Why medicine and not dentistry?

BU Medical Sciences
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
mintendo

mintendo

Full Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2005
Messages
502
Reaction score
1
Members don't see this ad.
Seriously, it seems like if you want to "help people", dentistry is a much better career choice than medicine:

1) never on call
2) no residency (except if you want to go into surgery)
3) rarely get sued
4) won't lose job to NP, PA, or outsourcing


I guess the only advantage of medicine for me is I don't really want to spend the next 30-40 years of my life staring into people's mouths. The question is does that outweight everything I listed above?

Any thoughts?
 
Though they both help people, you could also ask, "why not EMT or Paramedic?" Theyre just two completely different things, so to compare them would be like comparing apples and oranges. Personally, I wouldn't be too happy with dentristy- alot of it comes down to instinct and how you feel about certain things. I havn't met too many people who are as passionate about dentristry as they are medicine, and vice versa- its usually one or the other.
 
I agree that it seems like it would make sense to want to go into dentistry rather than medicine. However I too cannot stand the idea of looking at teeth and mouths everyday. I think that medicine presents a wider variety of things to do on a daily basis as opposed to dentistry. Mostly it's just personal opinion I guess.
 
mintendo said:
Seriously, it seems like if you want to "help people", dentistry is a much better career choice than medicine:

1) never on call
2) no residency (except if you want to go into surgery)
3) rarely get sued
4) won't lose job to NP, PA, or outsourcing


I guess the only advantage of medicine for me is I don't really want to spend the next 30-40 years of my life staring into people's mouths. The question is does that outweight everything I listed above?

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

The fact that you are asking the question means you should not do medicine. You only do medicine if want to practice medicine. If these other issues are as high on your list, it is not probably the right choice. If you can see not looking in mouths as the "only advantage" then medicine is a mistake, because frankly in many situations, you will be staring into far worse orifaces as a physician. Dentistry is a totally different job, so there will be little interest in it for folks who truly want to be a physician. But I agree, if you just want to be a professional, not get sued as much, earn a nice stable income, and work reasonable hours, and the rest is not as much of a concern, then go do dentistry.
 
mintendo said:
Seriously, it seems like if you want to "help people", dentistry is a much better career choice than medicine:

1) never on call
2) no residency (except if you want to go into surgery)
3) rarely get sued
4) won't lose job to NP, PA, or outsourcing


I guess the only advantage of medicine for me is I don't really want to spend the next 30-40 years of my life staring into people's mouths. The question is does that outweight everything I listed above?

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Well, actually, I think there are even more direct and easier ways to "help" people than either medicine or dentistry. If you aren't in love with the act of practicing medicine, or dentistry, you are in for a long, perhaps arduous, road ahead. These careers present very specific ways to benefit people, unique unto themselves. If I were you, I'd study what doctors and/or dentists do every day, and try it on for size; see if this inspires you (and will continue to).

Otherwise, public service would work just as well, if not better, if you are using the "help people" criteria.
 
It's not as exciting and interesting to me...
 
you're not going to lose your job to np, pa, or outsourcing
 
Thanks for the replies. I guess I've been spending too much time in the allo and clinical rotations forums. Those guys' lives are just miserable, which scares me a little. I think I'll come back to the pre-allo forums, where I feel safe. 🙂
 
Yea you can, especially with outsourcing. Thanks to the internet hospitals can send films to countries like India and have their radiologists read through the films for a fraction of the price.
 
because the mouth isn't as cool. although i admit, i've known a few dentists and it is somewhat of a lifestyle specialty.
 
mintendo said:
Yea you can, especially with outsourcing. Thanks to the internet hospitals can send films to countries like India and have their radiologists read through the films for a fraction of the price.
Click to expand...

And then reread by US licensed doctors the next morning because if a mistake is made and the hospital gets sued, they don't want to have to concede that the only one who ever read the film isn't even licensed to practice here.🙄 In the current legal climate radiology outsourcing (eg nighthawk) isn't all that viable, and so there is really very little movement toward this. You are far more likely to have a procedure done by a NP than to have your films read abroad. There are more realistic things to worry about than outsourcing.
 
Law2Doc said:
And then reread by US licensed doctors the next morning because if a mistake is made and the hospital gets sued, they don't want to have to concede that the only one who ever read the film isn't even licensed to practice here.🙄 In the current legal climate radiology outsourcing (eg nighthawk) isn't all that viable, and so there is really very little movement toward this. You are far more likely to have a procedure done by a NP than to have your films read abroad. There are more realistic things to worry about than outsourcing.
Click to expand...

Hadn't thought of that. Good point.
 
Mouths are disgusting. Who their right mind would want to spend their days picking other people's teeth? I don't know, but I'm glad they are out there, because I sure as hell couldn't do it.

Also, I'd want to punch the kids in the neck.
 
mintendo said:
Hadn't thought of that. Good point.
Click to expand...

geico-cavemen2.jpg
 
Ha. I love those commercials. I especially enjoy the one where they are on a talk show, and he says, "Yeah, walking upright, discovering fire, inventing the wheel...sorry we couldn't get those to you sooner."

Also, the airport one cracks me up. I love that music.
 
hye345 said:
Why does this question keep comming up? There are dozens of threads related to this quandry!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=350942

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=358136

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=354143
Click to expand...

Because too many people have no real focus in their lives. They have some hazy idea that they want to be a professional but no real drive to be a particular one. So the idea of another professional who gets to be called doctor, and earns a nice living and has cushy hours looms large in their minds. Folks who cannot focus any better than this and go into medicine tend to be the ones who will complain down the road, because they always feel like they had an easier, more lucrative option they turned down. When you are working 80 hours a week for low residency pay you had better have an interest in what you are doing because you won't be seeing any perks. And your dentistry friends will be working 9 to 5 four days a week.
 
This threads are utterly ridiculous. Medicine is not dentistry. Medicine is not whatever else the last ridiculous thread was. We are probably going into medicine because we want to go into medicine rather than the other field.

Why medicine and not pilot? Why medicine and not pornstar? Why medicine and not auto mechanic? (the last one I just named actually has more in common with medicine than dentistry or any of the other threads)...
 
mintendo said:
Seriously, it seems like if you want to "help people", dentistry is a much better career choice than medicine:

1) never on call
2) no residency (except if you want to go into surgery)
3) rarely get sued
4) won't lose job to NP, PA, or outsourcing


I guess the only advantage of medicine for me is I don't really want to spend the next 30-40 years of my life staring into people's mouths. The question is does that outweight everything I listed above?

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I absolutely 100% agree with you. However, most people who become doctors do it because they want to practice medicine, not because they want to help people. See the difference?
 
I picked Orthopedics

1.) Did not want to do Medicine 😀 . A big difference between the different fields of medicine, esp operative vs non operative.

2.) Although dentisty and Ortho both work on hard tissue, but there is nothing like the feeling of altering anatomy on a larger scale than a few molars, seeing the result of your work walk out of the hospital is sweet, changing the quality of life for people is very fullfilling, and rodding a femur fracture on a multi-trauma patient with a large hammer + drill + throwing in Hardware...... then coming out of the OR covered with blood + tissue 😀 , now that is an unbelievable feeling.... the best feeling you can have with your clothes on 😉

3.) Surgical Residency is very very tough, but it is a journey that is designed to make you comptetant and the end of your residency is not the end of your training, in fact, you will be training and learning for the rest of your life. Every case can present a little different and every complication can teach you the lessons to make you a better surgeon. It is an exciting and fulfilling life. People / patients really appreciate the things that you do for them (although this is not the case all the time).

4.) You will NEVER lose your job to an NP or PA. Sure they get paid well, but in the end, YOU as an MD take on the FULL responsibility of your patient. No NP or PA can or will ever be able to put an metal knee implant into an patient without the MD in the room. Personally, I like to be the guy responsible for everything.

5.) My second career choice would have been a Carpenter. 🙂
 
IMHO:

If you :
  1. Are interested in only a specific part of the body (besides teeth), or the whole body.
  2. Like to have a little excitement on the job (adrenaline junkie).
  3. Don't want to feel stuck in only working with one part of the body.
  4. Have a fetish for prestige.
  5. Think you can handle getting your first real medical job when you are 30 years old (or older).
  6. Don't mind working over 40 hours a week.
If you possess most of the above characteristics, then medicine is the better choice.


On the other hand, if you:
  1. Like to spend as much time with your family as possible.
  2. Like to keep stress to a minimum.
  3. Actually like working with teeth.
  4. Enjoy utilizing high-tech toys.
  5. Are rather eager to work as soon as possible.
  6. Don't think you can handle the grueling residency.
If you possess most of these characteristics, then dentistry is probably the better choice.

P.S. This is free advice (and you get what you pay for), so take it with a grain of salt. I encourage people to shadow the two professions to see which one fits them best.
 
Medicine runs in cycles... Today dentistry is the hot thing - in 20 years the enviornment could change a whole lot. Personally, I don't see the whole cushion dentistry thing lasting much longer. There is a big time difference in the level of education needed to fill a cavity/clean a tooth as compared to reading a film or performing a surgery. If you think about it part of the reason why dentistry is so appealing is the short amount of time before practicing - but this is also a downfall because that means they are easily replaced.
 
johnnydrama said:
Lol, so many inappropriate jokes I'd like to make about that statement. But now a random question regarding dentistry v. medicine... are oral surgeons DDS or MD?
Click to expand...

Oral Surgeons that do four years of residency after dental school are DDS/MS or DMD/MS. Oral Surgeons that do 6 years of residency after dental school (which includes med school) have a DDS/MD or DMD/MD (dual degrees).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
pasted wrong essay into the "Why... school of medicine"
Replies
7
Views
2K
LunaOri
LunaOri
H
why have i not received secondaries yet??
Replies
2
Views
1K
premed2024_123456
P
F
Medicine And Neuroscience
Replies
11
Views
2K
sah
sah
S
Why Did Carle Not Receive Full Accreditation Last Year?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Sandman23
S
LMAGZ
W on a transcript and not planning on retaking the course
Replies
4
Views
753
Rachapkis
Rachapkis
Top