Thoughts on this situation. Need some advice.

[sasoriboi]

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Hey everyone,

So I've made the decision of wanting to apply to medical school this coming up year. After being in dental school a year, I realized it wasn't for me. In summary, I wanted to expand beyond the oral cavity; I didn't feel content with the work I was doing, however I LOVED the anatomic sciences and biochemistry all throughout. With that, along with multiple family related health issues that have occurred recently, I decided that I want to go into medicine. But I'm kind of in a weird situation:

First in college I wanted to do medicine. I shadowed and volunteered, and lost the "spark", so I never applied to med school. I still wanted to work in a health career, and explored other options. Dentistry was very appealing to me, but after being in dental school, I just didn't feel happy with what I was doing..I wanted more..I felt like I was limited with only the oral cavity as my focus. Thus, I wanted to do more, and this led me back to medicine. I've never been more motivated to get into this career. I TRULY want to go to med school more than anything. I just wouldn't want my LOR writers to get the wrong idea ("oh first he wanted medicine, then he didn't like it, then dentistry, then he didn't like it, now back to medicine..what changed?"), especially when they know me very well. You know, stuff like that. I know it sounds like an odd situation, and some might think "what changed", but honestly, I found the field of medicine 100x more interesting than dentistry, I was just swayed away by seeing doctors always on-call, and people dying in the hospital (maybe I just had a bad shadowing experience/ not enough experience- I regret shadowing primarily a surgeon, which may have swayed my decision). But after being in dental school and having a much more appreciation for treating the person as a whole (and the whole body) rather than just the oral cavity, and for always enjoying the anatomic sciences a lot more than the dental sciences, I've realized that it was a mistake leaving medicine and not applying to medical school. I feel that if I were in an interview right now, I could explain my passion 110% and prove that this is right for me.

I know it's a confusing story, and I definitely have some work to do, but I have a strong GPA (3.9+), good EC, research, and volunteering (and will be continuing to volunteer), and will continue to do shadowing in the medical field with various specialties. I'm striving for at least a 509 MCAT score.

Can I have some advice on this? I'm really having a tough time with this situation, and just want to move forward and give it my all. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Gastrapathy]

Advice on what?

 

[sasoriboi]

Advice on what?

Sorry, I guess I'm asking for advice/opinions on how much situations looks/ will look when applying.

 

[sasoriboi]

It sounds like
1) you currently are in dental school (or perhaps has dropped out)
2) you want to leave dental and apply to medical school
3) You believe your expression of enthusiasm will get you in
4) Your actions show significant issue with motivation and commitment, especially if you have dropped out of a professional school and now want to start another.

Please clearly express where you are right now?

People leave professional careers and go to other ones all the time. I know plenty of med students that went dental and vice versa, lawyers that went to med, etc. What's wrong with wanting to switch careers? I don't think there's anything wrong with that, or that it shows lack of motivation or commitment. If you dont like something, you dont like it, and sometimes you realize that later than sooner. I'm not saying my expression of enthusiasm will get me in, or anything liek that. I'm not justifying anything like that. Dental school isnt for me, thus I'm leaving it and going to apply to med school. I don't see what the problem is with that. I think I just got the wrong exposure for medicine, and realized dentistry wasnt for me later than earlier.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

People leave professional careers and go to other ones all the time. I know plenty of med students that went dental and vice versa, lawyers that went to med, etc. What's wrong with wanting to switch careers? I don't think there's anything wrong with that, or that it shows lack of motivation or commitment.

This is true. People who have practiced law or have been engineers, etc. have practiced for years before deciding to go into medicine. The issue with your situation is that you don't have a career as a Dentist, yet. You just finished your first year of dental school.

The issues that gonnif (as a former Adcom) as well as other Adcoms will point out when they see your medical school application are whether you are immature, hasty, indecisive, wishy-washy and moving from one career choice to another without having practiced in that career to understand what it really is like.

He is trying to make sure you aware of this probability so that you can have a plausible answer to combat it should you get medical school interview invites.

 

[Catalystik]

So I've made the decision of wanting to apply to medical school this coming up year. After being in dental school a year, I realized it wasn't for me. In summary, I wanted to expand beyond the oral cavity; I didn't feel content with the work I was doing, however I LOVED the anatomic sciences and biochemistry all throughout. With that, along with multiple family related health issues that have occurred recently, I decided that I want to go into medicine. But I'm kind of in a weird situation:

First in college I wanted to do medicine. I shadowed and volunteered, and lost the "spark", so I never applied to med school. I still wanted to work in a health career, and explored other options. Dentistry was very appealing to me, but after being in dental school, I just didn't feel happy with what I was doing..I wanted more..I felt like I was limited with only the oral cavity as my focus. Thus, I wanted to do more, and this led me back to medicine. I've never been more motivated to get into this career. I TRULY want to go to med school more than anything. I just wouldn't want my LOR writers to get the wrong idea ("oh first he wanted medicine, then he didn't like it, then dentistry, then he didn't like it, now back to medicine..what changed?"), especially when they know me very well. You know, stuff like that. I know it sounds like an odd situation, and some might think "what changed", but honestly, I found the field of medicine 100x more interesting than dentistry, I was just swayed away by seeing doctors always on-call, and people dying in the hospital (maybe I just had a bad shadowing experience/ not enough experience- I regret shadowing primarily a surgeon, which may have swayed my decision). But after being in dental school and having a much more appreciation for treating the person as a whole (and the whole body) rather than just the oral cavity, and for always enjoying the anatomic sciences a lot more than the dental sciences, I've realized that it was a mistake leaving medicine and not applying to medical school. I feel that if I were in an interview right now, I could explain my passion 110% and prove that this is right for me.

I know it's a confusing story, and I definitely have some work to do, but I have a strong GPA (3.9+), good EC, research, and volunteering (and will be continuing to volunteer), and will continue to do shadowing in the medical field with various specialties. I'm striving for at least a 509 MCAT score.

Can I have some advice on this? I'm really having a tough time with this situation, and just want to move forward and give it my all. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

I'm asking for advice/opinions on how much situations looks/ will look when applying.

Why did you start a second thread on the same topic instead of continuing to build on the old one at Looking into medicine. Opinions and advice needed

You've already gotten good advice.

 

[sasoriboi]

The main three things that medical schools look for in this order is: 1) motivation; 2) commitment; and 3) achievement.

You are now quitting a professional program which raises two main concerns
1) Motivation: Are you moving because you decided you hated dentistry or because you love medicine? Running from something is very different than running towards something
2) Commitment: If you are willing to leave a professional program before completion, it raises the issue that you might leave before completing medical school and training, which may be even more intense than dental school.

As @DV-T has accurately stated, being a practicing dentist, lawyer, nurse is very, very different from leaving school to do something else. Indeed, medical schools generally dislike an applicant who has not/will not complete any graduate degree, even a lowly masters, before they apply/attend medical school.

I am not trying to tell you it impossible to do so, but I am trying to tell you the reality of the situation. So if you want some help with both this emotional and professional decision that you are grappling with, then I suggest you take a freezing cold shower until you scream, and lets try to deal with the reality of the issue and not simply your wants, desires, and the rest

I know it doesn't look the best for me, but I wouldnt risk leaving dental school (with not even having a guarantee of being accepted into med school- not to mention the loans and time I invested) if I wasn't 100% sure about this. I understand where you and everyone is coming from, I really do. And I know that I would have a battle to explain my situation to schools, and why I wouldnt be doing the same thing in med school. But I know that I could convince schools if I have the chance. Yes, I know I'm not a dentist, but I think it's better to leave something you have no passion or desire to do early on (and understand you mistakes), than invest more time and money for something that isn't worth it to me. I think that is better than finishing a degree and realizing the same thing in the long run. It's not like I've done poorly in dental school. If anything, my grades would say otherwise. I think schools should be understanding and realize that not everything you go into is something you're going to automatically love, and that it's ok to switch. I gave dental school a chance; it's not like I quit after a month. I know what I want, and am willing to work 100% for it.

 

[sasoriboi]

Why did you start a second thread on the same topic instead of continuing to build on the old one at Looking into medicine. Opinions and advice needed

You've already gotten good advice.

Sorry, I realize a lot of material overlaps, but I made a separate thread because I am now 100% set on applying to med school. I just wanted to see what schools/adcoms would think in general.

 

[sasoriboi]

You are missing the main point: your actions have already spoken and may by themselves be louder than your words. So what actions will you take now to over come that?

I mean I'm not sure what else I can do besides have a well rounded app and explain myself. I think it's stupid that an applicant is judged based on if they want to switch career paths. Plenty of people have done it. So does that make them a bad person? People can't make mistakes?

 

[sasoriboi]

I mean realistically, what else can I do?

 

[deleted804295]

It sounds like
1) you currently are in dental school (or perhaps has dropped out)
2) you want to leave dental and apply to medical school
3) You believe your expression of enthusiasm will get you in
4) Your actions show significant issue with motivation and commitment, especially if you have dropped out of a professional school and now want to start another.

Please clearly express where you are right now?

Do you recommend he had racked up debt and wasted years of his life doing something he didn't want to do?

OP's track record is a good one. He clearly had to do good in undergrad in order to get into dental school, he's shown clinical experience and he already has prereqs.

Additionally, OP showed he had determination to leave something that had large risks. The red flag to me isn't his commitment, it's that he "lost the spark" of going into medical school. He shadowed yet he still went down the path of dentistry. To me the question isn't how committed he is, it's "how will I know that you wont lose the spark again while in Medical school".

To @sasoriboi :

My advice to you is to rack up a significant amount of hours of shadowing. You're going to have to do an amount that will convince adcoms that you won't lose the spark again after your poor experience in dental school.

Also to OP:
If @gonnif throws my argument to the ground listen to him over me. He's an adcom, I'm a second year undergrad.

 

[sasoriboi]

when you have several thousand people applying at any individual medical school for a few hundred spots, for a education and training that takes years of commitment, having quit on a long-term commitment, particularly in something closely related, raises a huge red flag. Why should they risk the time and effort to even for the interview process, much less serious consideration for admission who has already dropped out. So, let me try to be clear about. What you say in your application to medical school will mean **** unless they are supported by concrete actions. So, now lets workshop this. List 10 things that you can do/actions, that you can think of that might show new motivation and commitment.

1. Lots of shadowing, in a variety of areas of medicine

2. Clinical volunteering

3. Well thought out and supported personal statement

4. Service to the underserved

5. Get LORs from people who can back my decision up

6. Involvement in the community

7. Maybe a job in a hospital?

8. Start an organization in town that dedicates time to help out somewhere nearby, maybe even the hospital?

I really can't think of anything else. I don't know what else I could possibly do. You're making it almost sound like I'm WRONG in wanting to decide on a different career path. Yes, medicine and dentistry have many similarities but they are vastly different in the work they deal with. You're making it sound like no one switches career paths and no one has gotten into medical school after leaving another profession. People realize something is not for them sometimes, that's the bottom line. I don't know what the harm in that is. I'm sure there's plenty of applicants who would be a great addition to a school (ones that have experience from other grad schools or career paths especially). I understand that schools may not think the best of applicants that decide to leave a program, but if it's not for them, it's not for them. I've even discussed this with my undergrad advisor, and they mentioned that people switch all the time, and as long as you can prove that you're committed to the new profession there's no big issue. Like I said, I don't know what else I can do than what I listed above.

 

[sasoriboi]

Do you recommend he had racked up debt and wasted years of his life doing something he didn't want to do?

OP's track record is a good one. He clearly had to do good in undergrad in order to get into dental school, he's shown clinical experience and he already has prereqs.

Additionally, OP showed he had determination to leave something that had large risks. The red flag to me isn't his commitment, it's that he "lost the spark" of going into medical school. He shadowed yet he still went down the path of dentistry. To me the question isn't how committed he is, it's "how will I know that you wont lose the spark again while in Medical school".

To @sasoriboi :

My advice to you is to rack up a significant amount of hours of shadowing. You're going to have to do an amount that will convince adcoms that you won't lose the spark again after your poor experience in dental school.

Also to OP:
If @gonnif throws my argument to the ground listen to him over me. He's an adcom, I'm a second year undergrad.

Well to be honest, I think I got the wrong idea of medicine from primarily shadowing a surgeon. I limited my options, and would have been better off shadowing multiple specialties. Kind of got discouraged from that.

 

[Goro]

You're making it almost sound like I'm WRONG in wanting to decide on a different career path. Yes, medicine and dentistry have many similarities but they are vastly different in the work they deal with. You're making it sound like no one switches career paths and no one has gotten into medical school after leaving another profession. People realize something is not for them sometimes, that's the bottom line. I don't know what the harm in that is. I'm sure there's plenty of applicants who would be a great addition to a school (ones that have experience from other grad schools or career paths especially). I understand that schools may not think the best of applicants that decide to leave a program, but if it's not for them, it's not for them. I've even discussed this with my undergrad advisor, and they mentioned that people switch all the time, and as long as you can prove that you're committed to the new profession there's no big issue. Like I said, I don't know what else I can do than what I listed above.

I'm trying to say this in the nicest possible way: You're still not getting it.

You don't have a profession yet; you're a student, not a professional.

There's nothing wrong with switching careers. But you don't have a career yet.

As of right now, I, as an Adcom would look at you and wonder "and when is he going to bail on us?"

And stop engaging in magic thinking. Your PS isn't going to make Admissions deans scream out "We have to invite this kid!!!" Words are easy, doing is harder.

You have a pretty decent list "doing, not words". Start doing that. What I would want to see is more shadowing, more patient contact experience, and dental patients don't count. I want to know that you're willing to be around sick and injured people for the next 30 years.

I also want to see a LOR from one of your DDS school faculty.

And lastly, service to others less fortunate than yourself. Medicine is a service profession.

 

[sasoriboi]

I'm trying to say this in the nicest possible way: You're still not getting it.

You don't have a profession yet; you're a student, not a professional.

There's nothing wrong with switching careers. But you don't have a career yet.

As of right now, I, as an Adcom would look at you and wonder "and when is he going to bail on us?"

And stop engaging in magic thinking. Your PS isn't going to make Admissions deans scream out "We have to invite this kid!!!" Words are easy, doing is harder.

You have a pretty decent list "doing, not words". Start doing that. What I would want to see is more shadowing, more patient contact experience, and dental patients don't count. I want to know that you're willing to be around sick and injured people for the next 30 years.

I also want to see a LOR from one of your DDS school faculty.

And lastly, service to others less fortunate than yourself. Medicine is a service profession.

Totally understand that. I get I'm not in a profession. But what I'm saying is I don't think it's worth it to stick with something that you don't enjoy anymore, something that doesn't make you happy (rather than just finishing to end up feeling the same). I can definitely do what you suggested and what I listed. I have no problem making a commitment and demonstrating my motivation. I'm willing to make any and all sacrifices.

 

[Goro]

Totally understand that. I get I'm not in a profession. But what I'm saying is I don't think it's worth it to stick with something that you don't enjoy anymore, something that doesn't make you happy (rather than just finishing to end up feeling the same). I can definitely do what you suggested and what I listed. I have no problem making a commitment and demonstrating my motivation. I'm willing to make any and all sacrifices.

Then you know what to do.