Physician vs Dentist: Which Field Is Better?

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

Dimension

Physician

Dentist

Median pay

>=$239,200

$179,210

Projected growth (2024–34)

2.8%

Annual openings

22,300

4,500

2024 employment

785,600

149,300

2034 projected employment

807,700

155,200

Self-employed share

4.2%

11.7%

Typical entry education

Doctoral/professional degree plus residency

Doctoral/professional degree

Related work experience

—

On-the-job training

—

Physician: main tradeoff

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

Dentist: main tradeoff

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

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 Physician or Dentist.