AEGD vs Credentialing tour

[SDM2009]

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Hello all,

I just finished dental school and I'm set to do a 1 yr AEGD with the Navy at Norfolk. For some unforeseen and personal reasons (some health related, but I will be ok), I may not be able to make my report date of 31JUL, with a program start date of 03AUG. Its a long, private, and USN approved story, so I'll simply leave it at that. I've been in touch w/ various ppl (CO's, HPSP, etc) and the option of doing a credentialing tour w/ an open report date has surfaced.

My question simply is, for those of you that did an AEGD (and for those that just did a credentialing tour), what did you think of these "first yr experiences"? I know my level of competence now and I also know what type of dentistry I like. I'm not into full mouth reconstruction and super artistic stuff - I like the bread and butter (S.O., routine endo, extractions, some cr/br).. I really do not enjoy removable pros or complex fixed prosth cases. I think it's impt to realize our strengths and weakness and if we don't enjoy or feel comfortable doing something, we either need to take more formalized training or point our patients twds someone who can better care for them.

Also, regardless of your first yrs work (credentialing, AEGD, or GPR), ALL Navy dentists go operational for their next 2 yrs, right? I personally think I would like to be assigned to the marines. There's places near VA where I could hope to be assigned (Little Creek in VA or LeJune in NC), and the Marines deploy for 6 months (plus I've heard it's a rewarding experience).

So any input from you first yr grads or other folks that have some first hand experience - I would appreciate it... Thanks a lot..

Cheers.. 👍

 

[grmaster1]

Hello all,

I just finished dental school and I'm set to do a 1 yr AEGD with the Navy at Norfolk. For some unforeseen and personal reasons (some health related, but I will be ok), I may not be able to make my report date of 31JUL, with a program start date of 03AUG. Its a long, private, and USN approved story, so I'll simply leave it at that. I've been in touch w/ various ppl (CO's, HPSP, etc) and the option of doing a credentialing tour w/ an open report date has surfaced.

My question simply is, for those of you that did an AEGD (and for those that just did a credentialing tour), what did you think of these "first yr experiences"? I know my level of competence now and I also know what type of dentistry I like. I'm not into full mouth reconstruction and super artistic stuff - I like the bread and butter (S.O., routine endo, extractions, some cr/br).. I really do not enjoy removable pros or complex fixed prosth cases. I think it's impt to realize our strengths and weakness and if we don't enjoy or feel comfortable doing something, we either need to take more formalized training or point our patients twds someone who can better care for them.

Also, regardless of your first yrs work (credentialing, AEGD, or GPR), ALL Navy dentists go operational for their next 2 yrs, right? I personally think I would like to be assigned to the marines. There's places near VA where I could hope to be assigned (Little Creek in VA or LeJune in NC), and the Marines deploy for 6 months (plus I've heard it's a rewarding experience).

So any input from you first yr grads or other folks that have some first hand experience - I would appreciate it... Thanks a lot..

Cheers.. 👍

I just wanted to bump this post up a little, good questions that might need answering and be of interest to newly commissioned dental officers...

 

[neomike88]

Reviving this thread. Hope somebody could give some insight into these two experiences. I was given a 4 year hpsp with the navy but have yet to commission. My concern is the amount/quality of the experience in a credentialing tour versus working as an associate at a private practice. Do you gain the same amount of skill and speed? Because I am starting dental school a little later in age, I was hoping to just do my 4 year active duty obligation and then get out. But if an aegd provides a better experience, I am willing to take another year. Right now, I'm just going through the pro and cons of the scholarship. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Hedgy]

Reviving this thread. Hope somebody could give some insight into these two experiences. I was given a 4 year hpsp with the navy but have yet to commission. My concern is the amount/quality of the experience in a credentialing tour versus working as an associate at a private practice. Do you gain the same amount of skill and speed? Because I am starting dental school a little later in age, I was hoping to just do my 4 year active duty obligation and then get out. But if an aegd provides a better experience, I am willing to take another year. Right now, I'm just going through the pro and cons of the scholarship. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

I think you are talking of 2 vastly different experiences. I think an AEGD will make you very well rounded and confident in doing endo/perio/oral surgery. You won't get a whole lot of prosth. You will learn in a controlled, non-stress enviornment. You will not learn much on the business side of dentistry (managing staff, taxes, scheduling for production).

In private practice, it is the menu of the day and productions in king. You will have more pressure to maintain the schedule and you get payed based on production, so there is more stress with procedures. You will do a lot of crowns, some removable prosth (which you may or may not like), and many procedures that you may not have the skill or competence to complete (ie. molar endo, crown lengthening). You also have to deal with whether patients can afford procedures or not. In the military, you can pretty much do any procedure without worry about cost.

That's just a few things. Hope it helps. IMO, take the AEGD. One year in the grand scheme of a dental career is not that long.

 

[tingting]

Reviving this thread. Hope somebody could give some insight into these two experiences. I was given a 4 year hpsp with the navy but have yet to commission. My concern is the amount/quality of the experience in a credentialing tour versus working as an associate at a private practice. Do you gain the same amount of skill and speed? Because I am starting dental school a little later in age, I was hoping to just do my 4 year active duty obligation and then get out. But if an aegd provides a better experience, I am willing to take another year. Right now, I'm just going through the pro and cons of the scholarship. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

I'm in the Navy. If you are set on doing your 4 and out I wouldn't bother with the AEGD. If you credential at Parris Island or Great Lakes you will get good OS and endo experience. Then you will spend 3 years doing the same things as the AEGD dentists. You are treated no differently. Why bother?

Of course if you have any plans to stay in or specialize, then I would recommend the AEGD or GPR because it looks good on a resume.

 

[vellnueve]

I think you are talking of 2 vastly different experiences. I think an AEGD will make you very well rounded and confident in doing endo/perio/oral surgery. You won't get a whole lot of prosth. You will learn in a controlled, non-stress enviornment. You will not learn much on the business side of dentistry (managing staff, taxes, scheduling for production).

I think the experience varies... Although I didn't do much removable prosth, I was doing crowns, veneers, implant crowns, bridges left and right in my AEGD. I didn't do as much perio as others did mainly because I didn't have much interest in it.