Switching from dental to medical school

[crownme]

This may be a long shot, but were any of the medical students here once dental students?

I am in dental school now, and I'm interested in the possibility of switching. I don't need to know any of the logistics that would be involved; I would just like to hear from others who have made the switch, and why.

Thanks!

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[tinman831]

This may be a long shot, but were any of the medical students here once dental students?

I am in dental school now, and I'm interested in the possibility of switching. I don't need to know any of the logistics that would be involved; I would just like to hear from others who have made the switch, and why.

Thanks!

People change careers for one reason or another. It doesn't have to be from dental school to medical school. People do it for a variety of personal reasons. Maybe they just didn't like the field? I know of several people in my class that left dental school to pursue other things. You just need to do what makes you happiest.

 

[crownme]

People change careers for one reason or another. It doesn't have to be from dental school to medical school. People do it for a variety of personal reasons. Maybe they just didn't like the field? I know of several people in my class that left dental school to pursue other things. You just need to do what makes you happiest.

Noted. Can anyone be any more specific than this? lol

 

[Fah-Q]

Stay in dental school. Medicine is collapsing. Dentists have avoided the third-party payor disaster and can still expect to be paid fairly for their work. Those days in medicine are long gone.

I wish someone would have let me in on the secret that is dentistry before I applied to medical school.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

You could do oral-maxillo-facial surgery (OMFS) which is kind of an overlap of dentistry and surgery- we have a resident that's rotating through this IM month I'm on right now and acting basically as a sub-intern (4th year med student)

 

[tiedyeddog]

Stay in dental school. Medicine is collapsing. Dentists have avoided the third-party payor disaster and can still expect to be paid fairly for their work. Those days in medicine are long gone.

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-dental-recession-20111201,0,5394632.story

Paid fairly, if they're paid at all.

 

[JackShephard MD]

Stay in dental school. Medicine is collapsing. Dentists have avoided the third-party payor disaster and can still expect to be paid fairly for their work. Those days in medicine are long gone.

I wish someone would have let me in on the secret that is dentistry before I applied to medical school.

I would agree to avoid medicine if you are after lifestyle or money.

Medicine is collapsing in terms of being paid extremely well and/or having a great lifestyle. On the other hand, in terms of being able to work in a profession you're passionate about and enjoy, then medicine is doing as well as ever.

There are plenty of patients who need the skill sets we are developing and there are great opportunities to serve people in a meaningful way.

 

[jessedevin]

This may be a long shot, but were any of the medical students here once dental students?

I am in dental school now, and I'm interested in the possibility of switching. I don't need to know any of the logistics that would be involved; I would just like to hear from others who have made the switch, and why.

Thanks!

Cause you did the dental route I'm pretty sure you probably have all the specific classes needed to apply to med school. But you prob need to take the MCAT. I dont think theres any way that you can transfer from dental to medical w/o taking the MCATs. You prob atleast a year of shadowing too just to prove that you really want to become a doc.

 

[toothfaery]

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[LoveandHate]

Aren't the dental residencies much like Derm, Plastics, and RadOnc in their competitiveness.

ie: a bunch of people saying they will match plastics but come 3rd year realizing it just ain't gonna happen.

 

[LoveandHate]

I would agree to avoid medicine if you are after lifestyle or money.

Medicine is collapsing in terms of being paid extremely well and/or having a great lifestyle. On the other hand, in terms of being able to work in a profession you're passionate about and enjoy, then medicine is doing as well as ever.

There are plenty of patients who need the skill sets we are developing and there are great opportunities to serve people in a meaningful way.

I watched a presentation on management of RA yesterday and actually enjoyed it lol. If you have the same quality of interest in medicine then you definitely should switch. There's so much interesting stuff going on in medicine.

 

[swamprat]

I could never go to dental school I'd fail out. Studying teeth and oral pathology all day

 

[tiedyeddog]

I could never go to dental school I'd fail out. Studying teeth and oral pathology all day

 

[crownme]

I appreciate all the feedback.

I love the actual practice of dentistry, and I don't think I could be happy with a career that wasn't as hands-on. But I have doubts about the long-term viability of the profession. There are promising new technologies in the works that can eliminate the bacteria that cause cavities, and if they are successfully marketed, about 80% of what dentists do in practice may suddenly become outdated.

I'm attending a school with an integrated medical and dental curriculum for the first 2 years, so I'm in the trenches with the medical students as far as didactic learning goes. Everything we're taught about the human body is fascinating, which is more than I can say for the few dental classes I've taken so far (yea, ). I don't know if I'm just thinking that the grass is greener on the other side, or if it would really be worth it for me to switch tracks at this point. Any other thoughts about any of this would be appreciated.

 

[Miss Alyssa]

I appreciate all the feedback.

I love the actual practice of dentistry, and I don't think I could be happy with a career that wasn't as hands-on. But I have doubts about the long-term viability of the profession. There are promising new technologies in the works that can eliminate the bacteria that cause cavities, and if they are successfully marketed, about 80% of what dentists do in practice may suddenly become outdated.

I'm attending a school with an integrated medical and dental curriculum for the first 2 years, so I'm in the trenches with the medical students as far as didactic learning goes. Everything we're taught about the human body is fascinating, which is more than I can say for the few dental classes I've taken so far (yea, ). I don't know if I'm just thinking that the grass is greener on the other side, or if it would really be worth it for me to switch tracks at this point. Any other thoughts about any of this would be appreciated.

If you're doing everything that the med students are doing, maybe you can switch internally?

 

[JackShephard MD]

I appreciate all the feedback.

I love the actual practice of dentistry, and I don't think I could be happy with a career that wasn't as hands-on. But I have doubts about the long-term viability of the profession. There are promising new technologies in the works that can eliminate the bacteria that cause cavities, and if they are successfully marketed, about 80% of what dentists do in practice may suddenly become outdated.

I'm attending a school with an integrated medical and dental curriculum for the first 2 years, so I'm in the trenches with the medical students as far as didactic learning goes. Everything we're taught about the human body is fascinating, which is more than I can say for the few dental classes I've taken so far (yea, ). I don't know if I'm just thinking that the grass is greener on the other side, or if it would really be worth it for me to switch tracks at this point. Any other thoughts about any of this would be appreciated.

You're asking the wrong crowd. Most of us would chose medicine because we did.

I would NOT make a career decision based upon forecasts like you mentioned. Pick something you enjoy. If you do that, you'll find a way to make it all work.