Re: Do Dentists make more money than Doctors in USA?

Perhaps what they are doing is in a sense equivalent to surgery.

It's not equivalent to surgery, it is by definition surgery. Surgery is
defined as the medical specialty that treats diseases or injuries by
operative manual and instrumental treatment. The modern dental surgeon
is the offspring of the medieval surgeon, who often received informal
training and was responsible for dental extractions, limb amputations,
and other pleasant stuff. This was contrary to the traditional
physician, who intervened with medication.

However, general dentists have only had a fraction of the training
that a medical surgeon has.In Australia, to become a surgeon takes
about 10 years post medical school.

I gather 10 years post-school training is mostly for senior registrars
in specialities such as cardiothoracic or vascular surgery. Most
surgeons would be able to practice general surgery, like
appendicectomies, unsupervised long before that.

But as you mentioned, the problem in comparing medical surgeons with
dental surgeons, is that in order to become a medical surgeon you first
have to get a medical degree. The dental school on the other hand could
be seen as a fast track to a surgical specialty. Perhaps, it would be
better to compare dentists with veterinary surgeons, as the vet school
also offers a surgical degree on graduation.

On the other hand, what would a comparison achieve anyway? If someone
is contemplating between a dental and medical career, income potential
is not a good way for a choice. Money can be made much easier and with
less stress by becoming an investment banker or marketing consultant.

Regards,
George

Regards,
George

.

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