You should know almost as much about medicine as I do about dentistry, it's important in making an informed decision.
Last edited:
Upcoming interview question: why not medicine?
- Thread starter futdent21
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2006
- Messages
- 8,521
- Reaction score
- 2,797
Kind of like suggesting that you need to have a second boyfriend/girlfriend to make an "informed decision" before deciding on a life partner.
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 1
My father is a doctor, doesn't seem interesting to me. Lol. I just love mouths. (Is that an okay answer ?)
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Messages
- 1,065
- Reaction score
- 889
you could talk about how you're not interested in any specialties of medicine at first glance. And although you've considered medicine, you love shadowing dentists so much cuz of reason A and reason B that you couldn't imagine doing anything else
you could just not really answer the question directly by talking about what you like about dentistry instead...when talking about what you like in dentistry, choose positives that are probably the opposite in most cases of medicine
you could just not really answer the question directly by talking about what you like about dentistry instead...when talking about what you like in dentistry, choose positives that are probably the opposite in most cases of medicine
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Messages
- 1,065
- Reaction score
- 889
no cuz it sounds strange to say you like a certain body part without explaining why...ideally, you want to give a story about how a dentist was able to change a person's quality of life by restoring a smile (so a brotha can show off his grillz), the ability to eat (a brotha's gotta eat sum chiken) and talk (a brotha's gotta holla at some hunnies).
in very infrequent circumstances, can dentists save lives...we could identify lesions that could be biopsied and turn out to be an early cancer or we can prevent an abscess from leading to bacteremia
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 1
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 545
- Reaction score
- 155
One possible reply is this
As a General Physician, you diagnose an individual and you give him certain medications. So the 'cure' to your diagnosis can only be witnessed after the person takes his medication for a set period of time assuming he takes the medications at the prescribed time within the prescribed time frame. So your results of your work are not immediate. It may take a week or 2.
With Dentistry, I like the fact that when a person has a problem with his/her tooth, you can 'cure' it then and there whether it be a crown or a Root canal. So you get your results immediately.
This is an oversimplification but it's one of the things I like about dentistry over medicine
As a General Physician, you diagnose an individual and you give him certain medications. So the 'cure' to your diagnosis can only be witnessed after the person takes his medication for a set period of time assuming he takes the medications at the prescribed time within the prescribed time frame. So your results of your work are not immediate. It may take a week or 2.
With Dentistry, I like the fact that when a person has a problem with his/her tooth, you can 'cure' it then and there whether it be a crown or a Root canal. So you get your results immediately.
This is an oversimplification but it's one of the things I like about dentistry over medicine
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2014
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 1
Also, wi
I also appreciate how a huge aspect of dentistry is about oral health promotion. I feel as though medicine tends to focus more on illness than health. Additionally, oral health plays a major role in overall health and I do not think many people realize that.
I also appreciate how a huge aspect of dentistry is about oral health promotion. I feel as though medicine tends to focus more on illness than health. Additionally, oral health plays a major role in overall health and I do not think many people realize that.
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2014
- Messages
- 118
- Reaction score
- 85
You could also talk about lifestyle. Long unpredictable hours of a doctor, vs. set hours of a dentist. You want to prioritize your family, live a balanced life, etc.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2014
- Messages
- 237
- Reaction score
- 69
I feel like if the question was actually answered like this, an adcom might think it to be extremely pretentious and try hard..lol
The more I think about this the more annoyed I become with this question. It's not a good question at all. The same question could be asked why not pharmacy? why not accounting? why not engineering? Dentistry and medicine are mutually exclusive. If you have good reasons why you want to pursue dentistry, that should be way more than enough. I shouldn't have to say anything about why I don't want to go into medicine, other than I didn't choose to go into medicine.
Dentistry and medicine are not mutually exclusive. Oftentimes, a medical condition could have very significant impacts in terms of dental treatment. Dentistry can be viewed as a very specific subset of medicine overall. It's a valid question that dental schools would like to know about the applicants.
A
arkenstone
It's a valid question. Between med school and dental school -- the preparation is similar, the education is similar, the duration is similar (if you specialize in dentistry), and it takes similar personal traits to be successful in both. Also, at first glance, there are a lot of reasons why going to medical school seems objectively better -- it costs a tad less, you learn more about different aspects of health, you have a broader set of specialties from which to chose, there's a slightly higher chance that the patients you see on a daily basis will actually be happy to see you . . .
To say that dentistry and medicine are mutually exclusive is not correct, either physiologically or clinically.
To say that MDs don't get to see immediate results is not correct for all medical specialties.
You need to have a good answer for 'why not medicine.' It's not about convincing them that you like dentistry -- I'm sure they believe that you do -- it's about showing that you understand why you like it and have reasonable, lasting justifications for making this *your career.* They have an ethical obligation to train people who are most likely to stick with the field, and it's not very impressive to justify your career choice at about the same intellectual depth with which you justify your favorite color. Decision-making is about the why-nots as equally as it is about the whys.
And, honesty, I still go back and forth about the question. But dentistry still comes out on top, for now. Not all of my justifications are completely noble and I wouldn't just list them like this to a committee, but here are the pros for me at this point in my life:
To say that dentistry and medicine are mutually exclusive is not correct, either physiologically or clinically.
To say that MDs don't get to see immediate results is not correct for all medical specialties.
You need to have a good answer for 'why not medicine.' It's not about convincing them that you like dentistry -- I'm sure they believe that you do -- it's about showing that you understand why you like it and have reasonable, lasting justifications for making this *your career.* They have an ethical obligation to train people who are most likely to stick with the field, and it's not very impressive to justify your career choice at about the same intellectual depth with which you justify your favorite color. Decision-making is about the why-nots as equally as it is about the whys.
And, honesty, I still go back and forth about the question. But dentistry still comes out on top, for now. Not all of my justifications are completely noble and I wouldn't just list them like this to a committee, but here are the pros for me at this point in my life:
- I'll have the option to practice after 4 years of school.
- General dentistry is in such huge need, and I'll be likely to find a job very quickly wherever I want to live
- I like that dentistry is hands-on, and the more hands-on medical specialists (surgeons) don't have much of a life
- Dentists still retain more professional control over their field than do doctors (although the future is uncertain)
- B/c of this control and also the breadth of the field, there are many different ways to practice
- And this control also gives me more time to raise a family
- Teeth are interesting to me (throw this one in here, just don't make it stand on its own)
- If you donate your time, in a single day you can alleviate a ton of suffering for people who just need their teeth pulled
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2013
- Messages
- 88
- Reaction score
- 72
Many people interpret this question as a false choice between either medicine or dentistry. I think the point of the question is to ensure that you aren't using dentistry as a fallback because you don't think you can get into or handle med school. (Personally, I think it's a dumb question.)
Fortunately, I've had 3 interviews and haven't received that as a question.
The closest question I've had to it was: "Did you ever consider doing something other than dentistry?" This is a better question because it didn't set up that false choice and it allowed me to answer, "Yes, pharmacy, and this is why I didn't like it... "
My interviewer replied, "Looks like you dodged a bullet there."
Fortunately, I've had 3 interviews and haven't received that as a question.
The closest question I've had to it was: "Did you ever consider doing something other than dentistry?" This is a better question because it didn't set up that false choice and it allowed me to answer, "Yes, pharmacy, and this is why I didn't like it... "
My interviewer replied, "Looks like you dodged a bullet there."
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Messages
- 1,065
- Reaction score
- 889
"I have a fetish for teeth"
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
- Messages
- 1,065
- Reaction score
- 889
sliding the long handle of the vibrating shaft into and out of my mouth until a frothy white foam spewed from my mouth proved to me how important maintaing good oral hygiene with my Sonicare toothbrush really was.
- Joined
- May 5, 2012
- Messages
- 3,494
- Reaction score
- 1,308
I got this question in one of my interviews last year.
In a nutshell, I basically said that I thought I could be happy as a dentist or a physician... but that I would be happier as a dentist. Dentistry, in my opinion, is basically a "medical speciality." I mean, really, what makes dentistry any different than ophthalmology? Or dermatology? We deal with health in a specialized area of the body... just like other specialists do. Heck, we're surgeons, too. By going to dental school, I'm just guaranteed to "match" into the specialty I like. 🙂
I gave a few reasons why I liked dentistry--the hands-on nature, the tangible results, the ability to help others, my interests in healthcare and aesthetics, etc. I said that I knew there were medical specialties where I could have those things, too. But, in all honesty, I said I thought dentistry had the better work-life balance--I want to have a family. And, like I said, by going into dentistry, I was guaranteed to have a career in a field I liked.
My interviewer liked my answer, at least from what I could tell. It probably didn't hurt that he was a DMD/MD. But hey, why can't we like both--but just prefer dentistry?
In a nutshell, I basically said that I thought I could be happy as a dentist or a physician... but that I would be happier as a dentist. Dentistry, in my opinion, is basically a "medical speciality." I mean, really, what makes dentistry any different than ophthalmology? Or dermatology? We deal with health in a specialized area of the body... just like other specialists do. Heck, we're surgeons, too. By going to dental school, I'm just guaranteed to "match" into the specialty I like. 🙂
I gave a few reasons why I liked dentistry--the hands-on nature, the tangible results, the ability to help others, my interests in healthcare and aesthetics, etc. I said that I knew there were medical specialties where I could have those things, too. But, in all honesty, I said I thought dentistry had the better work-life balance--I want to have a family. And, like I said, by going into dentistry, I was guaranteed to have a career in a field I liked.
My interviewer liked my answer, at least from what I could tell. It probably didn't hurt that he was a DMD/MD.
But hey, why can't we like both--but just prefer dentistry?
