Quitting Dentistry for Medicine?

[Big Time Hoosier]

but a true friend will help you move a body.

I just use the same group as the Clinton Foundation. Very professional outfit, highly recommend.

Big Hoss

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[TanMan]

100% agree with this and I have seen it first hand with family members, friends, etc.

Yes you could get married with someone and divorce many years later and get screwed. However, that's the risk people are willing to take and if it works out, it's the best thing that will ever happen to them. Having a loyal partner and children with that person, seeing them grow up, spending time with them. That is just priceless.

and No friends are NEVER going to be the same as family. EVER.

And another thing is that people can get married, and stay together for the kids, but are ultimately miserable. I see that more often than not. Or they put on a facade for the public that things are nice and rosy.

I just use the same group as the Clinton Foundation. Very professional outfit, highly recommend.

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Big Hoss

Hahahahahaha, I wouldn't want you to go missing or accidentally get "suicided" if you happen to have any information regarding the Clintons.

 

[Ne Ge]

But this is an excellent way to get burnt out and hate dentistry. I cannot FATHOM ever working this job 7 days a week. I ended up moving to the middle of nowhere working four days a week making about 200k. Had I done five days a week I probably could have been near 250k but I didn't need the extra money, and I found my back really hurting after four days. My friends who live in civilization are all still around 130-140k, some still less than that. Cities now are so saturated it's just hard to get the volume of patients to really produce as an associate.

If your back hurts after 4 days, then you're definitely doing something wrong. I'm in late 50s, no such physical issues from dentistry.

 

[JacquesVallee]

If you back hurts after 4 days, then you're definitely doing something wrong. I'm in late 50s, no such physical issues from dentistry.

Had a back injury from high school and wear a back brace which helps.

 

[Ne Ge]

Had a back injury from high school and wear a back brace which helps.

Ah, sorry to hear that. But your situation is not typical of a dentist who has correct ergonomics.

 

[Ne Ge]

Yes, dentistry is still one of the best professions. It’s too bad that many of our colleagues don’t think so and have the “grass is greener” syndrome.

By my standard, I think my practice is doing very well….beyond what I’ve expected, especially for being in a very oversaturated market like So Cal. But I still need my wife’s income. It’s expensive to live here. Back when we were in our mid 30s, early 40s, we were drowning in debt so we both had to work very hard. The student loans were paid off but we still had 2 practice loans, a home mortgage, and 3 rental property mortgages. I didn't become 100% debt-free until I turned 49. I am 53 now. Now, even with the fully paid off house, I still have to pay $3000/month just to live in it (property taxes, insurance, HOA, utility etc). Our monthly living budget is $17k/month (or over $200k/yr). This is just the basic living budget, which doesn’t include travel expenses and shopping.

As Pablo Sanchez pointed out, it’s not just about picking up kids from school. You have to drive them to the after-school sport events, watch them play, buy food for the team, and celebrate with the team etc. Sometimes I was too busy working. I showed up late and only watched part of the game.

We are not wealthy enough to afford such luxury first class/private lounge travel.

Wow, do you live in a mansion, in a high end part of SoCal?

 

[702]

If your back hurts after 4 days, then you're definitely doing something wrong. I'm in late 50s, no such physical issues from dentistry.

People’s back hurt even without doing dentistry bro

 

[AONLINE]

But this is an excellent way to get burnt out and hate dentistry. I cannot FATHOM ever working this job 7 days a week. I ended up moving to the middle of nowhere working four days a week making about 200k. Had I done five days a week I probably could have been near 250k but I didn't need the extra money, and I found my back really hurting after four days. My friends who live in civilization are all still around 130-140k, some still less than that. Cities now are so saturated it's just hard to get the volume of patients to really produce as an associate.

Are these numbers you talked about from 10 years ago? From my own experience, the minimum guarantee nowadays is 180-190k for a 4-day work week. And no this is not middle of nowhere, I got these numbers from my own experience working different jobs in 2 different metro areas each with a few millions in population, one is in the Midwest and the other in the Southeast. I can get jobs that pay 300,000k+ if I am willing to go 2 hours away for both of the 2 metro areas. I still keep up with a lot of my classmates after graduation (we're class of 2021) and I think it will be very hard to find one that is making less than 200k if they are working full-time (i.e. at least 4 days/wk) as a dentist. I think it's simply impossible to make 130-140k as a dentist nowadays IF one is working at least 4 days/wk.

 

[LFA20]

Are these numbers you talked about from 10 years ago? From my own experience, the minimum guarantee nowadays is 180-190k for a 4-day work week. And no this is not middle of nowhere, I got these numbers from my own experience working different jobs in 2 different metro areas each with a few millions in population, one is in the Midwest and the other in the Southeast. I can get jobs that pay 300,000k+ if I am willing to go 2 hours away for both of the 2 metro areas. I still keep up with a lot of my classmates after graduation (we're class of 2021) and I think it will be very hard to find one that is making less than 200k if they are working full-time (i.e. at least 4 days/wk) as a dentist. I think it's simply impossible to make 130-140k as a dentist nowadays IF one is working at least 4 days/wk.

If you were to increase your work day working at your current location (I.e 5-6 days a week) how much would you say you would be able to make? Do you feel that as you gain more experience you can hit 250k-300k working similar number of hours in the same location?
Or would you need to do more variety of procedures such as implants, grafting, molar endo, etc.

 

[AONLINE]

If you were to increase your work day working at your current location (I.e 5-6 days a week) how much would you say you would be able to make? Do you feel that as you gain more experience you can hit 250k-300k working similar number of hours in the same location?
Or would you need to do more variety of procedures such as implants, grafting, molar endo, etc.

At my current job I don't think I have enough patients to fill my schedule 5 days/wk. My current schedule at 4 days/wk is not packed, I still have plenty of openings every day (that's when I browse reddit and SDN). Right now I only do bread and butter, no implant placement, no molar endo. A lot of extractions and bone graft. My production is about $70k/mo. I would say on average my pre-tax paycheck is about $20k/mo, which is very modest compared to other dentists that already shared their incomes in this thread. Of course as a dentist there is no PTO, you eat what you kill so if I take a week off for vacation my paycheck for that month goes down by a few thousands dollars. Anyways, with my current job, making $250k working 4 days/wk is an attainable goal. $300k... not so much due to the lack of patients (and maybe due to my lack of skillsets in molar endo/implant placement).

 

[LFA20]

At my current job I don't think I have enough patients to fill my schedule 5 days/wk. My current schedule at 4 days/wk is not packed, I still have plenty of openings every day (that's when I browse reddit and SDN). Right now I only do bread and butter, no implant placement, no molar endo. A lot of extractions and bone graft. My production is about $70k/mo. I would say on average my pre-tax paycheck is about $20k/mo, which is very modest compared to other dentists that already shared their incomes in this thread. Of course as a dentist there is no PTO, you eat what you kill so if I take a week off for vacation my paycheck for that month goes down by a few thousands of dollars. Anyways, with my current job, making $250k working 4 days/wk is an attainable goal. $300k... not so much due to the lack of patients (and maybe due to my lack of skillsets in molar endo/implant placement).

That's still some amazing numbers with only 4 day work week. I am just preparing myself for private practice once I am retired from the military lol... I'd be happy if I can hit these numbers. So after tax/deductions you would net around $14k a month?

 

[Molar Whisperer]

That's still some amazing numbers with only 4 day work week. I am just preparing myself for private practice once I am retired from the military lol... I'd be happy if I can hit these numbers. So after tax/deductions you would net around $14k a month?

You'll be plenty happy. With your comprehensive military skill set, you will produce bank plus receive retirement. You will have more LFAs than Jay Leno's Garage.

 

[LFA20]

You'll be plenty happy. With your comprehensive military skill set, you will produce bank plus receive retirement. You will have more LFAs than Jay Leno's Garage.

lol stop it with the LFA joke. I don’t even like Lexus 😂

 

[AONLINE]

That's still some amazing numbers with only 4 day work week. I am just preparing myself for private practice once I am retired from the military lol... I'd be happy if I can hit these numbers. So after tax/deductions you would net around $14k a month?

Yes my net after tax is around $14k/mo as I file tax single. You can net more if you have a spouse to file tax jointly. And I am sure once you go to private practice your income will surpass that number by a lot as your skillsets are much wider than me.

 

[Molar Whisperer]

lol stop it with the LFA joke. I don’t even like Lexus 😂

Sorry, I thought that was your dream car. It was dubbed by some sources as the most perfect car ever made.

 

[2TH MVR]

Sorry, I thought that was your dream car. It was dubbed by some sources as the most perfect car ever made.

Not a fan of the styling, but the sound of that LFA V10 is glorious.