I am a D4 Navy HPSP student. Reading through the old threads the common advice is to do an AEGD or GPR if you plan on staying in. I am not 100% certain how long I would like to stay in but i'm also ready to not be in school for some time so a credentialing tour sounds promising. Would credentialing rather than AEGD hurt my chances of being able to extend beyond the 4 years of payback if i so choose? Is it really so black and white?
Credentialing vs AEGD, impact on staying beyond 4 years:
- No impact at all. Unless you commit a crime the Navy will almost certainly not force you to resign after 4 years.
Is it really so black and white?
- In regard to your first question, yes.
If you are not certain about staying in, then I would opt not to do the AEGD/GPR route. If you find you do not like the Navy or would like to practice outside the Navy instead, then not having that extra year on active duty makes sense.
My opinions (i.e. not 100% facts):
- AEGD/GPR is like doing a 5th year of dental school.
- AEGD/GPR are at set locations/duty stations; credentialers are also "typically" at set locations/duty stations, but there have historically been exceptions (how this happens I could only speculate...).
- Credentialing tours are assembly line dentistry, you're going to do a ton of exams and operative in busy clinics (I have heard of people doing specialty rotations while doing their credentialing tour however).
- Almost all junior dental officers get selected for the next rank, LT (O3) -> LCDR (O4), regardless of PGY-1 completion.
- There is theory floating around that dental officers that complete an AEGD/GPR have a better chance at being accepted to residency programs within the Navy.
- AEGD tends toward the clinic environment, GPR tends towards the hospital (I've heard that you should consider GPR if you want OMS, but didn't apply or get in during dental school). However, AEGD'ers do get exodontia rotations.
Best of luck!
