Salam Dusty ... how are you ?
I will weigh in with my experience on this touchy issue and I just hope it helps ...
Ok ya seedy, first things first. I personally think that if you are in the healthcare field in general (medicine ba2a wala dentistry) solely for the money, than I guess you are missing the whole point of medicine. Don't get me wrong, there is TONS of money in the healthcare industry, specially here in the states, but having such a mind set will not get you much of it. You have to love what you do ... mosh kalam aflam walahy ... it is very true. If you love making money, than go into business ... in all honesty ... get an MBA or something.
Anyways, moving on now. I graduated Ain Shams University School of Dentistry, and I can tell you first hand that it is easier than medicine. My older sister and younger brother both went through Ain Shams medical school, so I know. The challenge with dentistry is the clinical work. There is no way to say this without sounding biased to my own career, but dentistry does involve more clinical work, specially in school. Your first and second years (after i3dady) are constantly infiltrated with hands on clinical work and exams. On your 3rd year, you are in the clinics, and you are getting work done ! You have to manage your own patients, buy your supplies, follow up with the dental lab for your cases, etc ... Fourth year and imtiyaz are no different, you just get a little bit more efficient. And believe me, if you don't like dentistry BEFORE you get into it, you will not like it anymore later on. You might just end up in an acedemic position (oral pathology or histology ... il 7agat il gameela dee). Don't forget that the highest suicide rates among professionals belongs to non other than dentists (surprise), and it's for good reasons.
You must also note that once you get into dentistry, there is no way out. It is the same specialty over and over again. On the other hand, medicine offers you plenty of options upon graduation, in pursuing your lifetime career. I'm not trying to compare medicine to dentistry, I am sure you know what you like, but I'm just saying that some of the people switching might not know what they are getting into. In my case, I knew right from start that out of all of the medical specialities, the only one I was interested in was dentistry. And now I can say that I made a safe call. I have seen very very smart people wasted in dentistry, and wanting to switch to medicine. There is also a classmate of mine who decided to switch to pharmacy after struggling for a couple of years aftre graduating dental school !
Now, just for the purpose of the discussion, let's explore the yearly earnings of both careers. I can tell you right now just off the bat that medical doctors make significantly more money here in the US. I think the starting salary for a general dentist is in the neighborhood of the $100K, while physicians can start at $140K easy. Ofcourse you will hear stories of general dentists pulling in $200k+/year, but don't judge the book by it's cover. There is more to it.
Anyways, check these links out, and let me know what you think ...
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm#earnings
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos072.htm#earnings
I should also note that MBA's start at the same annual salaries as general dentists ... with just a 2-3 year (maybe even online) degree ... bala mo3adla bala bita3 ba2a ...
If you like medicine, go to medical school.
If you like money, get an MBA or something.
If you like bad breath and slober, get into dentistry.
