CE and the military?

[shamrock2006]

I tried doing a search and got nothing, so I figured I'd start up this bad boy. What's the policy on going for CE while doing your payback time? Is it allowed/encouraged? Does the military cover it? I also am curious as to whether or not it has an impact on those who have/have not done the military AEGD. If you DONT take the AEGD (or dont get into one..dont know how competitive it is actually)...do they want you to get some CE or will they just have the "screw you pal" mentality...shove you into a room to do nothing but exams/simple restorations all day...and thats it. Just thought I'd see if i could get some feed back.. Thanks guys and best luck to everyone in school currently and those out and serving!!

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[Truedat]

What I understand, (somebody correct me if I am incorrect) the military will give you X amount of dollars per year towards CE. What that amount is I am not sure. But you are free to chose the CE you want to do. It's very encouraged ( I think required every year).

If you don't take the AEGD or qualify.......I feal sorry for that man. B/C you will be performing basic bare bones dentistry. While your colleague who went to an AEGD will get to do just about anything he wants. Rejecting or not qualifying for the AEGD can make life really suck into the military!!

Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong but this is what I've heard from AF dentists.

 

[shamrock2006]

makes sense...so if you know, off hand, or anyone for that matter....what's the competition really like to get into the AF AEGD? I'm just kinda curious...right now my intention is to do it (assuming again, I get picked up for one)..but I just dont know how much it is. Do you have to really really stress yourself out like you see the people doing trying to match into ortho, endo, OS, etc.? Or is it something that you shouldnt have trouble getting into if you just graduate? These are the types of things I'm really concerned about...the CE is important to me as well, but right now I'd say the AEGD competition (roughly) is tops. Getting info on this form seems to be a little bit harder overall than for the Army and Navy.

 

[baddog]

From AF experience you usually get to go to one national meeting a year in your field of expertise be it a speciality or general dentistry. HOwever, this is dependent on the command budget so if it gets tight--need more bombs/bullets--you may not get to go. But, at the base and command level there is a tremendous amount of CE as there are multiple sponsored AF courses to attend, and at larger bases with residency programs you usually have numerous presentations by the residents to supplement your CE needs. IU've found that there is more and better CE than you can "buy" in most civilian markets available in the AF. Good luck.

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

I've found that there is more and better CE than you can "buy" in most civilian markets available in the AF. Good luck.

I could not agree more. In the military you are still required to get CE. You have to get at least the CE required by your state to maintain your licence. The AF also requires you get 90 hours of CE over 3 years. This is actually more than is required by my state (OH) and much more than many others.

As stated earlier, you usually get one funded TDY per year to go where you want (pretty much). The AF also has 1-2 week short courses at Lackland AFB covering many topics. There is also a Navy web site where you can get tons of CE for free. I got 86 hours of CE last year.

The AEGD is worth 250 hours.

I hope this helps.

 

[Truedat]

thats good to know

 

[HawkeyeDDS]

Alot of states will waive your CE requirements while in the Military. I have both Iowa and Kansas licenses and neither require me to have CE, just a copy of my orders.

The Army gives you an oportunity to go to one of it's CE courses TDY as a general dentist. They are ok, usually not much you didn't learn in dental school. But you would have to take leave or permissive TDY for one of the big National meetings(ADA AGD etc)....not to mention your own dime.

 

[SNOZBERRIES]

The Army won't pay for you go to a national meeting? I have seen tons of army dentists at the Hinnman, ADA, etc. Did they all have to pay out of pocket?

 

[HawkeyeDDS]

Not as a general dentist 63A. If you do the 2 year residency in general dentistry and become the almighty "comprehensive dentist" then they will pay for your trip to these meetings. But as a plain jane general dentist you're on your own. Most of those you saw were also probably o-5 to o-6's with the magical tag of comprehensive dentist. (no extra pay in the private world, but it makes them feel better to be called that)

 

[baddog]

Hawk

Instead of complaining, why not get on board and BECOME a comprehensive dentist! Not only that--work on that promotion! Sheesh, you can't get it all as a newbie, when you stay in a while you will reap the benefits!

 

[umkcdds]

The Army won't pay for you go to a national meeting? I have seen tons of army dentists at the Hinnman, ADA, etc. Did they all have to pay out of pocket?

the Army is paying me to go to the Hinnman in a few weeks....TDY.

 

[HawkeyeDDS]

Hawk

Instead of complaining, why not get on board and BECOME a comprehensive dentist! Not only that--work on that promotion! Sheesh, you can't get it all as a newbie, when you stay in a while you will reap the benefits!

Dude, I'm just telling it like it is. I could care less about the promotion, I just really don't like misinformation or half truths put forth by a seemingly majority of recruiters. If I can clarify somehthing how it really is then great. I need people to join so that my butt won't get called off of IRR. If I were going to stay in though I would do the Comprehensive Dentistry thing, I love general dentistry. And the pay is nice in the army, 50k a year multiyear retention bonus....nice. That is the only reason to do it. But let's be honest, in the private world a comprehensive dentist means crap to no one. Most comprehensive dentists seem to specialize within their clinics anyway, the guy that does the OS, Pros, Admin etc. Most seem to find their nitch and stay there.

If my posts seem to be "complaining" it's only because I want clarify things. All the positive things are explained fully by the recruiters, no need to rehash the benefits. And again, my posts are simply from my experience in the Army. I'm not about to talk about the Navy/AF. Even within the Army the experiences are so different based soley on your situation/commanders. I'm simply expressing my experience. At the end of it I will be extremely greatfull that I did it. I'm probably better prepared for the private sector, than if I had not done the Army thing. But looking back I'm not sure I could do it again.

If you have prior enlisted time, then I know it sounds like my posts are just complaining. But if you have no idea what the Army is like, there's a huge difference between what the recruiter tells you and reality. That's probably the main reason 95% of CPT's bail the first opportunity they have. So I'm not sure what you want me to get on board with, but these PreDents need to know exactly what they are signing up for.

NUB out. (Three years and still Nu-B? crap there's no respect)

Thanks Dr Cox (Scrubs)

 

[HawkeyeDDS]

the Army is paying me to go to the Hinnman in a few weeks....TDY.

You're a resident though right?

 

[umkcdds]

You're a resident though right?

a 1yr AEGD resident, yes, but there are other dentists here at Ft Campbell that are going on TDY orders as well.

 

[HawkeyeDDS]

Lucky