<p>hi, i just got accepted to a 6-year BS/MD program at UMKC and a 7-year BS/DMD program at UPenn...I know i want to be in a medical filed, and i love both professions. but now that i have to choose a profession, i dont know what to do. does anybody have any thoughts or ideas about this?</p>
<p>Follow your passion! Both are great! :)</p>
<p>MD probably gives you a wider spectrum of specializations while with dentistry you'll resign youself to be looking down someone's mouth for your entire career -- dentistry has a benefit in that you will take almost the same classes as medical school students (you learn about the whole body) but you also get much more hands-on experience and patient work earlier on in your schooling, which some people really like</p>
<p>one of my friends is in dental school right now -- she is saying everyone's pretty miserable (a lot of people drop out from dental schools) -- but i bet ever so in medical programs -- she's miserable because of the laboratory requirements -- they have to do very precise work on teeth and teeth are very small -- if you drill something 0.5mm more or less or at a 4 degree and not a 3 degree angle, you have to redo the lab and at her school the re-take happens during the finals week -- when everyone is studying for finals, those who failed lab have to sit for 5-7 hours for a day or two doing the lab over again</p>
<p>in summary, chances are greater than you'll like medical program better than dental one</p>
<p>I'd personally pass on both programs and take the time to find which field is really for you. I realize that this is probably not an option, but you need to follow your passion - which profession will you be most likely to regret passing over in the future.</p>
<p>Try to avoid basing this on purely economical or lifestyle factors, b/c dentistry is probably going win hands down every time - especially if you go into a specialty like orthodontia (huge, huge $$$). </p>
<p>Your other option is researching the process of going into Oral-Maxillofacial surgery, most of those docs have MD and DDS. Get kind of the true melding of both fields. I'm really unsure of what the requirements for such a choice of careers is but I'm fairly confident that you don't go to both schools for the normal duration (ie you don't have to go back and start over at one after you've gotten your degree in the other).</p>