Switching from Pre-Med to Pre-Dent

Pre-Dentistry & Dental School
1

Hello,
I am currently a second year at a University. I came in as a pre-med student and got very involved with pre-med activities (hospital volunteer, research, medical missions). Recently, I have been having doubts about whether I do want to go into medicine because I understand that it is an extremely long and difficult road. Although I have been enjoying my volunteer work, I am not sure if I have been just lying to myself because I know it’s something I’m supposed to do. I have explored dentistry recently and have discovered that I am a better fit for this career path. However, is it too late for me to switch from being pre-med to pre-dent because I haven’t been doing anything dental yet? I do hope to attend grad school right out of college but would that not be feasible since I do not have enough experience in the dental field? (the ideal application time would be next spring 2016 to be matriculated in fall 2017) For example, would it not look good on my application to have done dental related activity for a year? What do you recommend I do to be a competitive applicant to dental school even though half of my college experience has been devoted to medicine? Sorry that’s a lot but I really appreciate everyone who responds.

2

You may get the information you need by reviewing the american dental associatoin website for predental students http://www.ada.org/en/education-careers/careers-in-dentistry

and also by looking at the studentdoctor forum predental section.

http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/forums/pre-dental.17/

3

All I can say at this stage is: go volunteer and shadow at some general practice dentist… in terms of prerequisite coursework required, dental school is not much different from med school.

4

I don’t think you’re late at all, and welcome to the pre-dent pack ! :smiley:

Definitely get some shadowing in! If you were pre-med before, you’ve probably already taken a lot of basic science that coincides with the pre-dent curriculum…which is good! Feel free to message me with any questions, as I am applying to dental schools now!