afford care or don't have insurance). i am hoping to find dentistry to be a very rewarding career not only financially but personally.
-no residency, 9-5 hours
-patient continuity conbined with procedure based medicine. i think in medicine students frequently have to choose between the two.
-my dad is a physician and strongly encouraged me to find another path (but not dentistry necessarily).
-i have always wanted to own my own business. someone mentioned that lots of physicians own their own practice, but i don't think that is the case. usually they are part of a group practice or part of a group practice within a hospital.
-i want to be my own boss. dentistry allows you to have a lot of wiggle room in what you can do for your patients (i. e. donating your services if they can't afford care or don't have insurance). i am hoping to find dentistry to be a very rewarding career not only financially but personally.
-no residency, 9-5 hours
-patient continuity conbined with procedure based medicine. i think in medicine students frequently have to choose between the two.
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