So why do you want to become a dentist?

[Nismoboy]

Ahh yes, behold, the question that we are all bound to hear during an interview. I have my reasons for wanting to become a dentist. One of them being I love to work with my hands. Dentistry is the perfect blend of art and science in my opinion and I'm sure others would agree. Another reason I love dentistry is that you could easily switch between practice and research. In case any of you are wondering, financial stability and being a leader are also some of the reasons why I want to become a dentist.

What are your reasons?

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[Nismoboy]

36 people looked at this post and no one would like to reply with their own version? come on people.....

 

[DDS2BE]

"I wanna be a dentist because my mom always wanted me to be a dentist!!!"

I am so tired of threads like this one. I'll save my statement for adcoms...

 

[Sprgrover]

"I wanna be a dentist because my mom always wanted me to be a dentist!!!"

Ah, the Norman Bates approach - gotta love that one!

 

[Mr.E]

I think the above reasons are not far from my own. Dentistry provides finacial stability. It is a blend of art and science and is challenging. I enjoy tinkering with things and helping people, so why not dentistry? The leadership role and doctoral respect are also perks of the trait.

 

[Veneto]

36 people looked at this post and no one would like to reply with their own version? come on people.....

Alright, Alright, I was one of those 36 so.....Here is my version. I originally thought medical school was the way I wanted to go, but after seeing all the problems with insurance and the red tape plauging the field I looked elsewhere, and landed on dentistry. I love working with people, working with my hands, and wanted to stay in the health field, so dentistry is a perfect fit for me.
Mmmm, that sounded alot like my personal statemnet.

 

[toothcaries]

Default So why do you want to become a dentist?

..dental groupies.

 

[Eddie830]

I love teef?

 

[Sprgrover]

I wanted to go into healthcare (my step-father is a physician and I know all about the headaches involved), I wanted to be more or less self-employed, I value the ability to choose where I want to live, and strong job security were all factors that played into my decision. Optometry and pharmacology just seem to be too mind-numbing for me. Honestly, I really didn't know how much dentists made as I thought they would maybe top out at $75k and money wasn't at the top of my list. So I would have to say that quality of life and a career direction I would feel comfortable attaching my name to were leading factors in my decision to pursue dentistry.

 

[blankguy]

I enjoy tinkering with things and helping people, so why not dentistry?

That's not very comforting. Gropers tinker with people.

Sorry couldn't help it. As to me, there's something about being in a small office setting helping people one on one vs being in a maze in a hospital getting pulled in all directions and helping out multiple people simultaneously.

 

[Dr.BadVibes]

Ahh yes, behold, the question that we are all bound to hear during an interview. I have my reasons for wanting to become a dentist. One of them being I love to work with my hands. Dentistry is the perfect blend of art and science in my opinion and I'm sure others would agree. Another reason I love dentistry is that you could easily switch between practice and research. In case any of you are wondering, financial stability and being a leader are also some of the reasons why I want to become a dentist.

What are your reasons?

Dude, do a search, because next to the insane amounts of stupid NYU threads, this has to be the second most popular theme for threads...no wait, perhaps its the threads that do with income....my bad.

 

[msf41]

I think it is rediculous that ACOMS won't accept the most fundamental associations with dentisty as good motivations for pursuing a career in dentistry: 1) helping people/service minded individuals, 2) money/lifestyle, 3) scientific aptitude.

These are the BIG 3 reasons people move in the direction of dentistry, but NOOOOOOOOOO that's not good enough for adcoms. Why do adcoms insist on weeding people out based on their reasons for going into dentistry. I mean is one person a better dentist because they want to be a dentist because daddy was, or they had tons of dent work done as a child, or they want to be a dentist in 3rd world countries, etc.

Who decides what reasons are better than another? Well I know who (adcoms) I guess I just don't understand why.

 

[MrBenny]

i COMPLETELY agree with msf41. why do adcoms ask this question when they know EVERYONE has spent time thinking up and crafting their own response. like msf41 said, its true.. we are all in it either for the lifestyle/money, working with people and our hands, and we're good at science. THAT'S IT. any spectacular response you hear, is just a variation on one of these three themes. adcoms know this, but it is still unclear how big a part this question plays in the assessment of the interview.

 

[toothcaries]

who said "lifestyle issues/money" was a bad answer?

the green stuff probably shouldn't be your ONLY motivation for entering dentistry...but, imo, there is nothing wrong with having those in your top 3.

...i'm guessing if you had no interest at all in your future compensation/life then you'd probably be looked at as lacking sincerity..

again jmo

 

[trypmo]

Maybe they ask it not to see what your response is but rather how you respond. It's an "easy" question, meaning one everyone knows their answer to, and one to which there's no clear-cut right or wrong answer (not like "what's the capital of Burkina Faso?"). I see it as their giving you a topic you're guaranteed to know something about (no other question is really that universally applicable to everyone, so it's an "equalizer") to see how well you can explain your answer and how well prepared you are to answer something you know you'll be asked.

 

[the big wand]

So why do I want to become a dentist?

....I think it's genetics.

Don't forget this as one of your differential diagnosis...

 

[ItsGavinC]

I think it is rediculous that ACOMS won't accept the most fundamental associations with dentisty as good motivations for pursuing a career in dentistry: 1) helping people/service minded individuals, 2) money/lifestyle, 3) scientific aptitude.

Who says they won't accept those reasons? Every interview I ever went on had adcoms that accepted those reasons.