Larchmont Gazette.com: Career Doctor

The Career Doctor™

by Dr. Jacqueline Hornor Plumez

Looking for a first job? Thinking of changing careers? Facing a lay-off? The Career Doctor™ is a Larchmont psychologist specializing in career counseling. If you'd like to ask a question of your own, use the anonymous form, and she might answer you here. Read more about the Career Doctor here. Contact information is here.

THE DENTAL DRILL

Dear Career Doctor:

I'm a dentist from Colombia. I love and enjoy my profession. I am 39 years old and in order to get my dentist license here is USA I will have to take dental studies all over again. I am talking about 6 years of studying! Is this realistic and worthy at my age?

Maria Toves

Dear Dr. Toves:

I was shocked to find out that you are absolutely correct: to take the dental licensing exam, you have to go through dental school again! Even more ridiculous, you could not even take the licensing exam to be a dental hygienist unless you took the one or two year course in the US for that! It seems unreasonable of New York State to require this of you -- but those are the facts.

Should you retrain to become a dentist here? The answer depends on how much you love being a dentist and whether you could be satisfied in some other related field. Here are some things to consider when making that decision:

Given your knowledge of the field, you could probably get a job running a dental practice -- supervising support staff, booking appointments and billing. The pay might be pretty good at a large practice. But could you be happy just doing this?

If you would not be happy unless you worked directly with patients, you could take a one or two year course and be a dental hygienist. Sure you would be overqualified, but you could earn $40 an hour and deal with patients. How would you feel about that?

Another possibility is to use your science training to become a teacher. There is a tremendous need for science teachers in our middle and high schools. You might be able to be hired, even without any further training, in a private or parochial school to teach science. For higher pay and better benefits, you could get a Masters and teach in the public school system. (New York City has a Teaching Fellows program that will employ you while you get your Masters. And the fact that you speak Spanish should be a big plus.)

However, if none of these options will make you happy and you will feel cheated or resentful if you can not practice as a dentist, then I would look into retraining -- but before you start a program, check on their track record for finding employment for graduates in their forties.

The Career Doctor

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The Career Doctor™