Military dentistry

[koobpheej]

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Anybody have any exposure to military dentistry? The whole debt thing freaks me out a little bit, and the military seems like a good alternative. It's hard to figure out what is truth and what is the used car salesman trying to get you to sign on the dotted line. Any info would be helpful.

 

[aphistis]

The military topic has been pretty thoroughly discussed; do a search anywhere on SDN and see what you turn up. General consensus is that it's a great option if you have the desire to serve your country, but it's not worth it for the money alone.

 

[vishal_k32801]

Check Mike's page @

http://members.tripod.com/~softballteam/dental.html

All the best friend!

 

[RaiderNation]

Military dentistry is a good deal. Your chances of actually being sent to fight are almost non-existent. They pay for all tuition and fees and give you a monthly stipend of 1100 a month. You should have at least some desire to serve your country, otherwise you're in for a hellish 3 or 4 years. Military dentists make between 60k and 80k a year after bonuses. They have no expenses and more than enough money. Think about it, if you're bring in 5k a month and have no house payment, etc., then what else do you spend your 5k on...food, car, and fun. Also...after your military stay is over you have no debts while your classmates will still be paying off their 220k loans for the next few years. If you really don't like the idea of serving your country or physical activity, you should probably opt out of the military experience. Other than that it's a great deal.

 

[realysa]

let's see

a new dentist in the military (captain) makes a base salary of about 37K plus 8k in various incentive pay= 45K, then after taxes (25%)= 34K/12= 3K per month on everything except for housing and part of meals (military gives you about $170 for food a month).

3k does not equal 5K.

if you have a family i don't know how far 3K will go.

still a good deal (comparatively little debt after school), but let's not exaggerate, folks!

gotta love the military if you want to do it.

 

[ecdoesit]

how about the other program for serving underserved areas?

 

[RaiderNation]

acytually realysa, your numbers are very general and misleading. To fully understand what you are getting into you need to you must talk to someone who is in the program. I know a dentsit in Tripler, Hawaii and he makes about 70k a year, has 3 kids, and says he doesn;t know what to spend all his money on cuz he has no expenses. Nice try though.

 

[coreyb]

Just thought I'd give everyone a heads up w/ the HPSP program.

The Army and Navy offer 4 year scholarships for dental students, the Air Force offers only a 3 or 2 year scholarship, unless you're an ROTC or Academy graduate (which can get a 4 year).

As for the pay--The first day you begin active duty, assuming you have no previous military years (because pay scales up based on your total years of service)

O-3 (Captain)
Base pay: $2911.20/month (taxable)

Basic allowance for sustenance: $167.20 (non taxable)

Housing: 1. On base=$0
2. Off base=based on your zip code of residence and if you have dependants (ie. wife and/or kids) (non taxable)

Example: Portland Oregon, zip 97205
BAH=$1190 w/ dependents
$1027 w/o dependents

So 2911.20 + 167.20 + 1190 = $4268.40/month (only 2911.20 counts towards taxes)

OR live on base and get free housing and $3078.40/month (still 2911.20 is taxable)

ALSO: the military pays if you're more qualified or a specialist

Board Certified pay: $208.33/month
Variable Special pay: $250.00/month

ALSO NOTE: If you live overseas or in high cost areas (San Fran, Honolulu, etc. you get COLA--Cost Of Living Allowance to help defray costs)


So will you make more money on the outside: Very likely.

But don't forget to calculate what the scholarship actually paid
(tuition, books, fees, & health insurance if the school says it's mandatory and $1131.00/month)

IMHO, not a bad deal.
(and yes, I am in the US Air force Reserves, and plan on applying for the HPSP when I get into school)

PS. Here's a useful link for those looking at the USAF

http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/medical/Dental/career/hpsp/scholar.htm

 

[realysa]

hey raidernation,

i am in the program and i've done research.

look: an o-3 captain under 2 years of service makes about 36k in basic pay.
obviously with more years under your belt and rise in rank about 6 years for o-4 major, then you would make more.

then s/he gets about $170/month for food, 4k for being a dentist, so that's about 44k along with very minor other bonuses which by the way are not pensionable.

the variability comes with bah (housing allowance) and cost of living adjustment (cola) depending where you live.

in new york city, bah+cola is about $2500/month with dependents, but in waco, tx it's about $700.

by the way, there are no army dentists in nyc, so that's out. also, expensive places like san fran, hawaii, and wash dc. are highly desirable, so new dentists are not usu. posted there. wishful thinking!!

more like ft. bragg, nc or ft hood, tx are likely spots.

if you go overseas w/o your wife and you can double dip like getting bah for your wife in the states while getting overseas housing allowance (oha).

e.g.

korea:

if i left my wife here in nyc we would get about $2500/month bah
since most korea assignments are unaccompanied i would get about $2500/month oah there assuming i get a prime assignment in the capital (usu. only senior or majors get this).
most likely, i would be assigned into a field unit, thus living in officers' quarters, thus not getting oha. oh yea, b/c you are unaccompanied you would get about 3K in various separation pays.

moral of this story is don't let the hypotheticals excite you, in the military you go where they tell to go. there's no free lunch!

don't count on making out with more than 44k before taxes if you are a new dentist and never had previous military experience.

still a good deal, if you going to a very expensive private school. if a state school don't bother unless you want to be in the military or just want to practice w/o startup hassles.

cheers!