missmathematics Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 After getting an abysmal score on verbal reasoning on the MCAT i'm seriously considering dentistry. I haven't written the DAT yet but as long as verbal reasoning isn't on it i'm really not concerned. Plus I took a practice test without studying and did pretty well on it. I would have 88.6% (with the lowest year dropped) and would plan on applying to western and u of t. I can't find information on the websites about references....and when I looked on the previous years' applications it didn't mention references. So where do I get information about this? MOST IMPORTANTLY I would really like to know WHY you want to be a dentist! What are the pros? What are the cons? Anything you could share would be fantastic! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatcheese100 Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Was this your first time writing the MCAT? If med school is really your thing, you can always try again next year if it doesn't work out for you this time. This gives you an extra year to build up your MCAT score, EC, references or whatnot. Anyway, DAT has verbal too, except they call it Reading Comprehension. Very similar to MCAT, but I find that the questions are easier because they mostly ask for factual details that can be found in the passage. But the section is still pretty time-constrained. As for references, I am pretty sure that UWO and UofT do not require references for application. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Some other schools do require 1-2 references (I can't remember exactly which one, maybe UBC, mcgill?) It's all listed on their admission website. And to answer your 3rd question, why I'm choosing dentistry? I shadowed some dentists and can see myself in their shoes. It's an independent profession. You're your own boss (once established). It's challenging (building up patient pool, managing business, advertising). Money is good (if you are hard worker). And you get plenty of people interaction (patients + staff). The only downside is that I really want to specialize, and I heard that it's ultra-competitive even more so than med school specialization. QQ Hope that was somewhat helpful to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 ^ Agree with everything above. Re: RC vs. VR... RC is far easier in the sense that there is no real interpretation or implicit meaning extraction involved as there is in Verbal on the MCAT. It is purely based on your ability to read quickly, glean information accurately, and go through the questions fast. Some sections will be highly technical (generally they're filled with dental information with lots of technical terms that can get jargon-ey) and may slow you down, others may be ridiculously dry and boring (I had a passage about bridge-building... groan). But if you can keep your focus and keep your pace high, you will get through with no issues. The questions are easy and scoring high is merely a matter of practice and familiarity like the PAT, not knowledge of content, like the science sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap_man99 Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 As well as some of the things said, lifestyle as well. Much easier to have a family life (work less-same money). Able to go to kids stuff. etc. Also I enjoy the fact that its almost something new everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmathematics Posted July 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 Thanks so much for your input! This was my second time writing the mcat...I got a lower score after an entire year of private tutoring and working my ass off to try to "interpet" those damn passages. I will be studying to write again though after I realized that I had been answering the questions wrong the entire time...it's hard to explain lol, just like the mcat. Anyways I did a few practice RC's and it was ridiculously easy for me. I'll definitely be taking the DAT since I'm not expecting anything from the mcat anymore. I completely agree with that keeping a balance in life is important, definitely more realistic with dentistry than medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1T5dent Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 lol at an admissions test dictating what profession you practice for the next 30+ years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sciappmed Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 "So dad, what made you want to be a dentist?" "The verbal reasoning section." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 "So dad, what made you want to be a dentist?" "The verbal reasoning section." hehehehe well in many ways the fields are not that far apart - particularly for some particular residencies. I am never surprised when some one interesting in medicine is also interest in dentistry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril Posted July 30, 2011 Report Share Posted July 30, 2011 You will probably face harder things in dent or med than the verbal reasoning section. I would just suggest to you that you go into dent because you actually have an interest in it rather than going into dent because you have an aversion to medicine or the admissions process. To be honest, I think having the reading comprehension section on the DAT to be perceived as easier as a catalyst for going into dentistry is a bad reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sciappmed Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 hehehehe well in many ways the fields are not that far apart - particularly for some particular residencies. I am never surprised when some one interesting in medicine is also interest in dentistry. Which medical specialties are that close to dentistry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sciappmed Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 This is not a problem unique to OP. I know many people (immigrant students who are otherwise excellent academically) whose only barring thing going into medicine is the VR. Year after year the VR score does not go up above 10/11 and it just gets sadder and sadder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Which medical specialties are that close to dentistry? He may be referring to OMFS programs, which essentially lead to an MD degree in some parts of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medguy5367 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't settle for being just a dentist if u have the potential for being a doctor! The mcat is hard but trust me, having that MD after your name makes it all worth it. Don't take the easy way out now, just my advice! You are still young, dont have any regrets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't settle for being just a dentist if u have the potential for being a doctor! The mcat is hard but trust me, having that MD after your name makes it all worth it. Don't take the easy way out now, just my advice! You are still young, dont have any regrets! This guyyyy. Do you troll often? I hope you're never my doctor. People who place one career over another for the mere prestige of it are sad people indeed. Everyone has their opinions, I get that; you hold general medicine in a higher esteem than dentistry, that's cool. But don't push it on other people like it's doctrine. People do what they want to do because they WANT to do it, and who are you to say that that's "taking the easy way out"? People have their reasons for choosing dentistry, just as they do for choosing medicine, and no, it's not always "I can't do well in verbal" or "I'm going to take the 'easy' way out." Just like you have your reasons for choosing medicine: "I'm a huge tool and just want everyone to think I'm awesome. Durrrr. It's too bad I'm going to be a terrible doctor because I'm kind of an ass****." Okay, maybe I went too far. Good luck on your med school apps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seer Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't settle for being just a dentist if u have the potential for being a doctor! The mcat is hard but trust me, having that MD after your name makes it all worth it. Don't take the easy way out now, just my advice! You are still young, dont have any regrets! This guy comes in and offers no useful or critical advice and info to the OP and insults a bunch of dentists...don't know how you managed to pass you med interview but no way you will get through dental school interview lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medguy5367 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 OP said that his first choice is med. By definition, anything else=settling. Please explain how I am 'pushing' this on him. This forum is getting ridiculous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pchan123 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't settle for being just a dentist if u have the potential for being a doctor! The words "just a dentist" and the fact that you make it sound like it takes more potential to become a doctor than a dentist is extremely condescending. If you didn't mean it like that, then your choices of words is absolutely atrocious. If you did mean it maliciously, remember that most of the people that got into dentistry probably have a higher GPA than you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medguy5367 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Geez, I wasn't being malicious... Didn't know dentists were so sensitive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seer Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Geez, I wasn't being malicious... Didn't know dentists were so sensitive Does not at least acknowledge for the poor choice of words and unhesitatingly shrugs off any criticism comments and again make a remark like this...I sincerely hope I won't be one of your patients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomed Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 lol 313 WORTHLESS posts by the medguy haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zap_man99 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 i think your post was also a little condescending. But if you dont believe so w/e. I would suggest watching your word choice as an MD. Anyways, lots of +'s and -'s to both. To be honest, you shouldnt give up becoming a MD just because of the MCAT, but do keep your options open, shadow a dentist-see what you think of the profession, shadow a doctor see what you think of that profession. Then just take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenius Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 just a dentist harharhar... really man, medicine is a noble profession and those who pursue it deserve lots of respect. but if ur gonna think less of others bc of it, u need to remove ur head from ur arse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eugenius Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 med vs dent haha all in good fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 Yeah this thread got off the rails Poor wording aside the point remains that if you want to be a doctor you should continue to explore ways to make that happen. VR is not an unsolvable problem (not to say it is easy), and many schools don't use it at all. I actually did mean before that dentistry is not that different than many aspects of medicine - in fact I find the entire medicine vs dentistry debate going down sharp dividing lines kind of weird to me. The closest profession I can think of to medicine is dentistry - there are many, many specialties in medicine that feel way, way more different to each other than dentistry feels to many, and my observerships in both dentistry and family doctors offices (and small procedure driven specialties) always had a similar feel to them in terms of work environment and work flow. I guess what I was saying I not surprised that people can be quite interested in both for that reason and am always confused when people make them out to be night and day, and swarm someone who is considering both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pchan123 Posted July 31, 2011 Report Share Posted July 31, 2011 In my opinion (and this is only based off my opinion and my own experiences), specialized surgeons are extremely similar to dentist. However, if we compare a GP to a GP, I find them highly dissimilar. Both GP doctors and GP dentists do diagnosis and treatment. But GP doctors are dealing with the entire body, they have a far longer list to choose from fir differential diagnosis and their choices, in some cases, could be the difference between life and death. Dentists are far more specialized, localizing in the head/neck region and the list for possible dieases/problems cannot even compare to those that doctors must know. Besides the rare cases of tongue/oral cancer, most of the choices for dentists are not immediately life or death. On the treatment side, a GP doctor mostly prescribes medicine or refers the patient to a specialist if no further leeway can be made. GP dentists on the other hand, carry out hands on treatment that require a high level of dexterity. In terms of flexibility in both professions for scheduling, I think both are about equal. I know some doctors that work 3 days a week and take 6 vacations a year and still make a decent living. Dentists have quiet a bit of flexibility, but you have to remember that closing a dental office for one day costs substantially more than closing a doctor's office for one day. One day vacation fora dentist means still paying for overhead, supplies, one receptionist, at least one assistant and possibly a hygenist or two. A day closed for a doctor requires only paying for rent and the receptionist. but there are so many types of doctors and so many types of dentists its hard to compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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