Dental School vs Medical School: Is Dental School Harder?

Dental school vs medical school, in short: dental school is somewhat easier to get into, with about 52% of 2025 dental applicants enrolling compared with about 43% of MD applicants. Neither is simply harder. Dentistry front-loads hand skills and a hands-on licensing exam, while medicine adds a longer mandatory residency and more board exam days.

Both are four-year doctoral programs that start after college, and both lead to licensed, well-paid careers. The real differences show up in the admissions test, the licensing exams, what happens after graduation and how fast pay arrives. If you are still in high school, our comparison of dentistry and medicine for high school students is the better starting point; this guide covers the decision at the college level.

Dental School vs Medical School at a Glance

The dental figures come from the ADEA applicants and enrollees report for the 2025 entering class, and the medical figures come from the AAMC FACTS applicant and matriculant tables for 2025-2026. The AAMC tables count MD-granting schools only, so DO applicants are not in the medical totals.

Is Dental School Harder Than Medical School? A Dimension-by-Dimension Answer

“Harder” means different things at each stage. A student who breezes through organic chemistry may struggle with fine motor work on a typodont, and a student with steady hands may find a three-year internal medicine residency with overnight call harder than any exam. The sections below take each stage in order, so you can judge which kind of hard suits you.

Is It Harder to Get Into Dental School or Medical School?

By the share of applicants who enroll, medical school is harder to get into. ADEA counted 13,657 dental applicants and 7,073 first-time, first-year enrollees for 2025, a ratio of 1.93 applicants per seat. The AAMC counted 54,699 MD applicants and 23,440 matriculants for 2025-2026, about 2.33 applicants per seat. Our guide to medical school acceptance rates breaks the MD figures down school by school.

The gap is narrowing. Dental applicants rose from 11,198 in 2023 to 13,657 in 2025, and the applicant-per-seat ratio climbed from 1.71 to 1.93 over the same period. There are 79 accredited dental schools in the United States, according to the ADA Health Policy Institute, so the dental pool is small and each school’s class is small too.

Grades are high on both sides. ADEA reports a mean total GPA of 3.68 and science GPA of 3.60 for 2025 dental enrollees, and 48.2% of them had a total GPA of 3.75 or higher. AAMC reports a mean total GPA of 3.81 and science GPA of 3.75 for 2025-2026 MD matriculants. Medical matriculants post higher averages, but neither pool admits many students with weak science grades. For the full list of courses and timelines, see our dental school requirements guide.

Is the DAT Harder Than the MCAT?

The two tests measure different things, so the honest answer depends on your strengths. The ADA describes the DAT as four tests: Survey of the Natural Sciences (100 items), Perceptual Ability (90 items), Reading Comprehension (50 items) and Quantitative Reasoning (40 items), with a total administration time of five hours and 15 minutes. The Perceptual Ability test measures spatial reasoning and has no counterpart on the MCAT.

The AAMC describes the MCAT as four multiple-choice sections with 6 hours and 15 minutes of content time and about 7 hours and 30 minutes of seated time. It adds a full section on psychology and sociology and the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section, so it is longer and broader. By length and breadth, the MCAT is the heavier test, while students who find spatial tasks difficult may find the DAT’s Perceptual Ability section the hardest single part of either exam.

Scoring is changing for dental applicants. ADEA notes that the DAT began moving from its 30-point scale to a three-digit 200 to 600 scale on March 1, 2025, so older averages such as the 20.9 Academic Average will not line up with newer score reports. Our complete DAT guide covers the sections in detail, and our article on how hard the MCAT is covers the medical side.

Is Dental School Itself Harder Than Medical School?

The coursework load is similar, but the kind of work differs. According to the ADA’s guide for high school and college students, years one and two of dental school combine classroom and laboratory instruction in basic health sciences with early hands-on practice on models, and some students begin treating patients late in the second year. In years three and four, dental students treat patients under the supervision of licensed dental faculty.

That means dental students carry a manual skills load from early in school, on top of the same kind of basic science coursework medical students take. Our article on how long dental school takes walks through each year.

Medical students cover a wider range of disease across every organ system, then spend the later years rotating through specialties such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and psychiatry. The breadth is the hard part. Our guide on how long medical school takes explains the four years and what can extend them.

Which Licensing Exams Are Harder: INBDE or USMLE?

Dentistry has fewer written exam days but adds a clinical assessment. The JCNDE describes the INBDE as a two-day examination, accepted in all U.S. states and territories as all or part of the written requirement for licensure. It launched in August 2020 and replaced the NBDE Part I and Part II.

Each state then sets its own clinical assessment. The ADA’s licensure guide for students lists the accepted pathways: a PGY-1 residency, an objective structured clinical examination such as the DLOSCE, a portfolio exam, or a hands-on clinical assessment from CDCA-WREB-CITA, CRDTS or SRTA. Delaware administers its own patient exam, and New York requires an approved PGY-1 residency. That clinical step has no direct match among the three USMLE Steps described below.

Medicine spreads its exams over more years. Step 1 is a one-day exam given in one 8-hour session, according to the USMLE Step 1 page, and USMLE lists Step 2 CK as a one-day exam in a 9-hour session.

Step 3 runs over two days, called Foundations of Independent Practice and Advanced Clinical Medicine in the Step 3 content outline. USMLE recommends that Step 3 candidates complete, or be near completing, at least one postgraduate training year. Our guide to USMLE Step 1 covers the first exam in depth.

DO students take COMLEX-USA. According to the NBOME, Level 1 is typically taken in the second year, Level 2-CE in the third or fourth year and Level 3 during residency, and each level must be passed in order. Counting testing days, a future physician sits for about four days of national boards, against two days for the INBDE plus the clinical assessment.

Is Residency Harder for Doctors or Dentists?

This is where medicine is clearly harder. The BLS reports that almost all medical graduates enter a residency in their specialty, usually in a hospital or clinic, lasting 3 to 9 years depending on the specialty, and that fellowships add 1 to 3 years. BLS lists completing residency training among the steps to a physician’s license. Our guide to medical residency and fellowship explains how those years work.

General dentists do not need training beyond dental school, according to the BLS, unless their state requires a PGY-1 year. Every dental specialty requires further training, usually a 2- to 4-year residency, and oral and maxillofacial surgery programs typically take 4 to 6 years. A future orthodontist or oral surgeon faces a training path closer to a physician’s.

Which Career Pays More?

Physicians earn more at the median, but they start full pay later. According to the BLS dentist profile, the median annual wage for dentists was $176,110 in May 2025, with a median wage of $170,950 for general dentists, a median wage of $289,140 for orthodontists and a median wage of $352,220 for oral and maxillofacial surgeons. The lowest 10% of dentists earned less than $89,100, and the highest 10% earned more than $337,210.

The BLS physician profile puts the median annual wage for physicians and surgeons at $275,930 in May 2025. General pediatricians had a median wage of $210,040, family medicine physicians a median wage of $244,180 and cardiologists a median wage of $496,010.

A general dentist can reach practice pay three or more years earlier than a physician who finishes even the shortest residency, which narrows the lifetime gap. For more detail, see our breakdowns of how much dentists make and how much doctors make.

Which Has the Easier Schedule After Training?

Dentistry usually does. The BLS says many dentists work less than 40 hours a week, although some work considerably more, and some work evenings and weekends to meet patients’ needs. For physicians, BLS says most work full time and many work long shifts, which may include irregular and overnight hours or being on call. Specialty matters: a dermatologist and a trauma surgeon live very different weeks.

Which Is Harder for Whom? A Scorecard

How to Decide Which Path Fits You

Neither path is a backup for the other. Admissions committees on both sides look for evidence that you understand the profession you chose. These questions help sort out the fit:

• Do you enjoy precise, small-scale hand work, such as lab techniques, models or instruments, for hours at a time?
• Would you rather manage the whole patient, including chronic disease, hospital care and complex diagnoses?
• How many years can you train before earning a full salary, and how do you feel about overnight call during residency?
• Once training ends, would you prefer a week that more often stays under 40 hours?
• Have you spent time with both dentists and physicians at work, so your choice rests on what you saw rather than on rankings?

If you answer yes to the first and fourth questions, dentistry deserves a hard look. If the second question excites you more, medicine is likely the better fit. Many students shadow in both fields during college before committing to the DAT or the MCAT.

Getting Clinical Exposure Before You Apply

Time in real clinics is the fastest way to test either choice. In IMA’s dental internships abroad, pre-dental students work alongside licensed dentists in clinics and community oral health outreach, helping with patient intake and oral hygiene education under supervision; they do not examine, clean or treat teeth. How those hours are classified on ADEA AADSAS is each dental school’s decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is dental school harder than medical school?

Not overall. Medical school is harder to get into and leads to a longer mandatory residency and more board exam days. Dental school asks for more manual skill from the first year and adds a hands-on clinical licensing assessment in most states. Which feels harder depends on your strengths.

Is it easier to get into dental school than medical school?

By the numbers, yes. ADEA reports that 7,073 of 13,657 dental applicants enrolled for 2025, or 51.8%. AAMC reports 23,440 matriculants from 54,699 MD applicants for 2025-2026, or about 42.9%. Both pools are competitive, with mean enrollee GPAs above 3.6.

Do dentists have to do a residency?

General dentists usually do not, according to the BLS, but New York requires an approved PGY-1 residency for licensure, and many states accept a PGY-1 year in place of a clinical exam. Every dental specialty requires a residency, usually 2 to 4 years, and oral and maxillofacial surgery takes 4 to 6 years.

Do dentists and doctors take the same board exams?

No. Dentists take the Integrated National Board Dental Examination (INBDE), a two-day exam, plus a clinical assessment accepted by their state. MD students take USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3, and DO students take COMLEX-USA Levels 1, 2-CE and 3.

Do dentists make less than doctors?

At the median, yes. BLS reports a May 2025 median annual wage of $176,110 for dentists and $275,930 for physicians and surgeons. Specialists change the picture: oral and maxillofacial surgeons had a median of $352,220, above many physician specialties.

Can I apply to both dental school and medical school?

You can, but it is rarely a good idea. Each requires its own test (the DAT or the MCAT), its own application service (ADEA AADSAS for dental schools, AMCAS or AACOMAS for medical schools) and essays that explain why you chose that profession.

Is a DDS the same as a DMD?

Yes. The ADA explains that dental schools may choose to award either a doctorate of dental surgery (DDS) or a doctorate of dental medicine (DMD). Both degrees meet the same accreditation standards and qualify graduates for the same licensure.

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