- Joined
- Sep 12, 2017
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I am someone who could be happy in either medicine or dentistry. As some background, I have currently applied to some medical schools this cycle, and am wrapping up my applications to a few more. I have a 99th percentile MCAT, 3.9 s/cGPA, years of meaningful interactions with patients, ongoing research project with publications, etc. I expect to get into at least one of the schools I applied to, but I keep asking myself, what if I don't?
I am someone who wants to work with my hands, and going MD into some surgical specialty had always made more sense to me than dentistry. I would have more options as to which part of the body I could specialize on, and it wouldn't be as hit or miss as going through dental school and trying to gun my way into one of the more surgery-intensive dental specialties. As I became more and more invested in the path towards medical school, however, my interest in and passion for my research area grew. My research focuses on the etiology of orofacial clefts, and in addition to bench science has a translational component which interfaces heavily with academic orofacial surgeons. Curious to see the real-world side of the science, I spent time observing these surgeons, and was excited by what I saw. I didn't stray away from the idea of medical school, however, due to a combination of sunk cost fallacy and the increased options through medical school I described above.
Now that I am past the neuroticism and stress of applications, I am looking forward to focusing all of my time on my research in the orofacial field, now a passion of mine, and am wondering if I really made the right decision in applying to medical school. Otolaryngology could also satisfy my interest in this field, but from speaking with and shadowing both ENTs and OMFS, the latter seem to have much more flexibility in how they work and how their career is structured, and come across as clearly happier. With medical school's benefit of specialty options made obsolete, a career in OMFS seems to be just as satisfying while also being potentially more enjoyable. If I gain acceptance to a medical school, I will attend, as to not do so could be professional suicide. If I do go, I can't see a situation where I don't at least try to work out a subsequent DDS/DMD -> OMFS route with program directors. If I can manage to abbreviate it by a year, I believe the additional 2 years over the traditional 5 year minimum ENT residency would be worth it for a lifetime of a career that is more enjoyable. If I can't, and a subsequent traditional dental school with a chance for OMFS isn't feasible, ENT will still be a possibility, or perhaps some other field I find interesting. Cost could be a preventing factor, but I have no loans from undergrad, and will have to see which medical schools I get into, if any, and possible scholarships to plan for this any further. This is all assuming that I can excel as a medical student.
The aforementioned path is clearly convoluted, and probably foolish, but I do not think going backwards is a feasible plan at this point. Given this thinking, if I am one of the not insignificant number of applicants not granted admission during an individual cycle, I would like to go straight through dental school instead. Although I have a goal, the other specialties in dentistry are similarly interesting to me, and I would have no qualms with being a general dentist, possibly academic. Shadowing would still be required to fully ensure that this is the case. Regardless, I would have the issue of dentistry appearing to be my backup plan, and I am not sure if this would be curable. Although dental school is literally a "plan B" in this situation, it's in reality an alternative which is potentially more compatible with my career and life goals. I have to start working towards my alternative plans, so if dental school is out of the question, I will have to figure something else out if I don't get in. Can anyone offer advice on this situation?
Also, let me know what's wrong with anything else I said.
I am someone who wants to work with my hands, and going MD into some surgical specialty had always made more sense to me than dentistry. I would have more options as to which part of the body I could specialize on, and it wouldn't be as hit or miss as going through dental school and trying to gun my way into one of the more surgery-intensive dental specialties. As I became more and more invested in the path towards medical school, however, my interest in and passion for my research area grew. My research focuses on the etiology of orofacial clefts, and in addition to bench science has a translational component which interfaces heavily with academic orofacial surgeons. Curious to see the real-world side of the science, I spent time observing these surgeons, and was excited by what I saw. I didn't stray away from the idea of medical school, however, due to a combination of sunk cost fallacy and the increased options through medical school I described above.
Now that I am past the neuroticism and stress of applications, I am looking forward to focusing all of my time on my research in the orofacial field, now a passion of mine, and am wondering if I really made the right decision in applying to medical school. Otolaryngology could also satisfy my interest in this field, but from speaking with and shadowing both ENTs and OMFS, the latter seem to have much more flexibility in how they work and how their career is structured, and come across as clearly happier. With medical school's benefit of specialty options made obsolete, a career in OMFS seems to be just as satisfying while also being potentially more enjoyable. If I gain acceptance to a medical school, I will attend, as to not do so could be professional suicide. If I do go, I can't see a situation where I don't at least try to work out a subsequent DDS/DMD -> OMFS route with program directors. If I can manage to abbreviate it by a year, I believe the additional 2 years over the traditional 5 year minimum ENT residency would be worth it for a lifetime of a career that is more enjoyable. If I can't, and a subsequent traditional dental school with a chance for OMFS isn't feasible, ENT will still be a possibility, or perhaps some other field I find interesting. Cost could be a preventing factor, but I have no loans from undergrad, and will have to see which medical schools I get into, if any, and possible scholarships to plan for this any further. This is all assuming that I can excel as a medical student.
The aforementioned path is clearly convoluted, and probably foolish, but I do not think going backwards is a feasible plan at this point. Given this thinking, if I am one of the not insignificant number of applicants not granted admission during an individual cycle, I would like to go straight through dental school instead. Although I have a goal, the other specialties in dentistry are similarly interesting to me, and I would have no qualms with being a general dentist, possibly academic. Shadowing would still be required to fully ensure that this is the case. Regardless, I would have the issue of dentistry appearing to be my backup plan, and I am not sure if this would be curable. Although dental school is literally a "plan B" in this situation, it's in reality an alternative which is potentially more compatible with my career and life goals. I have to start working towards my alternative plans, so if dental school is out of the question, I will have to figure something else out if I don't get in. Can anyone offer advice on this situation?
Also, let me know what's wrong with anything else I said.
