Dentist vs Physician: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Dentist	Physician
Median pay	$179,210	>=$239,200
Projected growth (2024–34)	4%	2.8%
Annual openings	4,500	22,300
2024 employment	149,300	785,600
2034 projected employment	155,200	807,700
Self-employed share	11.7%	4.2%
Typical entry education	Doctoral/professional degree	Doctoral/professional degree plus residency
Related work experience	—	—
On-the-job training	—	—

Dimension

Dentist

Physician

Median pay

$179,210

>=$239,200

Projected growth (2024–34)

2.8%

Annual openings

4,500

22,300

2024 employment

149,300

785,600

2034 projected employment

155,200

807,700

Self-employed share

11.7%

4.2%

Typical entry education

Doctoral/professional degree

Doctoral/professional degree plus residency

Related work experience

—

On-the-job training

—

Dentist: main tradeoff

High-income professional work with ownership potential, but education cost, practice economics, and staffing shortages are central to the decision.

Physician: main tradeoff

Extremely long training and high opportunity cost are balanced by durable demand and a projected national physician shortage.

Which should you choose?

Dentist has the higher projected 2024–2034 growth rate. The larger decision is whether you prefer the training path, work style, and occupation-specific tradeoffs of Dentist or Physician.