Ask any questions to a Navy Dentist!

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
rjh5146 said:
I was wondering if anyone knows when the HPSP selection committee begins accepting students into the program?
Click to expand...

They've already begun. They meet regularly, for example, the next meeting is Dec 9th I believe. They've also already selected a fair number that were on a wait list.
Members don't see this ad.
 
I have completed my HPSP application up to the point of my recruiter needing a letter of acceptance from a dental school. I sent that to him on 1-Dec., but he is on vacation until 14-Dec. Can someone please tell me if there is urgency in pushing the application through to completion after receiving acceptance? Can I afford to wait until the 14th of Dec. or are spots disappearing with every review? Thanks!
 
If you were to get into a 1 year AEGD in the Navy right out of dental school, would you be able to apply to the 2 year AEGD while in the 1 year AEGD?

Also, what would be "competitive" as far as getting into the 2 year Comp program right out of dental school?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
dieseldent said:
I have completed my HPSP application up to the point of my recruiter needing a letter of acceptance from a dental school. I sent that to him on 1-Dec., but he is on vacation until 14-Dec. Can someone please tell me if there is urgency in pushing the application through to completion after receiving acceptance? Can I afford to wait until the 14th of Dec. or are spots disappearing with every review? Thanks!
Click to expand...

You can afford to wait, they don't do it every week, by the 14th there won't have been another review (since the 9th). If your recruiter felt it was extremely urgent he/she'd have given you some way of officially submitting the acceptance paperwork. So just relax.
 
Does anyone have an experience to share for being on a "one-holer" and/or a carrier? Scrolling through the pages, I saw some information, but it's a couple of years old. So if anyone new has an experience or any of the older posters have new experiences, please post them.
 
Maybe this question has already been asked - I was curious to know if anyone had joined the Navy after completing a civilian OMFS residency? I have spoken briefly to a recruiter regarding the finanical support that would be given to pay off school loans which would require a comittment of atleast 3 years (three). If anyone has done this route, could you please let me know of your thoughts? What is the scope of practice as a Navy oral surgeon? Thanks.
 
It is my belief that they handle such cases on a case-to-case basis - it will be somewhat negotiable. Even if there isn't financial support you would still be eligible for the DOMRB and the ISP (which would go a long way towards paying back loans) and would probably get credit for the extra 4-6 years of education past dental school meaning you would probably be close to promotion-eligible for LCDR out of your program (not necessarily in-zone), so you'd be making a good amount of money either way. If you chose some sort of loan payback plan you probably wouldn't get the DOMRB and ISP. As for scope of practice, it varies - at the hospitals and medical centers they do a bit of orthognathic, but on the carriers and at the shore clinics it'll mainly be third molars, implants, and some of the other standard OMFS stuff (biopsies, excisions of benign lesions, etc)
 
Greetings, everyone, I was recently accepted into the Navy AEGD in San Diego starting July 2012 and was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice on where to live? I'm coming from Indiana and will not really have a chance to go check things out in person prior to moving West. Thanks!
 
I know nothing about San Diego and the only people I know out there are at Pendleton. However, I'd encourage you to take a trip out there for a weekend to check out the area.
 
DDSNavy said:
Greetings, everyone, I was recently accepted into the Navy AEGD in San Diego starting July 2012 and was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice on where to live? I'm coming from Indiana and will not really have a chance to go check things out in person prior to moving West. Thanks!
Click to expand...

A sponsor will be assigned to you. That's the person you need to ask. If you're in a hurry for a sponsor, you should contact your program director.
 
Hi, I read the begging and the end of this post only because its so long. I haven't come across any information regarding the financial aspect of navy (maybe the information was in the middle). I was on the navy website and the pay scale said that I will get about $38,000 a year. But it also says that there are other incentives like bonus pay, enlisting bonus, meal and housing allowance, etc. I also heard that there is an additional pay for just being a dentist. Basically people keep telling me that a dentist makes 40 a year, others are saying 80, others are saying 100. I would like a clear break down of how much a dentist gets payed during his 4 year repayment period, how easy is it to move up a rank, is there a sign on bonus for 4 years, and what about health insurance/malpractice insurance.
 
Assuming you have no prior service or private practice experience and are coming in as a brand new general dentist out of school, with no wife or kids, you are looking at $3771 per month base pay, $230 monthly nontaxable basic allowance for subsistence, a nontaxable basic allowance for housing monthly (can range from $1000-3000 depending on where you're stationed, SWAG at an average is probably 1400-1700). That's the same across the board for all O-3s.

If you get your state license (GET IT!!! - DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF NOT TAKING A LICENSING EXAM!), you are then looking at the new consolidated special pay plan of $20K a year paid in equal monthly installments ($1666.67 per month). This is taxable. I do not know if they are still offering the legacy ASP/VSP pay plan to new accessions.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
While in the HPSP, are you able to travel outside the country? My fiance are trying to plan our honeymoon, but we don`t want to book anything outside of the United States is there is any possibility that the Navy would not let me leave the country.
 
rjh5146 said:
While in the HPSP, are you able to travel outside the country? My fiance are trying to plan our honeymoon, but we don`t want to book anything outside of the United States is there is any possibility that the Navy would not let me leave the country.
Click to expand...

Not a problem while you're in school.
 
If you are accepted to the HSCP progam, are there any summer comittments during your 4 years of dental school? Is there a 5 week training that you attend that first summer? Also, do you recieve pay for anything else, besides salary, BAH and BAS? I will attend a Texas dental school, so I have heard that HSCP is the best route for me. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!
 
See notes below in blue.

cedgar737 said:
If you are accepted to the HSCP progam, are there any summer comittments during your 4 years of dental school? No summer committments. Only committments are 2 physical fitness tests each year and sending in 2 contact reports per month and meeting with the recruiter once every 2 months. That doesn't take much time at all.


Is there a 5 week training that you attend that first summer? No. You will be enlisted while in d-school. Only those going into the HPSP who will be officers in d-school can do the ODS training. You will complete the ODS training within a couple months of graduating from d-school.

Also, do you recieve pay for anything else, besides salary, BAH and BAS? No other pay. That us what normal military personnel get paid when on shore duty which is basically what you are doing while in d-school. But, you do get free medical and dental. This has the potential to be huge for some people. I know I have saved tens of thousands of dollars because of having Tricare insurance for my family compared to the crappy student insurance dental students can get while in d-school.


I will attend a Texas dental school, so I have heard that HSCP is the best route for me. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! HSCP is the best option for Texas residents, but if you are coming from out of state, the HPSP would be the best option.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
rjh5146 said:
While in the HPSP, are you able to travel outside the country? My fiance are trying to plan our honeymoon, but we don`t want to book anything outside of the United States is there is any possibility that the Navy would not let me leave the country.
Click to expand...

I went to New Zealand for 2 weeks during Christmas break one year without a problem.
 
Thank you for the info. One more question though....If a person gets accepted into the HSCP program through the Navy, can they use the GI Bill for the last three years of dental school since they are on active duty? I have read that you only have to be active duty for 90 days to start the GI Bill. That would definitely help pay tuition without having to take out other loans for cost of living.
 
I am getting the notion from this board that navy dentists are out at sea a lot of the time. Basically if I was in it for 4 years I might be at sea half of it? Is this how it is?
 
thompsonae12 said:
I am getting the notion from this board that navy dentists are out at sea a lot of the time. Basically if I was in it for 4 years I might be at sea half of it? Is this how it is?
Click to expand...

You'd be assigned to a ship for 2-3 years - during which you'd go to sea for underway periods and workups and 1-2 deployments of 4-11 months duration.
 
Okay I know that I am a little late getting started on my HPSP application. What are the chances of me getting my app finished early enough to receive the 4 year scholarship if I hurry up and turn everything in? Also, my first year in d-school will start in June. Would there be a possibility of me being commissioned during the summer? Am I just too late for that to happen? The summer is technically another semester (my school may be switching to "trimesters") and I'm not sure how the Navy handles this
 
By the way, I don't have any factors that would slow down the process (no health probs, already have letters of rec, etc). But then again, it probably depends more on how quickly my recruiter can fill out paperwork.
 
cedgar737 said:
Thank you for the info. One more question though....If a person gets accepted into the HSCP program through the Navy, can they use the GI Bill for the last three years of dental school since they are on active duty? I have read that you only have to be active duty for 90 days to start the GI Bill. That would definitely help pay tuition without having to take out other loans for cost of living.
Click to expand...
Do a search on the site for this. It's all there. The short answer is yes.
 
Open to anyone,

I was blessed with the HPSP scholarship in the fall of 2010 but was told I could not be sworn in until Jan 2nd, 2011....As a result, the Navy now says I must pay for the first semester of school on my own - over 30 grand for one semester....My contract reads 4 years service for 4 years of tuition reimbursement. I was told that because I did not commission until after the first semester had ended, I will only be reimbursed for school after that point and not retrospectively.

This is not what my recruiter explain to me or what was presented at my commissioning.

Any help/ideas or others who have heard of this occurrence? Most importantly, do I have any possibility of my contract being fulfilled?

Thanks for any answer. It is more than appreciated.
 
bisonteeth said:
Open to anyone,

I was blessed with the HPSP scholarship in the fall of 2010 but was told I could not be sworn in until Jan 2nd, 2011....As a result, the Navy now says I must pay for the first semester of school on my own - over 30 grand for one semester....My contract reads 4 years service for 4 years of tuition reimbursement. I was told that because I did not commission until after the first semester had ended, I will only be reimbursed for school after that point and not retrospectively.

This is not what my recruiter explain to me or what was presented at my commissioning.

Any help/ideas or others who have heard of this occurrence? Most importantly, do I have any possibility of my contract being fulfilled?

Thanks for any answer. It is more than appreciated.
Click to expand...

You only get reimbursed/backpay on items (and tuition) for the quarters in which you are commissioned. That means if you weren't commissioned during a certain quarter/semester then you don't get the money for that quarter/semester. If you start school and then commission you will be payed back for the current semester/quarter that you are currently in when you commission, even if it's the last day of the quarter/semester. It looks like you got the run around and ended up missing out on that semester because of misinformation from your recruiter. Sorry man, but there's not much you can do about it. Look on the bright side, at least you get the rest of your school payed for. Hopefully anyone else who potentially ends up in that situation will read this and press their recruiter to be commissioned ASAP so that they don't miss out on part of their scholarship. I found this out early and was able to commission a few weeks into the quarter, which enabled me to receive benefits from the scholarship for the entire quarter.
 
I will hopefully attend a Texas school, where the tuition is relatively inexpensive. Because of the lower tuition, I realize that the Navy HSCP program would be a good match for me. However, I am concerned about the difficulty of getting accepted into that progam. I have a 3.9 GPA and, hopefully after June, I will have good DAT scores. Does anyone know how competive the Navy programs are? Can I apply to both the Navy HSCP and HPSP to help insure acceptance to one of the programs?
 
vellnueve said:
Assuming you have no prior service or private practice experience and are coming in as a brand new general dentist out of school, with no wife or kids, you are looking at $3771 per month base pay, $230 monthly nontaxable basic allowance for subsistence, a nontaxable basic allowance for housing monthly (can range from $1000-3000 depending on where you're stationed, SWAG at an average is probably 1400-1700). That's the same across the board for all O-3s.

If you get your state license (GET IT!!! - DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF NOT TAKING A LICENSING EXAM!), you are then looking at the new consolidated special pay plan of $20K a year paid in equal monthly installments ($1666.67 per month). This is taxable. I do not know if they are still offering the legacy ASP/VSP pay plan to new accessions.
Click to expand...

I'm a senior in dental school and a navy recruiter will come out next week but I wanted to get some info prior to that. From what I read around here they would help me pay off only part of my loans because I'm joining now, is that correct? I also was accepted in an AEGD program and will start this summer, does anyone know how that would affect me possibly joining the Navy?

vellnueve said:
You'd be assigned to a ship for 2-3 years - during which you'd go to sea for underway periods and workups and 1-2 deployments of 4-11 months duration.
Click to expand...

Now this is what worries me. I am a woman :) and I'm married ( no children yet). If I join the navy how likely is it that I will be sent out on ships or abroad without my husband? What about having children? We are considering having them sometime in the next 4-5 years but how would joining the navy impact that?
Thanks a lot!
 
If you're doing an AEGD outside the Navy you'll have to finish that first before joining unless you decide to drop out of it. I believe you are correct in terms of loan repayment - you're not going to get the full repayment/no debt that HPSP students did.

As for deployments, you'll be a Navy officer - expect to be deployed. If stationed overseas in Japan or Guam you can bring your family - there are a few places where you can't but they usually will send unmarried officers there anyways. If you're on a ship, expect to deploy and be away from your family for at least half of that two year tour.

If you have kids, you get maternity leave (plus they'll put you on shore some time in the third trimester).

It's part of the job, make sure you understand that before signing anything.
 
vellnueve said:
If you're doing an AEGD outside the Navy you'll have to finish that first before joining unless you decide to drop out of it. I believe you are correct in terms of loan repayment - you're not going to get the full repayment/no debt that HPSP students did.

As for deployments, you'll be a Navy officer - expect to be deployed. If stationed overseas in Japan or Guam you can bring your family - there are a few places where you can't but they usually will send unmarried officers there anyways. If you're on a ship, expect to deploy and be away from your family for at least half of that two year tour.

If you have kids, you get maternity leave (plus they'll put you on shore some time in the third trimester).

It's part of the job, make sure you understand that before signing anything.
Click to expand...

I second all that vellnueve said. I would also add that if deployment worries you to the point where it is a deal-breaker, then do not join. The Navy (and military as a whole) do not need dentists available for treating patient's ashore... they need dentists in operational settings.
 
Hi guys, I really hope somebody can help me with this question:

I'm seriously considering joining the Navy through direct accession.
1) I've finished Dental school
2) Completed Residency
3) Worked 1yr in Private Practice

With this experience, does this make me eligible for entering in as an O4?
Plus, when they offer you the sign-on bonus, is it paid to you upfront? or in increments?

Thanks guys. Any information is greatly appreciated.
 
I'm prior military, applying for HSCP, accepted to a D-school... If I rejoin the military, what are the regulations concerning previous awards, medals, breast insignias (badges), etc. I was Navy and applying Navy. Are there any exclusions or uniform regulations concerning this?

Thanks
 
I am a former Navy dentist and am now an endodontist. I am interested in going back into the Navy as an endodontist. However, I have been told that the Navy is currently overstaffed in both the active duty and reserves with endodontists. I had heard this from a recruiter, but I am wondering if this is accurate. Can anyone confirm or refute this information?
 
Apologies if this has been done already. If so, please direct me to the post(s).

I'm considering joining via direct accession. I'm married and have 4 children. Assume for all intents and purposes I want to stay stateside. I'm trying to get an idea of where I might not have control over my destination and when I might be away from my family and for how long.

Can someone explain what the process would be, in terms of where I would go first, for how long, where I could potentially go after that, etc.? I would assume there is some kind of training first. Then I have heard things about GPR/AEGD or a credentialling year? At what point should I be concerned about being shipped out somewhere?
 
lemoncurry said:
Apologies if this has been done already. If so, please direct me to the post(s).

I'm considering joining via direct accession. I'm married and have 4 children. Assume for all intents and purposes I want to stay stateside. I'm trying to get an idea of where I might not have control over my destination and when I might be away from my family and for how long.

Can someone explain what the process would be, in terms of where I would go first, for how long, where I could potentially go after that, etc.? I would assume there is some kind of training first. Then I have heard things about GPR/AEGD or a credentialling year? At what point should I be concerned about being shipped out somewhere?
Click to expand...

Training is 5 weeks in Newport, RI, then you would do a one-year credentialing tour most likely at a large stateside base. After that, you would be assigned to a ship, marine unit, or overseas base.
 
endo97 said:
I am a former Navy dentist and am now an endodontist. I am interested in going back into the Navy as an endodontist. However, I have been told that the Navy is currently overstaffed in both the active duty and reserves with endodontists. I had heard this from a recruiter, but I am wondering if this is accurate. Can anyone confirm or refute this information?
Click to expand...

Endo is currently 88.9% manned on the active duty side.
 
Thanks for the info. I am looking towards the reserves.
 
Reading over the Navy residency web site, I find that all of the residencies (including AEGD I believe) mention writing papers or research (both with presentations, etc). I'm personally not very interested in research.

So, should I assume that going to a Navy post-graduate program of any kind is definitely going to require me to do research/paper-writing?
 
vellnueve said:
They'll all require some degree of it but in the AEGD/GPR setting it's really not much.
Click to expand...

What was your experience with it (assuming you did an AEGD or GPR, or spoke to someone about their experience)?

Somewhat unrelated and personal, if you don't mind answering: what are your short/medium term plans regarding the Navy? I'm just curious to hear from someone fairly early in their payback.
 
So when you are actually on AD after graduation from HPSP, is there a possibility of getting dental treatment for free...ie...ortho? I'm just trying to decide if I should fork over the money while I'm in school and be done with it before graduation, or if I should wait until AD and then get the brackets put on by an orthodontist in the Navy.

Thanks!
 
Tiankum said:
So when you are actually on AD after graduation from HPSP, is there a possibility of getting dental treatment for free...ie...ortho? I'm just trying to decide if I should fork over the money while I'm in school and be done with it before graduation, or if I should wait until AD and then get the brackets put on by an orthodontist in the Navy.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, you can get ortho treatment but you will need to wait until you're on shore duty for at least 2-3 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

D
Navy Reserve Dentist
Replies
8
Views
1K
LogOff
L
Starch96
Some Navy HPSP Questions
Replies
3
Views
1K
averageasian
averageasian
E
Navy Comprehensive Dentistry
Replies
5
Views
1K
willwash
W
GiardiaSpaghetti
Navy Direct Accession GP
Replies
1
Views
270
averageasian
averageasian
C
Navy AEGD Location results
Replies
10
Views
1K
Starch96
Starch96
Top