Civilian Orthodontist

[dds854]

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I will be finishing my ortho residency next summer. I think it would be great to go work in Europe for a year.

I thought about joining the military for the HPSP when I was in dental school and then again when I started residency, but decided against because a) I don’t want a three-year commitment b) no guarantee on where you will be stationed c) don’t want to join the military period

I’ve heard that the military sometimes hires out civilian dentists to work on their bases. My question is basically, does the military hire out civilians to work as orthodontists on any European bases? If so, how would I go about applying for a position or whom do I contact? Thanks in advance

 

[dheav005]

the military doesnt have very many orthodontists as it is. late adolescent to adult population, transient, very active, not always able to visit the dental clinic on a monthly basis, all translates to small number of orthos needed.

we have only three in the Norfolk area (2 Navy, 1 AF), and this area has one of the highest concentrations of military personnel in the country.

i cannot say the DoD would never hire a civilian ortho for an overseas position, but european billets for dentists are usually in fairly high demand because they are in such short supply. and the military can pay an AD doc less than they would have to compensate a civilian. the equation is just not really in favor of a civilian ortho being hired.

 

[umkcdds]

if you are about to finish your residency, i would not recommend joining the army, unless you are or until you become board certified. to do so would be financial disaster for you, but if you want to send me some info in a pm (e-mail address, what you are looking for etc....) i'd be happy to get you the contact info of our orthodontist here at fort campbell for you to talk to him.

 

[Chachito]

I am currently stationed in Bamberg, Germany, located in beautiful Bavaria. We have an orthodontist, and I believe another one is scheduled to come close by in Grafenwoehr. Anyway, our orthodontist is leaving in November, so I think there may be an opening there. I'm not really sure about what you have to do to sign up, but I do know that no military members are allowed to be involved in the whole thing. If you send me your email address, I will pass it on to our orthodontist. I think he has been here for one or two years, and he has never been in the military. Just so you know, he's leaving for lots of reasons, but I think the two biggest are 1) he got his taste of Germany and is ready to move on 2) he doesn't like the current management style in our DENTAC, especially concerning no fraternization with the military and how they treat the contract doctors differently from the military. Not that they're looked down on, just for instance, if there's a Christmas party, we can all get a few hours off of work, but they 1) can't participate and 2) would have to use leave time to come anyway. It's kind of annoying, if you care about that kind of stuff.