Pre-Med vs Pre-Dental

[sdnjof]

Are there any medical or dental schools that offer scholarships to students?


Are there any current doctors that can give me an insight about the lifestyles that each of these professions has? Will I be drowning in student loan debt in any of them?

I know money isn't everything, but I want to be able to live comfortably without having to worry about money, which is something that I didn't have growing up. Also, one of the main reasons that I am considering dentistry is that I don’t want to be working 60+ hours a week and always being on call. I would ideally like to have a family and be able to spend time with them.

If I were to do general dentistry, or any type for that matter, I would like to open my own practice because I like the idea of being my own boss. However, after reading up on this, I heard that it may take at least ten years after practicing to even consider opening one, any thoughts?


Thanks for any responses in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tooth knockn]

If I were you, a young individual, I would definitely volunteer in several places: one month each

Hospital

Dental office

Medical office

Pharmacy

Heck, even a law firm, or bank.


Get your feet wet some where, while doing school.

I did not read all of your thread but, medical vs dental are different environments.


Sometimes asking a lot ppl for opinions will reflect a lot of overlapping views and feelings towards these areas of medicine.


And if you are about the money, don't take my advice.

 

[mimelim]

I'm going to shoot from the hip.

If the following are big reasons for going to medical school, don't. #1 You want the 'respected title' #2 You can only imagine yourself doing radiology or anesthesiology. You don't know what either of those two are with a cursory glance at what they do and the vast majority of physicians don't practice medicine the way they do. Go shadow one or two to figure that out before saying that that is what you want to do.

Stop thinking and talking about dentistry as if it is beneath medicine. It isn't. And you aren't going to make any friends by saying stuff like that. It is a career choice like anything else with it's plus and minuses.

Why don't you put that you worked at McDonald's on your application? Do you think that it is so far beneath you?

3.84 GPA is fine. I can't tell if its a humble brag or you are just that naive. Your limiting factor is not your GPA, it is your overall lack of any concept of what going into medicine means for you.

Stop using the phrase "prestigious medical school".

Yes, medical schools and dental schools offer scholarships to students.

Worry about matching into a particular field after you get into medical school. Anyone that graduates from a US MD program is going to be 'able' to go into either field. It is all a function of getting the grades, USMLE scores and LOR.

The lifestyle in medicine is bad, RELATIVE to other things. To ballpark, and giving the widest range possible, you will work 30-70 hrs/week MS1-2, 40-80 hrs/week in MS3-4, 50-100 hrs/week for 3-7 years of residency. Then you will be a junior partner and while some people work less, the majority of people will work 50-80 hrs/week to get their practice off the ground. If this is your concern, do something else. You can have a family. You can have a life. But, you are going to be busy and if you don't want that, find something else.

 

[Rambunctious]

I'm going to shoot from the hip.

If the following are big reasons for going to medical school, don't. #1 You want the 'respected title' #2 You can only imagine yourself doing radiology or anesthesiology. You don't know what either of those two are with a cursory glance at what they do and the vast majority of physicians don't practice medicine the way they do. Go shadow one or two to figure that out before saying that that is what you want to do.

Stop thinking and talking about dentistry as if it is beneath medicine. It isn't. And you aren't going to make any friends by saying stuff like that. It is a career choice like anything else with it's plus and minuses.

Why don't you put that you worked at McDonald's on your application? Do you think that it is so far beneath you?

3.84 GPA is fine. I can't tell if its a humble brag or you are just that naive. Your limiting factor is not your GPA, it is your overall lack of any concept of what going into medicine means for you.

Stop using the phrase "prestigious medical school".

Yes, medical schools and dental schools offer scholarships to students.

Worry about matching into a particular field after you get into medical school. Anyone that graduates from a US MD program is going to be 'able' to go into either field. It is all a function of getting the grades, USMLE scores and LOR.

The lifestyle in medicine is bad, RELATIVE to other things. To ballpark, and giving the widest range possible, you will work 30-70 hrs/week MS1-2, 40-80 hrs/week in MS3-4, 50-100 hrs/week for 3-7 years of residency. Then you will be a junior partner and while some people work less, the majority of people will work 50-80 hrs/week to get their practice off the ground. If this is your concern, do something else. You can have a family. You can have a life. But, you are going to be busy and if you don't want that, find something else.

Can we please, for the love of God, sticky this post.

 

[Screwtape]

Most dentists I've spoken to recommend to work in the real world about 4-5 years before ownership.

 

[dbd]

Boom, headshot.

 

[tooth knockn]

Why wait?!!!

 

[DentalDoge]

I'm going to shoot from the hip.

If the following are big reasons for going to medical school, don't. #1 You want the 'respected title' #2 You can only imagine yourself doing radiology or anesthesiology. You don't know what either of those two are with a cursory glance at what they do and the vast majority of physicians don't practice medicine the way they do. Go shadow one or two to figure that out before saying that that is what you want to do.

Stop thinking and talking about dentistry as if it is beneath medicine. It isn't. And you aren't going to make any friends by saying stuff like that. It is a career choice like anything else with it's plus and minuses.

Why don't you put that you worked at McDonald's on your application? Do you think that it is so far beneath you?

3.84 GPA is fine. I can't tell if its a humble brag or you are just that naive. Your limiting factor is not your GPA, it is your overall lack of any concept of what going into medicine means for you.

Stop using the phrase "prestigious medical school".

Yes, medical schools and dental schools offer scholarships to students.

Worry about matching into a particular field after you get into medical school. Anyone that graduates from a US MD program is going to be 'able' to go into either field. It is all a function of getting the grades, USMLE scores and LOR.

The lifestyle in medicine is bad, RELATIVE to other things. To ballpark, and giving the widest range possible, you will work 30-70 hrs/week MS1-2, 40-80 hrs/week in MS3-4, 50-100 hrs/week for 3-7 years of residency. Then you will be a junior partner and while some people work less, the majority of people will work 50-80 hrs/week to get their practice off the ground. If this is your concern, do something else. You can have a family. You can have a life. But, you are going to be busy and if you don't want that, find something else.

He must've edited his post after reading your response.

Either way, bravo. This post hit every nail on the head.

 

[Dentalogist]

Don't we all want to spend time with our family and have no worry money problems? *sighs* I wish life was that easy but its not.
by the way if someone tells you not to go into dentistry for the money don't listen to them. they just want less competition. good luck with your choices

 

[DentalDoge]

Don't we all want to spend time with our family and have no worry money problems? *sighs* I wish life was that easy but its not.
by the way if someone tells you not to go into dentistry for the money don't listen to them. they just want less competition. good luck with your choices

If his original post is anything like @mimelim makes it out to be. I dont want him to be my healthcare provider in ANY field.

 

[sdnjof]

Yeah, I deleted some of the parts because it was way to in-depth to be on the internet. And no, it was not like what @mimelim made it out to be. The first thing I said was I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was younger because I wanted to help people. The only thing about money that I stated was that I would like to be financially comfortable, which I believe is what everyone wants in life?

I also stated that I did have two internships: one in a hospital where I actually shadowed a radiologist, and another in an urgent care. So I do have some idea, at least the bare minimum, of what some doctors do, which is a lot of paperwork.

I never said anything about dentistry being below medicine, and I am sorry if it made it seem that way. Plus, why would I consider doing dentistry, something I am actually interested in, if I believed it was "below" medicine?

Thank you for your insight though!

 

[dentalWorks]

No one in their right minds can suggest medicine or dentistry... this is a decision ONLY you can make.

I really don't understand why pre-dents/meds compare medicine vs dentistry.... the two fields are very different, just because your patients call you "doctor" it doesn't mean the fields are in anyway similar.

here is something I posted sometime ago about a similar thread to this one "why did you choose dentistry"

from an undergrad prospective, its gonna be based on personal preferences/choices, here is a list:
-Which do you like to do more?
-Which lifestyle do you prefer? (generally, dentists have easier / less working hours than physicians)
-Do you wanna go through a lot of schooling followed by grueling residency years and have 'prestige' & pride to show off?
-Are you interested in business ownership? (dentistry is good place here)
-Do you hate dealing 1 on 1 with people? (you will hate dentistry, maybe even medicine, but definitely dentistry more)
-Do you enjoy micro engineering? (dentistry is a lot about material science and how you design teeth to get optimum usage of material properties)
-Do you enjoy technology and digital imaging? (HUGE movement in dentistry toward this)

Ultimately, both are great careers. When I have kids, I will recommend either choice.

 

[sdnjof]

You bring up a lot of great points about both dentistry and medicine. I enjoy dealing one on one with people and I definitely believe that my people skills would increase with either profession. What makes me nervous about dentistry is that I don't know if I have enough dexterity, plus I have large hands and fingers. Hopefully after getting an internship with my dentist, I'll be able to make up my mind. Thanks!

 

[sdnjof]

@dentalWorks sorry I don't know how to quote you, I'm new to this

 

[dentalWorks]

You bring up a lot of great points about both dentistry and medicine. I enjoy dealing one on one with people and I definitely believe that my people skills would increase with either profession. What makes me nervous about dentistry is that I don't know if I have enough dexterity, plus I have large hands and fingers. Hopefully after getting an internship with my dentist, I'll be able to make up my mind. Thanks!

no one has this mythical "dental dexterity", its something learned as you practice, you are not born with it.

 

[yeslek88]

Why make posts like this in pre-dental threads? It'd be like asking a bunch of high school seniors what college life/ the job market is like.