Should I make the switch? Pre-pharm ---> Pre-dent

[futurepharmgal]

Hello everyone. I am new here and am looking for some advice. I am a junior in college and was planning on submitting pharmacy school applications next week, however, after reading many, many threads in the pre-pharm sections, I am feeling downright scared about the future of pharmacy. I have always wanted to go into some type of medical field and dental was something I thought about. After reading over the job prospects and quality of work, I am starting to wonder if going the dentist route would be better for my career and happiness. I am in no way looking for a "golden ticket" job, just merely looking for a medical profession that I will enjoy and not have to worry about a 50,000 surplus in the profession by 2020.

Of course, if I do make the switch, I will need to complete my degree (Chemistry) so it will be another year before I apply. This has all happened within the last month, and being so close the pharmCAS deadline, I'm feeling very anxious about this. I do plan on committing to the AirForce and serve the 3 years after dental or pharm school in order to pay for my loans. Thank you to anyone who can offer advice!

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[darknightzzz]

you are a junior so you can take the DAT and apply the upcoming summer and matriculate to dental school after you graduate (no gap year).

you can apply for military HPSP (full ride + stipend) that you serve them to pay back year for year (4 years of tuition paid = 4 years of service for that particular branch) that the military has for dental.

yes, I definitely think you should switch. It is very good you do your field research and make an informed decision.
u should study for the DAT now, after the DAT, find some dentist (general dentist) to shadow for 100 hours (you can shadow and study for the DAT if your class load is light.

kick start the dat with feralis note, dat bootcamp, crack the dat, question vault, and destroyer.

 

[bilbany12]

Somewhat in the same boat, but I was pre-PA not pre-Pharm. Message me if you want.

 

[futurepharmgal]

you are a junior so you can take the DAT and apply the upcoming summer and matriculate to dental school after you graduate (no gap year).

you can apply for military HPSP (full ride + stipend) that you serve them to pay back year for year (4 years of tuition paid = 4 years of service for that particular branch) that the military has for dental.

yes, I definitely think you should switch. It is very good you do your field research and make an informed decision.
u should study for the DAT now, after the DAT, find some dentist (general dentist) to shadow for 100 hours (you can shadow and study for the DAT if your class load is light.

kick start the dat with feralis note, dat bootcamp, crack the dat, question vault, and destroyer.

Thank you for the info. The only in-state school I would be applying to- Georgia Regents University gives preference to people with a degree. Would I be considered someone with a degree if I would earn one by the time I entered Dental School?

 

[darknightzzz]

Thank you for the info. The only in-state school I would be applying to- Georgia Regents University gives preference to people with a degree. Would I be considered someone with a degree if I would earn one by the time I entered Dental School?

yes degree b4 matriculate into dental school. aka apply in junior year's summer and going to interviews during senior year

 

[A Pre-dent]

.

 

[obscurlit]

I would shadow a little or maybe participate in some pre-dental activities at your college before jumping straight into studying for the DAT. That way, you have some more exposure to the field and can make a better informed decision as to if there are actually aspects of dentistry you like and whether or not you could see yourself doing dentistry as a career. Wouldn't want to have decided on a career, have everything all set, and then realize it wasn't what you thought it was.

Good luck!

 

[futurepharmgal]

I would shadow a little or maybe participate in some pre-dental activities at your college before jumping straight into studying for the DAT. That way, you have some more exposure to the field and can make a better informed decision as to if there are actually aspects of dentistry you like and whether or not you could see yourself doing dentistry as a career. Wouldn't want to have decided on a career, have everything all set, and then realize it wasn't what you thought it was.

Good luck!

If I decide to do this, I actually have a friend who's both parents are dentist- one a surgeon and one not that I am sure I could shadow

 

[futurepharmgal]

Yes.

Also, out of curiosity, why not medical school?

I considered medical school before pharmacy, but didn't really have an interest in being a physician/anesthesiologist/surgeon...ect. Pharmacy was always the plan with dental in the back of my mind. Those two piqued my interest the most

 

[ajj70]

If I decide to do this, I actually have a friend who's both parents are dentist- one a surgeon and one not that I am sure I could shadow

Most dental schools want shadow hours with a general dentist, generally 60+ hours with a general dentist is a safe number, but 100 is the total number you want to shoot for. I would get in a few days of shadowing over winter break before you commit to the dental school route and I'd get some pharmacy shadowing in as well so you know you are making the right choice.

 

[DUPH]

So I too was prepharm and actually interviewed at some schools last year and got in! I honestly was in it because it was a "stable" job with great income. I also sorta enjoyed learning about drug mechanism so I thought hey let's go for it. I soon began to realize I wasn't passionate about it and then fell upon dentistry. I was scared to make the career change because I already committed 4 years to try and get into pharmacy. But once I knew dentistry was something that I was truly passionate about, I dropped everything to go and pursue it. This was the beginning of this year btw. So within about a 10 month span I studied and took the DAT, shadowed various dentists, work as a DA and now have attended various dental school interviews (with more to come).

Basically what I am trying to say is, don't let fear hold you back from pursuing what you want to do! . In the grand scheme of things you're only losing one year where-as you'd lose four if you end up going to pharm school and not enjoy it!

 

[micheller90]

I also switched from prepharm to predent. I had already taken the PCAT with a great score and was getting ready to apply to pharm schools. Like you, all the terrible things I had been hearing (online mostly) about the profession made me get "cold feet" and I just had this gut feeling that pharm isn't what I am supposed to be doing.

I had never considered dentistry before (mostly because I was super scared of getting dental work done), but one day I saw pictures of my childhood friend on facebook of her graduation from dental school. This happened when I was second guessing my pharm decision, and it kind of smacked me in the face that dentistry is known as a great career so maybe I should be looking into that. Yeah I know, not a very inspiring "What first made you pursue dentistry" story, but that is what got me started on the path.

After doing all the shadowing, research into the profession, etc, I was confident that the switch was the right plan. To be honest I am so thankful I trusted my intuition and got out of pharm when I did. It sucked having to take the DAT after the PCAT, but studying a second time isn't as tough. It seems like you are still young as a junior in college, so you have plenty of time to take a year (or two) and really explore dentistry and put together a really strong application. (Which I think you will need in order to stand a chance at the air force scholarship). I was 23 when I decided to switch from prepharm to predent. I will be 25 when I start school!

If pharm really interests you don't rule it out yet, but definitely look into dentistry before you pull the trigger on anything! Best of luck.

 

[futurepharmgal]

Thank you for everyone's input. I actually contacted one of the pharmacy schools I was planning on applying to (not with my real e-mail address), and confronted them with the information and statistics regarding the future of pharmacy, and they "assured" me that pharmacy was heading in a great direction and linked me to a recent Forbes article that was raving about the 14% growth in pharmacy. Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting considering the fact that they are a school and in it to make money.

 

[Rambunctious]

Thank you for everyone's input. I actually contacted one of the pharmacy schools I was planning on applying to (not with my real e-mail address), and confronted them with the information and statistics regarding the future of pharmacy, and they "assured" me that pharmacy was heading in a great direction and linked me to a recent Forbes article that was raving about the 14% growth in pharmacy. Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting considering the fact that they are a school and in it to make money.

They want your money

 

[aqz]

Dental student on a 3-year Air Force HPSP, pm me if you have questions about the application process.

Oh and yes, definitely switch.

 

[LFA20]

Hello everyone. I am new here and am looking for some advice. I am a junior in college and was planning on submitting pharmacy school applications next week, however, after reading many, many threads in the pre-pharm sections, I am feeling downright scared about the future of pharmacy. I have always wanted to go into some type of medical field and dental was something I thought about. After reading over the job prospects and quality of work, I am starting to wonder if going the dentist route would be better for my career and happiness. I am in no way looking for a "golden ticket" job, just merely looking for a medical profession that I will enjoy and not have to worry about a 50,000 surplus in the profession by 2020.

Of course, if I do make the switch, I will need to complete my degree (Chemistry) so it will be another year before I apply. This has all happened within the last month, and being so close the pharmCAS deadline, I'm feeling very anxious about this. I do plan on committing to the AirForce and serve the 3 years after dental or pharm school in order to pay for my loans. Thank you to anyone who can offer advice!

I was in a similar situation as you in college. During my sophomore year, I worked as a pharmacy tech and found out that pharmacy was not for me. I switched over to pre dent and started shadowing a local dentist. I found it to be much more interesting and decided to take the DAT and apply for dental school. I am now in my 2nd year of dental school and overall am pretty satisfied with what I did. As far as paying for your dental school tuition I recommend applying for the HPSP program with any branch of the military(they are very competitive to get now a day and getting one from any one of them is a blessing . Dental school is expensive and you never know what school you will be attending

good luck

 

[tendram]

It has already been said before but I highly suggest looking anywhere but pharmacy as a future career unless you absolutely love it and can't see yourself doing anything else. If you have never before set foot in a pharmacy I also suggest you get a job/shadow and see if you really enjoy it as much as you think. I have worked in pharmacy for a number of years and was pre-pharm for the first half of my college career (until I found that I loved dentistry) and during this time I have had nearly every pharmacist tell me to look elsewhere for a future career. Right now I know of several pharmacists trying to get out of the profession and into something different because of what it has become. On the other hand, I also know of a couple who absolutely love what they do and seem very happy however these individuals seem to be those that have a true passion for the field. Sorry for the somewhat long winded post but having been in pharmacy for so long I always feel obligated to let more recent pre-pharms looking to get out know what the field is like and give them my two cents on the matter.

 

[engmedpt]

Hello everyone. I am new here and am looking for some advice. I am a junior in college and was planning on submitting pharmacy school applications next week, however, after reading many, many threads in the pre-pharm sections, I am feeling downright scared about the future of pharmacy. I have always wanted to go into some type of medical field and dental was something I thought about. After reading over the job prospects and quality of work, I am starting to wonder if going the dentist route would be better for my career and happiness. I am in no way looking for a "golden ticket" job, just merely looking for a medical profession that I will enjoy and not have to worry about a 50,000 surplus in the profession by 2020.

Of course, if I do make the switch, I will need to complete my degree (Chemistry) so it will be another year before I apply. This has all happened within the last month, and being so close the pharmCAS deadline, I'm feeling very anxious about this. I do plan on committing to the AirForce and serve the 3 years after dental or pharm school in order to pay for my loans. Thank you to anyone who can offer advice!

Ex is in pharm school.



............she's f#%ed

Good move making the switch.....even working a lab tech job for a while is better than having a mortgage in debt and jobless