Medical School or Dental School

[Azide047]

My application to dental school is in right now. I just have to complete the secondaries and send in my final application fees to each of the 15 schools I applied.

I love surgery. I get a thrill out of the idea of cutting into the human body, being able to take something out and let their body heal them on their own. This goes for oral surgery or just about any kind of major surgery. I have many more hours shadowing dentists than I do shadowing physicians but I'd be willing to wait one more year getting clinical experience shadowing physicians, working at camps, volunteering at free dental clinics, volunteering to help the underserved, etc., while I build towards reapplying to dental school and applying to medical school during the 2018 cycle.

I am concerned with the idea of entering dental school and it not being enough. It is so focused on the mouth I would worry that I am not getting the full picture. In terms of surgical involvement, OMFS is the one surgical specialty that is on par with the medical surgical specialties from what I've seen.

Many future dentists cite the work-life balance over a life of longer hours but possibly more exciting and emotionally-driven work.

To summarize: 1. I think I am a strong candidate for dental school but am also considering medical school for next cycle instead. 2. If I choose to apply to medical school instead, I am not sure how strong of a candidate I would be and I would hate to throw the opportunity I have now down the drain.

I would still have to get new LORs, write a new personal statement and take the MCAT (which I think I could do very well on bc I aced the DAT).

What are your thoughts? How did you choose your path?

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[killarne]

Well, do you want to be a doctor or a dentist?

 

[Azide047]

Well, do you want to be a doctor or a dentist?

After re-reading what I wrote, I definitely sound like I'd much prefer medical school. I suppose the idea of an 70-80 hour work week for decades is a bit unnerving since I want to also be available for my family. Dentists don't have to worry about not having enough time out of the office because they get plenty of it.

I suppose it is more important to love what you do when you're doing it than love the time you have away from it when you're not.

That simple question will give me a lot to think about... Thank you.

 

[efle]

70-80 hours is way, way on the high end. If you make a reasonable work week a priority and are flexible in other ways, you can keep it in the 50s, at least.

take the MCAT (which I think I could do very well on bc I aced the DAT).

I'd be wary of that reasoning.

 

[Azide047]

70-80 hours is way, way on the high end. If you make a reasonable work week a priority and are flexible in other ways, you can keep it in the 50s, at least.


I'd be wary of that reasoning.

Why ^

 

[efle]

Why ^

The population sitting for the MCAT is much more competitive, and the test stresses reasoning a lot more, knowledge/recall a lot less. Scoring top 10-20% among people aiming at medical school just isn't the same as people aiming at dental, pharm, grad schools, law, etc.

Try searching for it, people are often surprised because they did much better on other exams (GRE, LSAT, DAT, even SAT gets mentioned).

 

[medbunny56]

the work-life balance of dentistry is not worth it if it's not your true passion/won't excite you for the next 40 years of your life

if i were you i would start prepping for the january mcat so you can get it out of the way, spend the rest of the months till june shadowing physicians, research and build a strong PS

Also, if you're really sure that you don't want to do dental anymore then withdraw your dental secondaries so you don't second guess your choices but beware that acing the DAT does not equal acing the MCAT

I have friends that got a 24 on the DAT (amazing) but a 24 on the MCAT (not good), so prep wisely but i'm sure you're diligent and hard working if you've made it this far!

good luck!

 

[efle]

I have friends that got a 24 on the DAT (amazing) but a 24 on the MCAT (not good)

For easy comparison, that is within the top fraction of a percent on the DAT, and bottom half on the MCAT

 

[Azide047]

the work-life balance of dentistry is not worth it if it's not your true passion/won't excite you for the next 40 years of your life

if i were you i would start prepping for the january mcat so you can get it out of the way, spend the rest of the months till june shadowing physicians, research and build a strong PS

Also, if you're really sure that you don't want to do dental anymore then withdraw your dental secondaries so you don't second guess your choices but beware that acing the DAT does not equal acing the MCAT

I have friends that got a 24 on the DAT (amazing) but a 24 on the MCAT (not good), so prep wisely but i'm sure you're diligent and hard working if you've made it this far!

good luck!

Thanks for the warnings you guys... One of my good friends just scored a 522 on the MCAT (99th percentile) He is sharing his study material and notes with me. I got a 23 AA on the DAT, 24 Total science, 20 perceptual ability. Before getting cocky, I'll definitely take a diagnostic MCAT to get an idea of where I am at.

For the record, I'd be much happier getting into a top dental school and having a chance at OMFS than I would be at a low tier medical school and getting locked out of ENT, ortho, obgyn, optho, neuro, plastics, and gen surgery. Of course how I perform in the school plays a HUGE role but still. A huge influence of mine is a Harvard Dent grad and current OMFS. That's 4 years dent (getting top grades) + 6 years OMFS (consisting of plastics, general surgery, anesthesia, int med, etc.) that I would be willing to spend if I go the dental route. Dual degree DMD + MD and that is exactly why making the decision is so hard lol

 

[Azide047]

The population sitting for the MCAT is much more competitive, and the test stresses reasoning a lot more, knowledge/recall a lot less. Scoring top 10-20% among people aiming at medical school just isn't the same as people aiming at dental, pharm, grad schools, law, etc.

Try searching for it, people are often surprised because they did much better on other exams (GRE, LSAT, DAT, even SAT gets mentioned).

Good point. Did not think of the sitting population