Switch from Pre-Med to Pre-Dental?

[NP545]

Recently, I've been doubting continuing my path of premed and wanted to know if it was a good idea to switch out.

(I've always been intrigued by dentistry, but never really considered a career in it before)

Are these qualifications okay for the predental route? What else do I need in order to apply to dental school?

Psychology Major
cGPA: 3.80..... sGPA: 3.85
Took: Bio (2 sem), Chem (2 sem) Orgo (2 sem) Physics (2 sem) and all corresponding labs, Biochem (1 sem) no lab
34 MCAT (need to take DAT- what is an acceptable score for most dental schools?)
200 volunteer hospital hours (is this any good for pre-dental?)
2.5 years research
shadowing dentist: 0 hours.... how many hours should I get before applying? Is shadowing needed?
LOR's... have 5 for premed, but will ask for predental if needed. How many letters do I need for predental? How many science and non-science?

What else should I work on? Should I switch?
My main life priorities are having a good lifestyle with a decent salary. If I went premed, I know 99% that I will go primary care... is being a dentist more reward financially, socially, and mentally than primary care doctor?

There is no residency for dental, but how many years is it till practice after dental school?

Any others in similar situations? What did you end up doing?

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[FeralisExtremum]

I also switched over from premed to predent. Your numbers seem fine, though you will need to take the DAT. I think the average for an accepted dental student is between 19-20 (max possible score: 30). The volunteer hours are still useful. You absolutely need shadowing, no idea how much in terms of specific count, but I would shoot for at least 50 hours at the bare minimum (I think a few schools require more than that - varies by school).

LOR's, I had to have them rewritten for dentistry. How many you need varies by school - most will want one "committee letter" if your school offers it (which as you probably know is assembled in addition to the letters from your professors), plus another one from a dentist, if I recall correctly. You will generally need a mix of science professors, a non-science, and a dentist.

How rewarding being a dentist is depends on what specifically appeals to you, and in terms of financial success, your specialty and business acumen. Working with your hands? Solving patients problems in a shorter amount of time? Less stress due to lower chances of patient morbidity? Who knows, this is all on you and what you like about the field.

There is residency required in some states for dentistry (most don't), but I think it's just a one year residency - and even where it's not required it's strongly suggested you do one anyway. Years till practice otherwise depends upon whether or not you choose to specialize, and which specialty.

I'd make sure that dentistry is something you're legitimately interested in, and not just turning to because you've lost interest in medicine but still want your progress thus far put towards a lucrative career. I'm not suggesting this is your motive, but adcoms are going to want to see genuine motivation for becoming a dentist.

 

[Screwtape]

GPA is good, 20+ on DAT will put you in a favorable position, I would shoot for 50-100 hours of shadowing. Everything else looks good to me. Recommendation letters are a little dependent on the schools you are applying to. I think I had 2 science professors, 1 non-science, and a dentist which covered all the bases for the 10ish schools i applied to. I would look into the schools you would be interested and see what they require. You can go straight into practice as a general dentist after the four years (except maybe New York-- requires 1 year residency). If you want to specialize (endodontics, orthodontics, oral surgery, etc), then those require additional years in residency after dental school.

However you need to really figure out if you want to make the switch-- shadowing should help with that decision. I would recommend going to a few different practices/styles of practices to get a more well rounded idea of dentistry. In regards to your question dentist vs PCP, that is quite a subjective question other than the finances. But in regards to compensation it seems PCPs and dentists make around the same, but with dentists working less hours for it. Don't make this switch lightly, an average work day as a PCP is quite different than an average work day for a dentist. Cheers

 

[rendal]

Your GPA is great for applying to dental schools, and your 34 MCAT proves that you can do very well on the DAT. You just need to dump out all of the physics in your head and replace it with the PAT and QR.

You'll want at least 100 hours of shadowing a general dentist. The hospital shadowing won't hurt on your app, but many schools require dental shadowing to make sure that you have been exposed to the field.

For LORs, you are only allowed to upload 4 letters to the ADEA AADSAS central application. Most schools want 2 science letters of rec and a letter from a dentist. Other schools want 3 letters from science professors, and others want a letter from a liberal arts professor. Just check what the letter requirements are for each school that you want to apply to, and make sure your 4 letters fit the criteria for all of them.

In theory, you can go into practice immediately after dental school (4 years). You'll find this difficult since you will be very slow, a lot of people will do a general practice residency (1 year) to get faster and pick up some new skills that will be useful in general practice. You can also get faster by just going straight into the field, either working in corporate dentistry or being an associate in a practice. There is also the option to specialize, which can be an extra 2-4 years depending on what specialty you do.

 

[deleted659902]

Recently, I've been doubting continuing my path of premed and wanted to know if it was a good idea to switch out.

(I've always been intrigued by dentistry, but never really considered a career in it before)

Are these qualifications okay for the predental route? Your qualifications are superb and might get you some scholarship offers depending on how well you do on the DAT. Judging by your MCAT score, you will probably dominate the DAT too lol.
What else do I need in order to apply to dental school? at least 50 hours of shadowing, preferably general dentists

Psychology Major
cGPA: 3.80..... sGPA: 3.85
Took: Bio (2 sem), Chem (2 sem) Orgo (2 sem) Physics (2 sem) and all corresponding labs, Biochem (1 sem) no lab
34 MCAT (need to take DAT- what is an acceptable score for most dental schools?) 19-20+ on each section
200 volunteer hospital hours (is this any good for pre-dental?)
2.5 years research
shadowing dentist: 0 hours.... how many hours should I get before applying? Is shadowing needed?
LOR's... have 5 for premed, but will ask for predental if needed.
You might wanna check with letter writers whether they mentioned anything related to medicine in the letters and might need to get them to tailor the letters specifically to dentistry.

How many letters do I need for predental? How many science and non-science?

What else should I work on? Shadowing hours are all you need, I think. Should I switch? Haha all I can say is that you are academically qualified for dental school.
My main life priorities are having a good lifestyle with a decent salary. If I went premed, I know 99% that I will go primary care... is being a dentist more reward financially, socially, and mentally than primary care doctor?

There is no residency for dental, but how many years is it till practice after dental school? From what I've heard, most fresh grads either go straight into private practice by doing an associateship (100-120k in salary) for 2-3 years before buying a practice or choose to do a 1-yr hospital residency in general dentistry followed by an associateship.

Any others in similar situations? What did you end up doing?

Answers in red!

 

[NP545]

I also switched over from premed to predent. Your numbers seem fine, though you will need to take the DAT. I think the average for an accepted dental student is between 19-20 (max possible score: 30). The volunteer hours are still useful. You absolutely need shadowing, no idea how much in terms of specific count, but I would shoot for at least 50 hours at the bare minimum (I think a few schools require more than that - varies by school).

LOR's, I had to have them rewritten for dentistry. How many you need varies by school - most will want one "committee letter" if your school offers it (which as you probably know is assembled in addition to the letters from your professors), plus another one from a dentist, if I recall correctly. You will generally need a mix of science professors, a non-science, and a dentist.

How rewarding being a dentist is depends on what specifically appeals to you, and in terms of financial success, your specialty and business acumen. Working with your hands? Solving patients problems in a shorter amount of time? Less stress due to lower chances of patient morbidity? Who knows, this is all on you and what you like about the field.

There is residency required in some states for dentistry (most don't), but I think it's just a one year residency - and even where it's not required it's strongly suggested you do one anyway. Years till practice otherwise depends upon whether or not you choose to specialize, and which specialty.

I'd make sure that dentistry is something you're legitimately interested in, and not just turning to because you've lost interest in medicine but still want your progress thus far put towards a lucrative career. I'm not suggesting this is your motive, but adcoms are going to want to see genuine motivation for becoming a dentist.

Do you have any regrets of switching? What were some of the main reasons of why you switched?

I don;t really know which path to follow and the appeal of lower stress with equal salary as a dentist is making my original choice of primary care physician doubtful.

 

[NP545]

Thanks everyone else for the helpful answers! Some additional questions: Is dentistry harder to find a job than physician? Do most dentists own practices or is it common/advisable to work without owning one?

 

[SXCoronado]

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[ICUrunning]

Recently, I've been doubting continuing my path of premed and wanted to know if it was a good idea to switch out.

(I've always been intrigued by dentistry, but never really considered a career in it before)

Are these qualifications okay for the predental route? What else do I need in order to apply to dental school?

Psychology Major
cGPA: 3.80..... sGPA: 3.85
Took: Bio (2 sem), Chem (2 sem) Orgo (2 sem) Physics (2 sem) and all corresponding labs, Biochem (1 sem) no lab
34 MCAT (need to take DAT- what is an acceptable score for most dental schools?)
200 volunteer hospital hours (is this any good for pre-dental?)
2.5 years research
shadowing dentist: 0 hours.... how many hours should I get before applying? Is shadowing needed?
LOR's... have 5 for premed, but will ask for predental if needed. How many letters do I need for predental? How many science and non-science?

What else should I work on? Should I switch?
My main life priorities are having a good lifestyle with a decent salary. If I went premed, I know 99% that I will go primary care... is being a dentist more reward financially, socially, and mentally than primary care doctor?

There is no residency for dental, but how many years is it till practice after dental school?

Any others in similar situations? What did you end up doing?

Shadow multiple general dentists and see if it is something you want to do for the rest of your life. Some friends have and hated it, I loved it, thats why I'm here.

 

[lazyindy]

I also made the switch from pre-med to pre-dental just a few weeks ago. Our situations are very similar but you have a way better GPA than I do (I also scored a 34 on the MCAT). you should be fine with enough shadowing hours and a good DAT score.

 

[NP545]

Pediatrician vs Dentist?

 

[irishmom]

Pediatrician vs Dentist?

If pediatrics interests you, you can always specialize in pediatric dentistry.

 

[NP545]

Are my stats/ECs good enough to get some scholarships? If so, where could i find some- would the dental school themself offer it to me or would I have to apply for them?

In addition, have any of you received any help from financial aid or is this uncommon?

Does prestige of dental school matter when it comes time to finding a pgr,ortho,etc residency or job? (med school yes it does, but what about dental) Do grades matter or do employers mainly consider skillset (unlike med school) If you are towards the top of your dental school class, are you more likely to find a job?

Finally, would it be reasonable to approx the total cost of 4 year dental school to be ~400K?

 

[sjv]

Are my stats/ECs good enough to get some scholarships? If so, where could i find some- would the dental school themself offer it to me or would I have to apply for them?

In addition, have any of you received any help from financial aid or is this uncommon?

Does prestige of dental school matter when it comes time to finding a pgr,ortho,etc residency or job? (med school yes it does, but what about dental) Do grades matter or do employers mainly consider skillset (unlike med school) If you are towards the top of your dental school class, are you more likely to find a job?

Finally, would it be reasonable to approx the total cost of 4 year dental school to be ~400K?

1. I would say so, really depends on the school in question though. They are offered to you automatically, either in the admissions offer, shortly after or after you matriculate.
2. Help is the same as med school, loans minus any scholarships.
3. IMO, gpr-no, ortho-yes to an extent, other residencies-yes to an extent, job-not as much. Some schools are pass/fail, some have no rank, some don't have either.
4. Once again it depends on a school, 400k would be considered expensive consensus will say 400k is too much.