thoughts on this reddit thread?

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These arguments are so silly... look, you are lying to yourself if you say dental school is just as easy to get into as medical school. Its not. Not for MD school anyways. Those students' GPAs are higher, research is stronger, MCAT is tougher than DAT (sorry, but this is true)... the list goes on. BUT, who cares? Why compare the two? Hopefully you went into dentistry because you want to become a dentist, not because you couldn't get into med school. Getting a PhD is less competitive than getting into med school, but no one cares because those people want to be researchers. Dental school is less competitive than med school, but no one cares because you should want to be a dentist.

And look, ask any dental student who takes the CBSE (equivalent to USMLE Step 1) for OMFS residency. They will all tell you that med school is WAY harder than dental school. The amount of material they learn is absolutely insane, there is ZERO comparison. They know more than us because they need to know more than us.

But like I said, who cares?
 
toothsucker said:
These arguments are so silly... look, you are lying to yourself if you say dental school is just as easy to get into as medical school. Its not. Not for MD school anyways. Those students' GPAs are higher, research is stronger, MCAT is tougher than DAT (sorry, but this is true)... the list goes on. BUT, who cares? Why compare the two? Hopefully you went into dentistry because you want to become a dentist, not because you couldn't get into med school. Getting a PhD is less competitive than getting into med school, but no one cares because those people want to be researchers. Dental school is less competitive than med school, but no one cares because you should want to be a dentist.

And look, ask any dental student who takes the CBSE (equivalent to USMLE Step 1) for OMFS residency. They will all tell you that med school is WAY harder than dental school. The amount of material they learn is absolutely insane, there is ZERO comparison. They know more than us because they need to know more than us.

But like I said, who cares?
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I would like to respectfully disagree. I believe that dental school is harder to get into/more competitive. But as you said, who cares? We should all do what makes us happy and in a field where we can happily be productive members of society.
 
Dental school is definitely easier to get into. The MCAT is a beast of a test way harder than the DAT. Someone I know studied and got a 506 MCAT and then a 23 DAT. A 506 is not a good score while 23 is. Their GPAs also need to be higher. If you're competitive for med school you'll get into soooo many dental schools. More research, more volunteering, more shadowing, more scrutiny.

None of this matters though unless you're attracted to prestige. I think the lifestyle and work that dentists do is more favorable.
 
Most MD schools are harder to get into than most dental schools. There are some dental schools that would be harder to get into than most MD schools. In general, admission to DO school is more similar to that of dental school. In all honestly though, none of this matters. If you are going into either field to look better than others or to satisfy your ego than you are doing yourself a disservice. Go into a field that you love and will bring you the type of life you want. Both fields bring very different types of work and life-styles. Really, any field out there could be considered better/harder to get into, so don't get caught up in comparisons.
 
AppalachianDentalBoy said:
Dental school is definitely easier to get into. The MCAT is a beast of a test way harder than the DAT. Someone I know studied and got a 506 MCAT and then a 23 DAT. A 506 is not a good score while 23 is. Their GPAs also need to be higher. If you're competitive for med school you'll get into soooo many dental schools. More research, more volunteering, more shadowing, more scrutiny.

None of this matters though unless you're attracted to prestige. I think the lifestyle and work that dentists do is more favorable.
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yes. getting into medical school is definitely on a league of its own. But they've normalized that difficulty, and any field that is not as competitive=a joke to them.

For instance, IIRC a majority of law schools have >25% acceptance rate. Does that mean I should scoff at law students and consider them beneath me? no
 
lwergod said:
yes. getting into medical school is definitely on a league of its own. But they've normalized that difficulty, and any field that is not as competitive=a joke to them.

For instance, IIRC a majority of law schools have >25% acceptance rate. Does that mean I should scoff at law students and consider them beneath me? no
Click to expand...

I’ll be going to dental school. I don’t consider those going to an MD school better than me nor those going to an optometry school beneath me. Comparison is the thief of joy.
 
toothsucker said:
These arguments are so silly... look, you are lying to yourself if you say dental school is just as easy to get into as medical school. Its not. Not for MD school anyways. Those students' GPAs are higher, research is stronger, MCAT is tougher than DAT (sorry, but this is true)... the list goes on. BUT, who cares? Why compare the two? Hopefully you went into dentistry because you want to become a dentist, not because you couldn't get into med school. Getting a PhD is less competitive than getting into med school, but no one cares because those people want to be researchers. Dental school is less competitive than med school, but no one cares because you should want to be a dentist.

And look, ask any dental student who takes the CBSE (equivalent to USMLE Step 1) for OMFS residency. They will all tell you that med school is WAY harder than dental school. The amount of material they learn is absolutely insane, there is ZERO comparison. They know more than us because they need to know more than us.

But like I said, who cares?
Click to expand...
Actually most OMFS residents say that dental school is harder than medical school.

That being said I agree with your post. It is definitely harder to get into med school, but it doesnt really matter as both are medical fields and attract different "crowds."
 
I am in a health professional students group that is mostly Med students that does not have a healthcare focus. Because of that I have been to some events that were all old doctors and heard some jokes I wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s not personal. They make jokes about us the way some people make jokes about blondes or the polish. Sure it’s a dick move, but there isn’t really any malice to it. Frankly I don’t think we as groups have that clear an idea of what the other group does all day.
 
But at UCSF interview we had one of the few woman DDS/MD oral surgeon in the country. She said that dental school was harder than medical school. She said something along the lines of in dental school you are learning how to use your hands and expected to be a dentists when you graduate while in medical school it is mostly critical thinking and then you learn actual practical skills in residency after medical school. She also said in dental school they barely gave time to study for the boards but in medical school they gave 8 weeks to study for it. She only studied for 2 weeks and took the rest of the 6 weeks to go on vacation.

Anyways as you can tell some students are applying for egos lol
 
BatedPenguin said:
Actually most OMFS residents say that dental school is harder than medical school.

That being said I agree with your post. It is definitely harder to get into med school, but it doesnt really matter as both are medical fields and attract different "crowds."
Click to expand...
Except this isn't really a fair comparison. After 4 years of dental school, you have taken courses in biochem, micro, systems, etc. You then take only 2-3 years of med school, and you have seen a lot of the material previously.

Find me someone who did med school first and THEN dental school, I'm sure they would say med is harder.
 
toothsucker said:
Except this isn't really a fair comparison. After 4 years of dental school, you have taken courses in biochem, micro, systems, etc. You then take only 2-3 years of med school, and you have seen a lot of the material previously.

Find me someone who did med school first and THEN dental school, I'm sure they would say med is harder.
Click to expand...
upload_2018-11-29_14-56-28.jpeg
 
toothsucker said:
Except this isn't really a fair comparison. After 4 years of dental school, you have taken courses in biochem, micro, systems, etc. You then take only 2-3 years of med school, and you have seen a lot of the material previously.

Find me someone who did med school first and THEN dental school, I'm sure they would say med is harder.
Click to expand...

I disagree with your statement because you disregarded the fact that dental students MUST practice their hand skills at the clinic ON TOP OF the basic science classes like biochem, micro, etc.

Sure, these didactic classes are harder at med school, but i think dental school curriculum is more intense than that of med school because of the hands-on clinical aspect of dentistry.
 
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toothsucker said:
Except this isn't really a fair comparison. After 4 years of dental school, you have taken courses in biochem, micro, systems, etc. You then take only 2-3 years of med school, and you have seen a lot of the material previously.

Find me someone who did med school first and THEN dental school, I'm sure they would say med is harder.
Click to expand...
Well that's a baseless assumption because no one does medical school first. But for now I'll listen to the opinion of those that have gone to both and they all seem to think D school is harder (mainly due to volume.)
 
Crown2018 said:
I disagree with your statement because you disregarded the fact that dental students MUST practice their hand skills at the clinic ON TOP OF the basic science classes like biochem, micro, etc.

Sure, these didactic classes are harder at med school, but i think dental school curriculum is more intense than that of med school because of the hands-on clinical aspect of dentistry.
Click to expand...

"but i think dental school curriculum is more intense" dude wait till you are in d-school... I would 10000% rather be drilling out plastic teeth than trying to memorize the side effect profile of the sympathomimetic drugs. And I've done both.

Dental school didactics pale in comparison to the med school counterparts. My background is in dentistry. I've seen both sides, and sorry folks medicine is harder.

This question is from USMLE Step 1:

A 5-year-old boy is admitted to the hospital because of a 1-week history of fever and increasingly severe abdominal discomfort. At the age of 7 months, he was treated for osteomyelitis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. He has been admitted to the hospital three times during the past 4 years for severe pneumonia. He appears moderately ill. His temperature is 39°C (102.2°F). Abdominal examination shows an enlarged, tender liver. Ultrasonography of the abdomen shows an intrahepatic abscess. Culture of the abscess fluid grows Staphylococcus aureus. Further analysis shows failure of the neutrophils to undergo an oxidative burst when exposed to S. aureus. This patient has an increased susceptibility to infection as a result of which of the following abnormalities?

(A) Deficient leukocyte production
(B) Failure of leukocytes to migrate between endothelial cells
(C) Failure of leukocytes to roll along the endothelial surface
(D) Inability of leukocytes to ingest microorganisms
(E) Inability of leukocytes to kill intracellular microorganisms

NBDE Part 1

The one calcified structure of a tooth incapable of continued growth after eruption is the
A. enamel.
B. dentin.
C. cementum.
D. true denticle
 
I think Dental school is more competitive to get into vs how many are applying, but Medical school is harder to get into overall, at least MD school. Dental and DO are about equivalent minus the MCAT.

There is no comparison for the MCAT. the DAT is the equivalent of 2 college finals stapled together (studying it now). Hard, but manageable. The MCAT was a nightmare. Im scoring in the 80%ile on the DAT practice tests when I was scoring in the 20% on the MCAT ones. I took the MCAT multiple times and failed multiple times. DAT and OAT are much more manageable.

However, while a 50% MCAT will get you into DO school, you need around a 90% to get into a Dental school. This is where the "competitiveness" comes into play.

Point is, feel proud about the DDS degree. If you can manage to keep your debt down (around 200K, which is almost impossible unless you get into a state school), DDS degree is one of the best investments you can make. Only 4 years, get to help people in the healthcare field, autonomy, "Doctor" title, and most if not all dentists make six figures. whats not to love?

Plus, you're only gonna be working 40 hrs/week, if that. Most docs I know clock in around the 60 hr/week mark.
 
Here's one perspective from someone who went from dental school and then to medical school for OMFS residency:

KillaCam said:
Now, after having been to med school, I can see how different and better students are treated at a med school compared to a dental school. After my first week at med school I was like Holy **** is this how a health profession school is supposed to be like!? Talk about med students whining and being babied man, what a joke that is. Funny thing is they don't know nor can understand how good they actually have it.
Click to expand...
 
toothsucker said:
"but i think dental school curriculum is more intense" dude wait till you are in d-school... I would 10000% rather be drilling out plastic teeth than trying to memorize the side effect profile of the sympathomimetic drugs. And I've done both.

Dental school didactics pale in comparison to the med school counterparts. My background is in dentistry. I've seen both sides, and sorry folks medicine is harder.

This question is from USMLE Step 1:

A 5-year-old boy is admitted to the hospital because of a 1-week history of fever and increasingly severe abdominal discomfort. At the age of 7 months, he was treated for osteomyelitis caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. He has been admitted to the hospital three times during the past 4 years for severe pneumonia. He appears moderately ill. His temperature is 39°C (102.2°F). Abdominal examination shows an enlarged, tender liver. Ultrasonography of the abdomen shows an intrahepatic abscess. Culture of the abscess fluid grows Staphylococcus aureus. Further analysis shows failure of the neutrophils to undergo an oxidative burst when exposed to S. aureus. This patient has an increased susceptibility to infection as a result of which of the following abnormalities?

(A) Deficient leukocyte production
(B) Failure of leukocytes to migrate between endothelial cells
(C) Failure of leukocytes to roll along the endothelial surface
(D) Inability of leukocytes to ingest microorganisms
(E) Inability of leukocytes to kill intracellular microorganisms

NBDE Part 1

The one calcified structure of a tooth incapable of continued growth after eruption is the
A. enamel.
B. dentin.
C. cementum.
D. true denticle
Click to expand...

You're only comparing the didactic aspects of both fields, which is not a fair comparison lol.
 
I was reading through the thread and this caught my eye:
upload_2018-11-29_17-42-25.png

So are there people living in the future tho? Or did Dec 3rd fly us by? This is just being uninformed af smh

They're both competitive in their own regard, and require lots of hard work and dedication. And yeah, while some people weren't able to get into med and thus decided to do dentistry, there are many more that wanted to do dentistry from the start. Just ignore those that are uninformed, or better yet, let them know that not everyone in DS was a med school reject. All this bashing is going to continue to keep happening unless people start making changes. After all, don't we all have to work together to have healthy and happy communities?

Just do you and be happy. You'll be less stressed with 40 hour weeks (if even that) and lots of family time while making bank. People in other professions don't always have this kind of lifestyle. Sure they may make more or think they're superior, but so what? Your life and choices were different from theirs, and that's it. You do you.

/rant
 
Sounds like someone has self esteem issues lol
I would imagine a fair fraction of us are here because of relative interest in the field. At the end of the day I'd much rather be happy with my decision as opposed to having a job that society thinks is pReStIigiOUs
 
Crown2018 said:
You're only comparing the didactic aspects of both fields, which is not a fair comparison lol.
Click to expand...
Dude, you don't want to compare clinical aspects of both fields. Please google "clinical clerkship". Med students' preclinical and clincial activities are way more demanding than ours. Regular 12 hour days on surgery, rounding every day from 5-6 AM, it got bad enough that the ACGME had to come in and cap things at 80 hours/week because there was evidence of poor patient care at higher hours.
This doesn't need to be a pissing contest. I chose dentistry because I love the field and scope. I could care less that my medical colleagues work much harder to do something that is (in my eyes) more demanding, less interesting, and less rewarding.
 
princeafrica said:
But at UCSF interview we had one of the few woman DDS/MD oral surgeon in the country. She said that dental school was harder than medical school. She said something along the lines of in dental school you are learning how to use your hands and expected to be a dentists when you graduate while in medical school it is mostly critical thinking and then you learn actual practical skills in residency after medical school. She also said in dental school they barely gave time to study for the boards but in medical school they gave 8 weeks to study for it. She only studied for 2 weeks and took the rest of the 6 weeks to go on vacation.

Anyways as you can tell some students are applying for egos lol
Click to expand...

ECU also has a woman MD/DDS she interviewed me!
 
toothsucker said:
Dude, you don't want to compare clinical aspects of both fields. Please google "clinical clerkship". Med students' preclinical and clincial activities are way more demanding than ours. Regular 12 hour days on surgery, rounding every day from 5-6 AM, it got bad enough that the ACGME had to come in and cap things at 80 hours/week because there was evidence of poor patient care at higher hours.
This doesn't need to be a pissing contest. I chose dentistry because I love the field and scope. I could care less that my medical colleagues work much harder to do something that is (in my eyes) more demanding, less interesting, and less rewarding.
Click to expand...

The saying is, "I couldn't care less...". When you say that you "could care less" it sounds like you care a lot already.
 
i don't know but i feel you have to compare the two at different stages.

Preparing to Apply: Pre-Med students need higher GPA, actually need quality research, then of course shadowing/clinical exposure/volunteer. The MCAT, like mentioned above, is much more difficult than the DAT since they have more subjects to cover.

Actually Applying: After looking more closely into the numbers, the chances ARE BASICALLY THE SAME. (I think pre-meds also have it harder since even though they have more programs, there are also way more applicants. Now these % chance will obviously depend on where you apply and your overall competitiveness. Keep in mind these are in "applications" not "applicants" which are completely different. Each applicant can potentially submitted multiple applications so the numbers are pretty skewed.)
  • roughly 52,777 MD applicants for ~22,000 seats. (~41.68% chance)
  • roughly 12,000 dental school applicants for ~6000 seats. (~50% chance)

Once in school: Dental school is harder than medical school, at least for the first two years. Dental students have classes all day then have to go to lab to practice their hand skills. Hand skills don't come easy to everyone whereas cramming for the next test and memorizing information is like second nature.

At the end of the day, these two people are completely different. They each have their own unique qualities and career goals. We're all in the healthcare industry and our main focus should be to work together and effectively treat the patient back to optimal health. It's not a competition of titles.
 
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coldicecream said:
i don't know but i feel you have to compare the two at different stages.

Preparing to Apply: Pre-Med students need higher GPA, actually need quality research, then of course shadowing/clinical exposure/volunteer. The MCAT, like mentioned above, is much more difficult than the DAT since they have more subjects to cover.

Actually Applying: I think pre-meds also have it harder since even though they have more programs, there are also way more applicants. Now these % chance will obviously depend on where you apply and your overall competitiveness. Keep in mind these are in "applications" not "applicants" which are completely different. Each applicant can potentially submitted multiple applications so the numbers are pretty skewed.
  • roughly 850,000 MD applications for ~22,000 seats. (~3.88% chance)
  • roughly 12,000 dental school applications for ~6000 seats. (~50% chance)

Once in school: Dental school is harder than medical school, at least for the first two years. Dental students have classes all day then have to go to lab to practice their hand skills. Hand skills don't come easy to everyone whereas cramming for the next test and memorizing information is like second nature.

At the end of the day, these two people are completely different. They each have their own unique qualities and career goals. We're all in the healthcare industry and our main focus should be to work together and effectively treat the patient back to optimal health. It's not a competition of titles.
Click to expand...


I don’t think the 850k applicants is accurate. You added up the total number of applicants per school but we know that each med student applies to like 20+ schools.

Your source says “1849,678 is the number of applications from 52,777 applicants, an average of 16 applications per applicant.”

I’m just pointing that out because for Dental you mentioned number of applicants but for medical you mentioned total number of applications.

But I do agree with your point
 
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coldicecream said:
i don't know but i feel you have to compare the two at different stages.

Preparing to Apply: Pre-Med students need higher GPA, actually need quality research, then of course shadowing/clinical exposure/volunteer. The MCAT, like mentioned above, is much more difficult than the DAT since they have more subjects to cover.

Actually Applying: I think pre-meds also have it harder since even though they have more programs, there are also way more applicants. Now these % chance will obviously depend on where you apply and your overall competitiveness. Keep in mind these are in "applications" not "applicants" which are completely different. Each applicant can potentially submitted multiple applications so the numbers are pretty skewed.
  • roughly 850,000 MD applications for ~22,000 seats. (~3.88% chance)
  • roughly 12,000 dental school applications for ~6000 seats. (~50% chance)

Once in school: Dental school is harder than medical school, at least for the first two years. Dental students have classes all day then have to go to lab to practice their hand skills. Hand skills don't come easy to everyone whereas cramming for the next test and memorizing information is like second nature.

At the end of the day, these two people are completely different. They each have their own unique qualities and career goals. We're all in the healthcare industry and our main focus should be to work together and effectively treat the patient back to optimal health. It's not a competition of titles.
Click to expand...



your numbers are off. USMD schools had around ~53,000 unique applicants and ~22,000 matriculants. that's roughly a 40% applicant to enrollee ratio. That's not even including DO schools btw.



https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstablea1.pdf
 
princeafrica said:
I don’t think the 850k applicants is accurate. You added up the total number of applicants per school but we know that each med student applies to like 20+ schools.

Your source says “1849,678 is the number of applications from 52,777 applicants, an average of 16 applications per applicant.”

I’m just pointing that out because for Dental you mentioned number of applicants but for medical you mentioned total number of applications.

But I do agree with your point
Click to expand...

yeah i noticed the applicants vs applications so i changed it because 850K applicants did sound like a lot.
but thanks for pointing it out. It's easier to compare with numbers instead of hearsay.
 
lwergod said:
your numbers are off. USMD schools had around ~53,000 unique applicants and ~22,000 matriculants. that's roughly a 40% applicant to enrollee ratio. That's not even including DO schools btw.



https://www.aamc.org/download/321442/data/factstablea1.pdf
Click to expand...

i didn't want to include DO schools because most pre-med students see it as a backup to MD.
honestly, i googled for a couple minutes to get some numbers to this thread since everyone is talking about hearsay and feelings.
 
Let's just say I wish I haven't read this, who do they think they are?

Many doctors have this superiority complex and the god complex.......
 
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This topic is honestly so wack, why is everyone trying to compare themselves to others and prove that their career choice is harder. This isn't high school anymore, just be happy with your choice and stay in your lane.
 
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Lol. You should know that 90 percent of reddit posts contain trolls who use loads of satire. Even as a pre-dent in this cycle, a lot of those comments made me laugh. Here's my overall opinion: Med school is harder to get into than dental school. While it may be harder to get into Med school, I think both are probably extremely difficult to attend. Overall average GPA is higher for med schools and I honestly think the MCAT is harder than the DAT. DAT is basically brute memorization and the questions are mostly straightforward, while the MCAT requires a lot of analytical skills. But once again, they are completely different monsters. We all know why we chose dentistry, and if those type of comments make you question your decision, then really reconsider why you're going towards this path. Dentistry is an amazing field that allows for creativity, business opportunities, family time, good salary, and the ability to help people in the community. No one's opinion should matter but your own. Choose what you wanna do and forget the haters. This is my own personal opinion, just to remind you.
 
MCAT is much harder than DAT.
USMLE/COMLEX is much harder than NBDE.
Med school didactic classes are generally harder than their dental school counterparts.
Residency is mandatory in med school while it's optional in dental school.

Thank God for that. I don't need all that extra stress. Unlike them, I already know what I'm gonna be specializing in: dentistry. I don't need to waste time learning stuff I won't ever need.

Ask any medical specialist about areas of medicine outside of their specialty. They won't remember much. Learn everything only to eventually forget much of it, or just focus on your field from the start?

They have us working in dental labs from day one. We start treating patients in our third year. We don't just shadow residents and faculty. They're our patients.

That is to say, our third and fourth year + 1-2 years in practice are basically our residency. Dental residencies are our subspecialties.

Less time and less stress, with potential for more money and far greater autonomy. It's a no-brainer as long as you're truly interested in dentistry.
 
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Crown2018 said:
I disagree with your statement because you disregarded the fact that dental students MUST practice their hand skills at the clinic ON TOP OF the basic science classes like biochem, micro, etc.

Sure, these didactic classes are harder at med school, but i think dental school curriculum is more intense than that of med school because of the hands-on clinical aspect of dentistry.
Click to expand...
I'm at one of those schools where you take your hand skills courses on top of med school (first two years we take all classes and tests together, same grade requirements, etc).

Med school isn't that hard.

I'd love to hear tooth sucker's experience with med school since he has so much to say.
 
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sobertiger said:
MCAT is much harder than DAT.
USMLE/COMLEX is much harder than NBDE.
Med school didactic classes are generally harder than their dental school counterparts.
Residency is mandatory in med school while it's optional in dental school.

Thank God for that. I don't need all that extra stress. Unlike them, I already know what I'm gonna be specializing in: dentistry. I don't need to waste time learning stuff I won't ever need.

Ask any medical specialist about areas of medicine outside of their specialty. They won't remember much. Learn everything only to eventually forget much of it, or just focus on your field from the start?

They have us working in dental labs from day one. We start treating patients in our third year. We don't just shadow residents and faculty. They're our patients.

That is to say, our third and fourth year + 1-2 years in practice are basically our residency. Dental residencies are our subspecialties.

Less time and less stress, with potential for more money and far greater autonomy. It's a no-brainer as long as you're truly interested in dentistry.
Click to expand...
This is true, and few people talk about it.

However, knowing how to deal with medically compromised patients and manage medical complications during procedures/surgeries is a big plus, and if anybody doesn't feel like they got enough of that in a non-med dental school, I think everybody would at least benefit from some postgraduate or CE on it.
 
princeafrica said:
But at UCSF interview we had one of the few woman DDS/MD oral surgeon in the country. She said that dental school was harder than medical school. She said something along the lines of in dental school you are learning how to use your hands and expected to be a dentists when you graduate while in medical school it is mostly critical thinking and then you learn actual practical skills in residency after medical school. She also said in dental school they barely gave time to study for the boards but in medical school they gave 8 weeks to study for it. She only studied for 2 weeks and took the rest of the 6 weeks to go on vacation.

Anyways as you can tell some students are applying for egos lol
Click to expand...
There are lots of women DDS-MD's. We have been graduating them for years. We have some on our attending staff. The gender gap in OMFS is disappearing. As in most of dentistry.
 
I have been seeing this age old discussion of med vs dent for years, and as pre dents, or dental students, you can not really understand what the true meaning of each profession is. Both schools are difficult, and each trains you to do different things. There is no right or wrong, they are both just different. As far as respect goes, I feel, IMHO, that respect is earned, and that there are elite providers in both fields, and poor providers in both fields. That boils down to who and what you want to be.
In my experience as a PD at a large urban medical center, the dental staff is well respected by the MD community. We provide expert care not only to our diverse patient pool, but often to the staff itself. When our medical director had a toothache, he was appreciative of my ability to not only relieve his pain, provide a reasonable restorative plan, and make a complete explanation of why his experience happened, but that this was the standard of care for all of our patients. The MD's respect us because we do not pretend to do their job, and they do not pretend or understand ours.
And in a hospital environment (private practice has its own set of rules, and I will talk about that some other time) with all of the oversight, rules, and accountability that comes with it, the fact is that the nurses really run the hospital. If you have any doubt, you have not been through a JCAOH survey or any other hospital accreditation visit.
You are either happy with who you are, or unhappy with who you are not. I am happy being a dentist. Not always the easiest thing to say as it is a tough and often stressful job. But I never look at the MD's (I have lunch with the other residency directors often, all MD's) and wish I had gone that route. Satisfaction with dentistry comes from patient care, collaboration with your peers, collaboration with other healthcare professionals, continuing education, and involvement with dental organizations. Isolation can lead to dissatisfaction.
 
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