Question regarding my career choice?

[Integral7]

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At the moment I am an incoming undergrad freshman, majoring in biochemistry, and am thinking of what career choice I should aim for. My two choices are either going for a career as a physician (family) or for a career as a dentist but I can't really make my mind up yet, partly because I don't know too much about the two (aside from the obvious fact of what each respective job does, and below v).

Thus, I was hoping some of you who know or are physicians/dentists could elaborate on how the environments are like, how the salaries are like, and how the careers are like in general.

Also I think it might be helpful to list what I do know, as trivial as they are, so that you guys don't have to discuss what I already know:
- both requires undergrad degree
- physician needs MCAT
- dentist needs DAT
- both fields enter different grad schools

 

[the duck]

At the moment I am an incoming undergrad freshman, majoring in biochemistry, and am thinking of what career choice I should aim for. My two choices are either going for a career as a physician (family) or for a career as a dentist but I can't really make my mind up yet, partly because I don't know too much about the two (aside from the obvious fact of what each respective job does, and below v).

Thus, I was hoping some of you who know or are physicians/dentists could elaborate on how the environments are like, how the salaries are like, and how the careers are like in general.

Also I think it might be helpful to list what I do know, as trivial as they are, so that you guys don't have to discuss what I already know:
- both requires undergrad degree
- physician needs MCAT
- dentist needs DAT
- both fields enter different grad schools

I suggest shadowing someone in both fields early on. Regardless of how much people tell you on hear, your experience with the field will still be abstract. On the up side, both field require basically the same pre-reqs, so its not a major difference in what you need to be doing now (with the exception of different sorts of clinical experience being needed for the different careers)

 

[deleted393595]

I suggest shadowing someone in both fields early on. Regardless of how much people tell you on hear, your experience with the field will still be abstract. On the up side, both field require basically the same pre-reqs, so its not a major difference in what you need to be doing now (with the exception of different sorts of clinical experience being needed for the different careers)

This. There is no substitute for seeing up close what work being a physician/dentist entails and speaking 1-on-1 with physicians/dentists.

 

[deleted357625]

Dentist= all about money, not really helping people..
Physician= saving/helping people and getting rewarded

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Dentist= all about money, not really helping people..
Physician= saving/helping people and getting rewarded

That's not true, both help out their patients and help them live better lives. Dentists repair teeth and the quality of your teeth is directly correlated with the quality of your life. Likewise both award a good amount of payment and pride in helping others. However that being said, dentistry has a much better life style and is a significantly more business orientated occupation.

However dentistry is a commitment to the mouth and bending over at a minimum 40 degree angle for about 70% of your day. It doesn't offer a lot of the benefits medicine does, in that it is a narrow field to begin with, medicine has variety. So if you're in love with the mouth go for it, if you're looking for a wider field and a different part of the body to focus on, then dentistry might not be the best choice for you.

 

[tn4596]

eh..there is some truth to that. most people go into dentistry for money. of course there are people who is fastinted with the mouth but...that is a tiny minority. To really go through in medicine...well, you need more than financial motivation.

 

[docB]

Dentist= all about money, not really helping people..
Physician= saving/helping people and getting rewarded

I don't think that's a valid generalization at all. Both fields have people who are mercenary and both help people. I see several people a day in the ER for dental issues that I can do little about. Those folks are helped by dentists way more than by physicians.

 

[AntiHouseMD]

I don't think those are fair generalizations to make. Like previous posters said, there are people who are only concerned with money in each profession and there are people who truly care about their patients in each profession. They each contribute to a person's overall health, and although dentists don't handle as many emergency situations as physicians, they still play an important role in managing a person's health.