Uncertainty

[David1991]

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Hey guys, I made almost the exact same thread in the Dental section but I would like to get opinions from both sides. I'm hoping I can get some pieces of advice or words of wisdom here.

I'm a freshman in college and since High School I've said I wanted to become a doctor. In the last year I started leaning towards dentistry. The way I see you have
Pros: less malpractice insurance, less residency/schooling, less hours worked per week, more flexibility, more potential to open a practice (?)

Cons: more manual work, need to be more exact, less advice giving to patients

but in the last few weeks I suddenly got this feeling of "do I even want to do this? Or is it just a dream I started with before I got enough information?"

My real interests/passion is in nutrition/lifting...but obviously something like personal training isn't going to be making much money. And yes, part of the reason I want to do this is for the money. I have an interest in helping people but in all honestly I absolutely wouldn't be working so hard to make $50k/year or something. So the downside of dentistry is that it seems like I don't get to have the same connection with the patients where I can talk and give some health advice, but as mentioned there are many pros to it over standard medicine.

I feel like it is a good path but I'm constantly reminded how it's really manual work and you have to be good with your hands and whatnot. I started reading some med student blogs which has made me a little more excited about medicine in general but I just hope I'm making the right choice. I "feel right" about imagining myself as a doctor in the future with my own practice but also because I was always under the impression that it was a good lifestyle.

I appreciate any feedback
-David

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Needs to be more exact?? Go talk to an otolaryngologist or Neurosurgeon or someone figure out the right dose of warfarin.

I vote open up your own gym and work as a Personal Trainer.

 

[Catalystik]

If you haven't done so, perhaps shadowing a physician (maybe in sports medicine) and a dentist will help you make up your mind.

Do a search with the search term "dentist" in this forum and you'll find multiple threads on the topic, like this one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=654512&highlight=dentist

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

shadow/intern..
dentistry is by far a lot easier in terms of studying..
however its private practices all the way..
before you'll be likely working under a well established dentist until you can afford a practice..
do remember.. that cities for dentists suck..
4 years.. and you could be part of the 10% that go into the ever lucrative/money extreme oral surgery or othadonistry

but yes.. you could do sports medicine..
its residency is probably pretty light..

 

[David1991]

If you haven't done so, perhaps shadowing a physician (maybe in sports medicine) and a dentist will help you make up your mind.

Do a search with the search term "dentist" in this forum and you'll find multiple threads on the topic, like this one: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=654512&highlight=dentist

Thanks I'll look through that thread and some others later today.

shadow/intern..
dentistry is by far a lot easier in terms of studying..
however its private practices all the way..
before you'll be likely working under a well established dentist until you can afford a practice..
do remember.. that cities for dentists suck..
4 years.. and you could be part of the 10% that go into the ever lucrative/money extreme oral surgery or othadonistry

but yes.. you could do sports medicine..
its residency is probably pretty light..

To both above posters, I'm actually supposed to be shadowing my Dentist over this winter break but it's been canceled twice so far so I'll probably start Monday

I do definitely want my own practice at some point and would prefer not to live in the city anyway.

It seems like I have more of an interest in health/medicine, but with all of the benefits of dentistry 😀

I haven't looked into sports medicine at all though so I'll check that out later today as well

Thanks guys and any other feedback is still appreciated.

 

[mnoon1]

shadow, shadow, shadow... especially because you may not connect with the first doctor or dentist you shadow or you may be bored out of your mind with a doctor that doesn't really want you around but this shouldn't deter you from further investigation either way (dent/med).

I've shadowed a family med doc (loved it)
an ob/gyn (hated it) he was a sweet man just not very talkative, I made an excuse and left after half a day
internal med doc (it was ok but he was extremely busy and I felt like I was in the way)
in an ER (hated it) they had a program where you just show up and sprint behind any doc going into any room and I prefer a more one-on-one experience
a pharmacist (loved it) lots of math and lots of patient/doc/nurse/other staff interactions
a nurse (loved the patient interaction) but it was in the ortho floor i work on and none of our patients can walk (hip/knee surgeries) and call out constantly for pain meds so our nurses seem to be pretty overworked

If you are disappointed with the first dental shadowing experience don't make that a reason to definitevely go the other route just shadow another dentist.

👍this actually sounds like fun actually... maybe i'll shadow a dentist too.

 

[SparkleMotion]

I personally wouldn't want to be in peoples mouths all day. As a pre-med that doesn't know the specifics of how I want to practice medicine, I can at least say I would never want to switch to dentistry.

If you think you would enjoy being a dentist, though, they have much better hours than most doctors (depending on field, work place et cetera), and make very good money.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I personally wouldn't want to be in peoples mouths all day. As a pre-med that doesn't know the specifics of how I want to practice medicine, I can at least say I would never want to switch to dentistry.

If you think you would enjoy being a dentist, though, they have much better hours than most doctors (depending on field, work place et cetera), and make very good money.

Youll be dealing with alot nastier stuff then saliva on a day to day basis in medical school.

 

[Catalystik]

Youll be dealing with alot nastier stuff then saliva on a day to day basis in medical school.

LOL. Too, too true.

 

[Duke of Dakota]

I think its a good sign that you are asking these questions early in your college career. I think many people are caught into the pre-med/science environment at their undergrads that they don't see exactly where they are going.
As for determining what is best for you, I agree that shadowing physicians and dentists would be extremely informative and insightful. However, I would also try to land a position in a nursing/dental assistant type job, one where you interact with physicians/dentist, but primarily work with nursing staff. The most rewarding experiences I've had as a pre-med have been working with patients and nurses on a post-surgical nursing floor.
I also recommened reading some books written by physician's and dentists about thier experiences.
Most of all, be open to anything. Financial security is invaluable, but living a happy and healthy lifestyle should the end goal.

 

[David1991]

I think its a good sign that you are asking these questions early in your college career. I think many people are caught into the pre-med/science environment at their undergrads that they don't see exactly where they are going.
As for determining what is best for you, I agree that shadowing physicians and dentists would be extremely informative and insightful. However, I would also try to land a position in a nursing/dental assistant type job, one where you interact with physicians/dentist, but primarily work with nursing staff. The most rewarding experiences I've had as a pre-med have been working with patients and nurses on a post-surgical nursing floor.
I also recommened reading some books written by physician's and dentists about thier experiences.
Most of all, be open to anything. Financial security is invaluable, but living a happy and healthy lifestyle should the end goal.

Yea that's one of the main reasons I'm considering dental. Even if I'm slightly more interested in more general body health than just oral issues I would so much rather live a life of 40 or less hours per week with more flexibility and the other benefits than a hectic 60+ hours/week job always being on call, dealing with lawsuits, etc...

As for the books...I just started reading some medical blogs which have been interesting and for Christmas my dad got me this book "How to get into medical school by someone that has actually done it" which I should probably try to get through over the break