Promotion Concerns
- Thread starter coolslugs
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I'm not sure what you specifically you are referring to with promotions...please ask.
As I go to the link I see someone's personal blog with his opinions. After this individual had been in the Army for 2.5 yrs I see that he posted his opinions about what is going on in the Dental Corps from his perspective. Whatever questions you ask I can try to answer from my perspective...but that's what it will be...a different individuals perspective.
I suppose I should have been more specific. I am asking more about retention and promotion of quality junior officers. Is the military having problems retaining quality junior officers or do most leave after his or her initial obligation is completed? Also, is promotion to major still based on time served? Does merit and go above and beyond help anyone get promoted faster than those who simply do the minimum?
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Please understand just like the other individual you had linked to...this is my perception and opinion to your answers.
1) The Dental Corps has 2 types of promotions - fully qualified and competitive. The promotion board for Major is fully qualified. This means that all individuals who have kept their nose clean are promoted to Major. In the past 5 years I have only seen 1 individual not get selected, so it is near 100% promotion rate. Promotion to Major happens after 6 years. Because the Dental Corps went to this type of board over 10 yrs ago, the trade off was that they can not have any early promotions for individuals who stand out (only for Major).
The competitive boards still occur for Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel. Individuals are compared against their peers and the officer records are looked at to choose who the best candidates are. Only a certain number of promotions are available each year, and individuals can be passed over as well as those showing promise can be promoted early. These boards are designed to select the best candidates out of those who are eligible.
2) In the past before the 'great recession' retention rates for new dentists coming in was around 20%. The rates of retention for new dentists as well as dentists who have been in longer have both increased the last 5 years due to the economy as well as other factors that may be viewed as incentives.
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Do you have any data on what current retention rates are for those coming to the end of their initial payback from HPSP?
My observation is that the majority of junior dental corps officers still leave after their initial obligation. Has the branch done any research as to why the majority of dentists still choose to leave the Army Dental Corps in the face of a questionable economy - even with increased incentives to stay?
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I don't have the rates. HRC would be able to tell who got out after their initial 3-4 yrs without much problem, but it is harder to determine who got out at their first chance if they incurred additional obligations (specializing, 1 yr AEGD, ROTC) since you would then have to pour over each individual record to figure that out.
I think you are right that there are a lot that get out. What I have noticed is that those are the individuals who choose not to do any specialty training (including 2 yr AEGD). If a dentist does specialty training, my perception is that they are much more likely to stay in as a career...or at least take one of the multi-year bonuses while they continue to look at options.
If a general dentist was not willing to do a 1 yr AEGD or specialize in the Army when they came in...they are likely to get out. I could only guess as to their reasons behind that since I think they vary. The incentive pays to stay in as a general dentist are good, but still not as attractive as those for specialists. My opinon is that someone who was not able to or willing to persue any post graudate training will leave since the pay package will not be as attractive as their friends who specialized. The farther you get into your career, the least likely you are to want to go back into a training program. This leads to a stronger pull to get out.
My observations only. I still have noticed more individuals staying in during the last 5 yrs.
I'm a dentist in the Navy. Last fall I saw some numbers regarding the retention rate. I can't remember the numbers exactly, but I believe it was something in the 16-18% range, so I'm not sure there's much improvement there. In the Navy it seems like everyone who stays out of trouble gets to 05, while 06 requires "playing the game" I think lately around half of those eligible have been getting the 06 promotion.
If you don't "specialize" in the Navy, it is pretty unrewarding professionally and financially. I put "specializing" in quotes because there a lot of programs that are not your traditional residencies. These include operative, radiology, pathology, exodontia, comprehensive dentistry, etc. Obviously these programs don't translate well to private practice, so these types tend to stay in.
What happens is that if you take the plunge into one of these programs, it ties you up with Uncle Sam for many more years. So it's kind of an all or nothing decision.
I don't know many LT's with plans to stay in. If you want to be a general dentist and focus on clinical dentistry and develop treatment plans seeing them through, it is just too limiting. Also the moving around every 2-3 years bit is a big deal breaker for most.
If you don't "specialize" in the Navy, it is pretty unrewarding professionally and financially. I put "specializing" in quotes because there a lot of programs that are not your traditional residencies. These include operative, radiology, pathology, exodontia, comprehensive dentistry, etc. Obviously these programs don't translate well to private practice, so these types tend to stay in.
What happens is that if you take the plunge into one of these programs, it ties you up with Uncle Sam for many more years. So it's kind of an all or nothing decision.
I don't know many LT's with plans to stay in. If you want to be a general dentist and focus on clinical dentistry and develop treatment plans seeing them through, it is just too limiting. Also the moving around every 2-3 years bit is a big deal breaker for most.
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We seem to have similar issues in the Army Dental Corps. Most can make it to 0-5 with no problems ( I even know three dentists who came into the service as 0-5s after a civilian career), making 0-6 usually requires board certification in one of the specialties. The Army has residencies in all recognized dental specialties except oral radiology and it also has the "comprehensive dentistry" specialty.
Completing a specialty residency makes one eligible for multiyear retention bonuses, which is the main financial incentive to staying in the Army as a dentist. There are also two new multiyear bonuses for non-specialized general dentists. It should be noted that the multiyear retention bonus amount is the same for a board certified endodontist/periodontist/orthodontist as it is to a board certified comprehensive dentist. To maximize this pay one has to sign on for an additional four years.
The Army has come a long way in my five years of service as far as pay is concerned but promotions are still exactly as krmower described in his post above. In my observations those who leave do not do so because they want to make more money, they leave because of the intangible factors such as moving every 3 years, fatigue from working in a very frustrating bureaucracy, spouse employment concerns, and deployments.
Again, these are only my personal opinions and observations.
Completing a specialty residency makes one eligible for multiyear retention bonuses, which is the main financial incentive to staying in the Army as a dentist. There are also two new multiyear bonuses for non-specialized general dentists. It should be noted that the multiyear retention bonus amount is the same for a board certified endodontist/periodontist/orthodontist as it is to a board certified comprehensive dentist. To maximize this pay one has to sign on for an additional four years.
The Army has come a long way in my five years of service as far as pay is concerned but promotions are still exactly as krmower described in his post above. In my observations those who leave do not do so because they want to make more money, they leave because of the intangible factors such as moving every 3 years, fatigue from working in a very frustrating bureaucracy, spouse employment concerns, and deployments.
Again, these are only my personal opinions and observations.
