Before making an investment in higher education, I think people need to really take a hard and honest look at themselves. Figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are, what their likes and dislikes are, etc. Then decide if post-college education is right for them and if so which route to take. For me, having worked prior to going back to medical school, I ruled out law school and business school quickly because the problem with those fields is that you have to have the right skillset to really pull it off to justify the investment. Very few people have what it takes. Most JD's and MBA's struggle and barely make it financially to justify the $100k in loans they took out. Medical school is a good option because if you survive the medical school and residency process you more or less can expect a certain amount of income and job stability. For me, I learned too late into third year medical school that I hated the hours, especially call. The material is not that hard and can be boring but tolerable. Pt care is ok. But it's the hours that I can't simply stand. Thankfully I matched into a specialty that fits me and my personality quite well. After residency, I probably will do 9-5 with little or no call. In retrospect, I would have gone to dental school. Why? 1) it's 9-5 type hours, no nights, no weekends. 2) mostly cash-based and very little insurance. When Obamacare becomes reality, you'll work harder for less pay. Besides, who wants to be told by the govt how much their work is worth? I prefer letting the market dictate how much I can charge. 3) working with your hands. Even though I thought I would do surgery when I first went to medical school, I soon realized that my back could barely survive surgery clerkship, so 5 years of grueling surgery residency was out of the question. Furthermore, I think that most surgeons eventually develop back problems because it's just not natural to be standing or walking for 10 hours a day. In dentistry, you can work with your hands which is what I like but you get to sit down when you do so. 4) you can start practicing after dental school instead of having to do another 3-7 years of residency and fellowship. This last point is very important. We had an categorical medicine intern get fired 2 weeks ago from my program. How much does that suck to spend 4 years in school and 200k in loans and then have your entire medical career end just like that? Often times if you get fired from residency it's due to politics and not performance-related. In dentistry, you just need to survive 4 years of dental school not the 7+ years it takes to become a physician. 5) there's less book material to learn. I like learning about new things but medicine is bit much for me. I like to do other things besides reading about medicine in the 1 hour I have free every day. In dentistry, you don't have to do as much work to keep current. 6) the income in dentistry is quite good. On average, dentists make more than a primary care physician. That's >150k. If you do a residency in orthodontics or endodontics you can make >300k working 3 days a week without nights or weekends. How sweet is that? You have a much better chance of matching into orthodontics or endodontics than derm. As a disclaimer, I should mention that my fiance is a dentist so I have inside knowledge of the other side. After comparing the two, I wish that I would considered dentistry more. However, this decision is highly dependent on the individual and their skills and personality.
