Taking a break after dental school?

[confidentandgood]

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[Big Time Hoosier]

I don't believe you've really thought this through. Does it sound wise to go through dental school and then take two years off, letting your knowledge and skills atrophy? Furthermore, does it sound wise to take on $250,000 to $500,000 in debt and then not have a paying job for two years?

Big Hoss

 

[confidentandgood]

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[THS]

Taking the time off before dental school starts would allow me to focus on my career right out of dental school, as is (obviously) ideal after years of training.

It would also raise questions from the admissions committee. If you can clearly convey your reasoning for taking time off after undergrad, they may see it as you being passionate about something. However, there is also the risk that they see it as you procrastinating/not committed to your future/not committed to dentistry.

Just something to consider.

 

[confidentandgood]

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[Faux]

It would also raise questions from the admissions committee. If you can clearly convey your reasoning for taking time off after undergrad, they may see it as you being passionate about something. However, there is also the risk that they see it as you procrastinating/not committed to your future/not committed to dentistry.

Just something to consider.

Could just say he had family issues he had to deal with.

Saying you're going to take 2 years off after dental school is a bit harsh. Thats five years down the line. Who knows the kind of person you're going to be and where dental school is going to draw you. For all you know, you get interested in a specialty and then off you go.


If you want to do something , do it now. But know tuition rates will be increasing and all that jazz. You have a year off now. Yo can do a lot in a year thats not necessarily tied to a program.

 

[jaf004]

I took 1 "year off" where I did the DAT, worked, volunteered in research and many other fun things. I think it was worth it. A lot of schools like "nontraditional" applicants if they have the resume that backs up their years off. I also think a lot of students that rolled right in from undergrad were pretty burnt out and didn't perform as well during first semester. You should also count the fact that you might forget some of your undergrad knowledge when you take time off and that could haunt you a bit in dental school, however I found with just one year off I didn't forget too much and I did fine.

 

[confidentandgood]

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[akog]

Any further thoughts on this?

I started my pre-reqs 2 years ago and I start dental school at the end of this month. But I got a degree in music several years ago, and I plan hold on to it through my life. And among the reasons I chose to return to school for dentistry over medicine: I figured a dentist is slightly more likely to be able to have a career, family, and hobby... whereas watching my father, medicine seems like a career + choose one side.

One thought I don't think has been mentioned: if you take the gap years *after* school, your loans will be accruing interest for those years. On $300k, that's maybe an extra 30-40 thousand dollars lost, as a baseline--and once it's capitalized that's even more money lost down the road. And your skills will atrophy. And although a dental chain may not care, a potential sole practitioner hiring you as an associate may wonder why you took time off, and a bank who might give you a business loan may wonder about the gap.

But in the grand scheme of things, since you already know what you want, I don't see why you should delay at all, before or after. Getting your career up and running ASAP will be the best thing for finding balance for English and music. Either 1) you assume that dentistry will give you time for outside interests in which case delaying makes no sense... or 2) you assume that dentistry will not give you ample time for outside interests in which case delving deeper into those interests now only to give them up in a year or two makes no sense either. Sure, you'll have less time in dental *school* itself. But that's going to be the same game whichever path you choose.

I say, don't sell yourself short. Make a decision to have time for English and music in addition to your dental career, and get them all going soon. (And anecdotally, I can say that I became a better musician once my life stopped focusing 100% on it.)

That's not to say that gap years are bad---I've written several things on this board in support of them. But I support them for confused or unmotivated people, not for people who already know what they want.

 

[confidentandgood]

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[doc toothache]

Ambivalence is not a sought after quality in any health profession. What you do with your degree after you finish is your concern.