I am a 36 year old dentist and can not get the idea out of my head to go back to med school. Am I crazy? Yes. I have a 1 yr old and a 3 year old. I have my own solo practice I purchased 2 years ago, an awesome newly remodeled clinic, a good income, my husband is a stay at home father, and I see patients Mon-Thur. However, the business is 24/7 with me being on call all the time and the pressure is tremendous. The other thing is that I love the medical aspects of my patients, learning about their medical conditions, meds, etc. There are aspects of dentistry that bore me to tears, ie, fillings.
Going to med school would mean spending as much money as I already spent on my dental ed and starting all over again. I know the challenges as we took many of the same classes in the first two years of dental school as the med students. I went into dentistry for what I thought would be great quality of life, but I have found it to be a very stressful and the procedures too boring. Am I crazy? Yes, but I can’t help it. I dream of being an ENT and I think dentistry would be a great background for it. My other option is oral surgery but I don’t want to be limited to just that, I would like all my options if in med school I change my mind about specialties.
I would love any feedback.
Hi there,
One of my medical school classmates was a dentist. He ended up going into Internal Medicine and is now finishing his Interventional Cardiology fellowship.
While you took some of the same classes as the medical students, at my school, there were significant differences. While in medical school, I was a paid peer tutor for the dental students in Gross Anatomy,Biochemistry, Physiology and Pathology. I ended up learning a fair amount of oral pathology as I got up to speed in order to tutor.
My classmate worked as a dentist on vacations and on weekends after exams. It was a great means of making extra money.
Good luck!
Natalie 
It sounds like you’ve put significant thought into this, and you’ve proven yourself with dentistry, and clearly giving that up to go through it all again shows determination.
One thing that jumps out at me - and perhaps it’s just an issue of phrasing or semantics:
" I went into dentistry for what I thought would be great quality of life, but I have found it to be a very stressful and the procedures too boring. …," along with the concerns of being on call 24/7 with tremendous pressure…
Will medicine necessarily be different? If an AdCom asks you why the pressures of dentistry were excessive, but those of otolaryngology won’t be?
- pi1304 Said:
One thing that jumps out at me - and perhaps it's just an issue of phrasing or semantics:
" I went into dentistry for what I thought would be great quality of life, but I have found it to be a very stressful and the procedures too boring. ...," along with the concerns of being on call 24/7 with tremendous pressure...
Will medicine necessarily be different? If an AdCom asks you why the pressures of dentistry were excessive, but those of otolaryngology won't be?
Hi there,
As a medical student, I scrubbed a radical neck dissection with my ENT chairman. We started at 0730h and ended the case at 2330h. It was facinating stuff!
Natalie
The idea of a dentist going into medicine is not that far-fetched. In fact, there is a dentist who was practisng in Jamaica. he upped and went to medical school to become an ENT. He is quite sucessful and has now become a regioal authority for his peers.
Ultimately, it is what is going to get you out of bed in the morning. As far as your time not being your own, I suspect that a medical career may be more demanding than dentistry (personal opinion)and also the time it takes in medical school will be just as taxing.
I say all that to say think carefully. Decide what the passion is - what makes you all warm and fuzzy. After all, this is what you will be doing for a VEEEERRRY long time.
Well, I wish you all the best in your decision.
Hilary
In my work in the medical device industry, I have partnered with a number of DDS/MDs who practice plastic surgery, oral surgery, craniofacial surgery, etc. These guys tend to bring a very valuable perspective to their work. In the area of orthognathic surgery, I have seen DDS-MDs form great partnerships with orthodontists.
By the way…University of Pittsburgh has a combined medical school + residency program in craniomaxillofacial surgery for DDS applicants. These kind of programs are a sign of the increasingly common move of dentists into medicine.
- njbmd Said:
As a medical student, I scrubbed a radical neck dissection with my ENT chairman. We started at 0730h and ended the case at 2330h. It was facinating stuff!
Natalie
Ah, that explains why you're so interested in the triangles of the neck!
That was neat stuff.Hilary: "Ultimately, it is what is going to get you out of bed in the morning." Very true.
I thank you all for your responses.
Contrary to what a lot of people might think, dentistry is a very demanding and stressful job, especially if you are the business owner. I am resposible for the hiring, firing, paying salaries, and taxes of my employees. At the same time I am the main producer, which means I am usually busy all day long with procedures (little mini micro surgeries, if you will, unless I am extracting teeth) and at the same time have to be thiking of all the business aspects of my practice, ie, can I pay all my bills? That question is always in the back of my head.
Patients presenting to my office are often anxious about their procedure, so a lot of time goes into patient management of fear. I see on average 20 patients a day and it is hectic, especially if you run into an unforeseen circumstance during treatment and get behind schedule. People expect to be seen on time and have their dentist as calm as a peach!
I will admit I run a tight ship, so to speak. I want my patients treated like royalty. For them to have a good experience in the dental chair is the ultimate complement.
Dentistry also demands a lot on a person physically. Despite how much we pay attention to ergonomics, are backs take a terrible toll.
I am not trying to whine about my job, but enlighten you. Denistry is a lot more difficult than you can imagine. I would argue that dentistry in private practice is just as difficult and stressful as most areas of medicine. Sure, I usually don’t have to tell patients that there disease is terminal, but there have been a few cases in my short career where I have diagnosed tongue cancer and the prognosis is terrible. In some respects, hearing that you have cancer from your dentist is almost worse than hearing a bad diagnosis from your physician, because most people don’t expect it and it hits harder.
My perspective may be different from others, but I am a new dentist and business owner. I am sure that as time goes on these aspects I have described become easier to manage as the patient base gets larger.
I easily put in an 60-80 hour week. I only see patients for 35-40 hours of that time, but the rest of the time is dedicated to the business, paying bills, writing charts, lab cases, taxes, consults with other doctors, etc. And I get a lot of help from others in accomplishing those tasks.
I don’t expect medicine to be any easier, and as we know, anything really worth it is hard work, whatever career you choose. However, from my experience there are a lot more interesting areas in medicine. It also seems that the potential to combine a career in medicine and research is feasible.
In dentistry you are pretty much stuck with teeth, which are interesting and complex in their own right, just not for me, the rest of my life. I am glad I went into dentistry, but I am ready to expand, and it seems that medicine is the logical place to go with my interests.
What I did not realize when I went to dental school, is how much time the business aspects of the profession would take. Of course, you can practice dentistry without being a business owner, but then your salary is greatly reduced.
As I think most dentists do, I initially thought about a career in medicine. However, despite having an excellent grades, I thought dentistry better suited my personality. I was greatly motivated to have my own business. I never applied to medical school. In fact, I only applied to my state dental school and got right in.
However, the years as a business owner have taught me that my interests are more in the science of disease and alleviating pain, than in making the fat cash.
Now I’ve really rambled on. I just wanted those of you that are contemplating the decision between dentistry and medicine to give a lot of thought to that decision, so you won’t be like me and want to go back to school after you are a board certified doctor of dental surgery. Even so, I have to look at my time as a dentist in a positive light. I have learned a ton about dealing with patients and I still love patients! Just don’t make me drill on their teeth all day long.
DDStoMD,
Yours is a very interesting story. I think you should go for it. You have much of the background already, so medical school will not be quite the grind that it is for new students, and you’ll have great qualifications when you’re done. I also like the fact that you’ve got a lot of business experience. Good luck and keep us posted!
- ddstomd Said:
Contrary to what a lot of people might think, dentistry is a very demanding and stressful job, especially if you are the business owner. I am resposible for the hiring, firing, paying salaries, and taxes of my employees. At the same time I am the main producer, which means I am usually busy all day long with procedures (little mini micro surgeries, if you will, unless I am extracting teeth) and at the same time have to be thiking of all the business aspects of my practice, ie, can I pay all my bills? That question is always in the back of my head.
Patients presenting to my office are often anxious about their procedure, so a lot of time goes into patient management of fear. I see on average 20 patients a day and it is hectic, especially if you run into an unforeseen circumstance during treatment and get behind schedule. People expect to be seen on time and have their dentist as calm as a peach!
I will admit I run a tight ship, so to speak. I want my patients treated like royalty. For them to have a good experience in the dental chair is the ultimate complement.
Dentistry also demands a lot on a person physically. Despite how much we pay attention to ergonomics, are backs take a terrible toll.
I am not trying to whine about my job, but enlighten you. Denistry is a lot more difficult than you can imagine. I would argue that dentistry in private practice is just as difficult and stressful as most areas of medicine. Sure, I usually don't have to tell patients that there disease is terminal, but there have been a few cases in my short career where I have diagnosed tongue cancer and the prognosis is terrible. In some respects, hearing that you have cancer from your dentist is almost worse than hearing a bad diagnosis from your physician, because most people don't expect it and it hits harder.
My perspective may be different from others, but I am a new dentist and business owner. I am sure that as time goes on these aspects I have described become easier to manage as the patient base gets larger.
I easily put in an 60-80 hour week. I only see patients for 35-40 hours of that time, but the rest of the time is dedicated to the business, paying bills, writing charts, lab cases, taxes, consults with other doctors, etc. And I get a lot of help from others in accomplishing those tasks.
I don't expect medicine to be any easier, and as we know, anything really worth it is hard work, whatever career you choose. However, from my experience there are a lot more interesting areas in medicine. It also seems that the potential to combine a career in medicine and research is feasible.
In dentistry you are pretty much stuck with teeth, which are interesting and complex in their own right, just not for me, the rest of my life. I am glad I went into dentistry, but I am ready to expand, and it seems that medicine is the logical place to go with my interests.
What I did not realize when I went to dental school, is how much time the business aspects of the profession would take. Of course, you can practice dentistry without being a business owner, but then your salary is greatly reduced.
As I think most dentists do, I initially thought about a career in medicine. However, despite having an excellent grades, I thought dentistry better suited my personality. I was greatly motivated to have my own business. I never applied to medical school. In fact, I only applied to my state dental school and got right in.
However, the years as a business owner have taught me that my interests are more in the science of disease and alleviating pain, than in making the fat cash.
Now I've really rambled on. I just wanted those of you that are contemplating the decision between dentistry and medicine to give a lot of thought to that decision, so you won't be like me and want to go back to school after you are a board certified doctor of dental surgery. Even so, I have to look at my time as a dentist in a positive light. I have learned a ton about dealing with patients and I still love patients! Just don't make me drill on their teeth all day long.
I got a lot from reading your "ramble"
I have been in law enforcement for six years and have been working the past four completing my BA work while still working as a cop. In addition, I am married and also serve as the security officer for my apartment complex in exchange for greatly reduced rent (couldn't be in college without it). Law enforcement is another career that the casual observer only sees a sliver of. I occasionally get to do the things you see on "Cops", but the part most don't realize is that after that five or ten minutes of excitement, several hours (sometimes days) of paperwork and other tasks ensue, and it can be physically and mentally draining. I am still working on my application essay for TMDSAS (Texas) trying to figure out how to best use my prior experience to help convince the adcoms that I would make a good med student and physician. Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated, and I would be happy to offer you any advice (what little I possess
) should you need it. Best of luck to you.Kurt
I think that your concerns are completely valid – my sister is beginning her final year of dental school and as been struggling with the same issues. That said, I think that Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland has started a new program that is a dual MD/DMD, the first of its kind. I’m sure that if they are willing to offer a dual degree then there is something out there to suit your interests. Here is the link: http://dental.case.edu/dmdmd/
Hope this helps – good luck!
yes, i think you should go for medical school. your experience as a dentist will only make you a better physician. definitely go for it.
also, i’m impressed by this new program at Case Western Reserve. as a fellow Case alum, i have been impressed with their innovation in health science education. Case actually has two MD program’s: one at the Cleveland Clinic and one traditional MD program at the Univeristy Hospital. http://www.clevelandclinic.org/cclcm/thecollege.ht…
So I’m not suprised by Case’s innovation in creating a dual degree DMD/MD program. sound’s like a great program.
Thanks everyone for responding to my posts. I apologize for the delayed response. I am currently studying for the MCAT and will take it when I am ready. I do plan to apply to med school. We will see how that goes!
My uncle, a navy dentist, went back to med school at VCU, and is now a maxillofacial (spelling) surgeon. He loves it and never has regretted the time or sacrifice. Of course, the Navy paid his way but he did get out of at least 1 of the science years.