Army Questions about AEGD, Moonlighting, and Duty Stations!

[ROTC Cadet]

Hello everyone. I'm about to graduate next spring from dental school (HPSP recipient) and I have some questions in regard to AEGD programs offered in the Army as well as some miscellaneous questions/comments.

I've read a quite a few threads in regard to AEGD programs offered but I still have a few questions. Here's what I've gathered so far:

1. A 1-year AEGD offers a lot in terms of dental experiences. Coming fresh out of dental school you're hand skills and experiences are very limited and this program really allows you to expand you're repertoire and increase your confidence and abilities. In addition, you're instructed by board certified specialists making your education second to none to any civilian AEGD. In turn, since you've completed a residency, the Army has more confidence in your skills and therefore gives you more complex cases (crowns, bridge, endo, etc.) opposed to being placed on the dreaded "amalgam line". The Army also forces every HPSP graduate to apply to the program (cool!), however, there's limited spots (~48) for the number of incoming dentists (~110-130). This limit in available AEGD spots has made the program competitive, accepting only those with the best GPA, class rank, letters of recommendation, etc. My question is, what's roughly average GPA and class rank for those accepted into the program?

2. A 2-year AEGD, on the other hand, also offers a tremendous opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in all the different facets of dentistry. Unlike the 1-year program, the 2-year AEGD includes a hefty didactic component. However, by completing the 2-year program, the Army views you as a specialist in general dentistry and therefore gives you even more responsibilities (command, etc.) and even more complex cases (no amalgam line here!). In addition, you have more freedom in the places you'd like to work (Monterey possibly?) as well as more pay once you've completed your active duty time for HPSP. My questions are, how many spots are available each year? What's the GPA/class rank numbers (roughly)? Can you specialized later in your career if you want (OFMS, ortho, endo etc.)?

I also had a few other random questions for a noobs like myself.

1. Moonlighting. From what I understand, you're allowed to moonlight at a civilian dental clinic within the vicinity of you're stationed fort/base (whatever you want to call it). However, I'm curious about the rules:
How often are you allowed to moonlight (every weekend, once a month)? How difficult is it to get permission to moonlight from command? Are you allowed to moonlight at multiple dental clinics or just one?

2. Duty Location Desires! The things I've heard that help get the place you want: time in service, deployments, 1 or 2-year residency, and strong officer evaluation reports. I've also heard that some places are just very hard to get (Hawaii, Monterey, Carson, Lewis) due to high demand or limited availability, while others are easier (Hood, Bliss, Bragg, etc.) for the opposite reasons mentioned above. My question is, in today's Army, how difficult would it be to get stationed in Germany? Italy? Monterey? Lewis? Carson?

Say we have three different incoming dentists (very general descriptions):
A- Dentist A (strong candidate) has a GPA of 3.7-3.9, of top 10% class, and will complete a 1-year AEGD with the hopes of being accepted into OFMS the following year.
B- Dentist B (middle of the road candidate) has a GPA of 3.4-3.6, ranked 50-75/130 students, will complete 1-year or 2-year AEGD if offered. May consider specializing in the future.
B - Dentist C (closer to the bottom) has a GPA of 2.6-3.3, ranked in bottom third of class, will complete 1-year AEGD if offered. Plans on getting out of the Army once commitment is complete.

My question is, what are the odds for each of the three dentists getting stationed in one of the five aforementioned locations (Germany, Italy, Monterey, Lewis, Carson)?

3. Korea! I've seen it mentioned on here that if you complete a hardship tour like Korea your preference for the next duty location is strongly considered. My question is, how hard is the hardship tour? Are they any perks to doing the tour (trips to Japan, China, SE Asia, etc.)? Is the tour just one horrible year adjacent to the 38th parallel?

If you've read this far, I apologize for this painfully long thread. My hope with this thread is some clarification. I understand that I'm probably wrong with most of the conclusions I've mentioned above. PLEASE feel free let me know if I am! I want to be as well informed as I can be before I make a decision and my hope is this thread will accomplish that (or at least point me in the right direction on who ask or talk to).

Please feel free to answer any of the questions I asked OR (more importantly) help clarify any statements I've made!

Thanks again for reading!

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[doctor tooth]

1-year AEGD: each place has their slight differences, and your experience may vary. i was at Ft. Jackson did tons of extractions of 3rds (more than 200), but less than 10 crowns and less than 10 endos. i'm not kidding.... less than 10... but the surgery experience i had made up for it, because i went to a school that was pretty strong in pros and endo. your experience may vary because mentors change and what they allow you to do is up to them. i did half an implant. more like zero though. i was told explicitly that i would do zero during my residency, but the oral surgeon felt bad for me and let me screw in the implant after he drilled all the holes.... i have not restored an implant in the 4 years I've been in the army either. some people do... but some places don't do a lot and the prosthodontist cherry pick them all.
if you do a 1-year AEGD you are first picked for a BCT spot, until they are filled (needs of the army). the good BCT's or i should say the more desirable ones (like 82nd or 101st or the SF spots) are usually all taken prior to being on the open market so don't expect those.
Korea- i did 2 years there. its a different place. its a field unit so expect some field unit stuff. pt everyday etc. but you can do a lot more because there is no ADDP, its all in house. it is NOT a horrible year. i had more fun there than i should have. made some great friends. my wife LOVED it, and misses it.
duty stations: I would say you have a zero percent chance of getting to go to Monterey. i don't know of anyone who has been stationed there, and i have met a lot of people in the dental corps. but your experience may vary, yes the larger places have lots of openings every year but there is always a chance (usually small) that you will get a spot at a desirable location. it happens. i'm in hawaii and people have come here right out of school, but the VAST majority of people here, this is NOT their first duty station i.e. in the army you pay your dues and you can get what you want.

 

[vellnueve]

Moonlighting will be a local policy. I'm fairly sure it won't happen if you're a trainee

 

[ROTC Cadet]

1-year AEGD: each place has their slight differences, and your experience may vary. i was at Ft. Jackson did tons of extractions of 3rds (more than 200), but less than 10 crowns and less than 10 endos. i'm not kidding.... less than 10... but the surgery experience i had made up for it, because i went to a school that was pretty strong in pros and endo. your experience may vary because mentors change and what they allow you to do is up to them. i did half an implant. more like zero though. i was told explicitly that i would do zero during my residency, but the oral surgeon felt bad for me and let me screw in the implant after he drilled all the holes.... i have not restored an implant in the 4 years I've been in the army either. some people do... but some places don't do a lot and the prosthodontist cherry pick them all.
if you do a 1-year AEGD you are first picked for a BCT spot, until they are filled (needs of the army). the good BCT's or i should say the more desirable ones (like 82nd or 101st or the SF spots) are usually all taken prior to being on the open market so don't expect those.
Korea- i did 2 years there. its a different place. its a field unit so expect some field unit stuff. pt everyday etc. but you can do a lot more because there is no ADDP, its all in house. it is NOT a horrible year. i had more fun there than i should have. made some great friends. my wife LOVED it, and misses it.
duty stations: I would say you have a zero percent chance of getting to go to Monterey. i don't know of anyone who has been stationed there, and i have met a lot of people in the dental corps. but your experience may vary, yes the larger places have lots of openings every year but there is always a chance (usually small) that you will get a spot at a desirable location. it happens. i'm in hawaii and people have come here right out of school, but the VAST majority of people here, this is NOT their first duty station i.e. in the army you pay your dues and you can get what you want.

Hey Tooth Doctor,

Thanks for the response!

I do have a follow up question: What are the "undesirable" BCT spots? What added responsibilities do you have at a BCT spot? Are there any perks to getting a BCT spot?

 

[doctor tooth]

All commanders require you to declare any off duty employment. If you are in a residency, no you will not be allowed to, but you also won't have time to either. I think on average they limit you to under 16 hours per week, which i think is enough. Ive heard there have been issues in the past with doctors (mostly physicians) working too many hours and then making mistakes being too tired... So I think its more of a safety issue. If you want to work more, you can always take leave and work, or work on a training holiday/holiday. They want you to focus on your primary job as an army dentist. Also something to consider is having your license wherever you move to. I took WREB, but now I am having to do the ADEX/CDCA in order to get my license... expensive and a huge pain in the ass. Many people don't moonlight for just that reason.

I guess its all up to you what you would consider desirable or not.
Schools: Some people are super Hooah and like to do all the real army stuff, like jump out of planes. I went sky diving before and it was fun, but I don't need to do it on the regular. I know that 82nd requires you to go to jump school, so you are guaranteed to get a spot. I know people in a DENTAC at Benning (where airborne school is located) that can't get a spot. So location does not guarantee you spots at schools. Its also possible to do some of the other schools like scuba, pathfinder, or go to special forces selection if you are high speed enough, maybe ranger school (although i have not seen any dentist with ranger tab earned while they were a dentist, maybe prior enlisted etc) In a DENTAC you will maybe only have the chance to maybe do EFMB, but don't count on it. Anything that takes you out of the clinic and not treating patients has to be justified, so if readiness isn't up to par, you aren't going. So being in a BCT can give you opportunities that aren't available to everyone.

Additional duties: Some brigades make you go to the field a lot, some don't take you as much (Its all up to your mission and your commander). As a dentist you don't get to do much dentistry in the field (probably none), so you can either get tasked to help someone else do something OR sit around and do nothing in a tent as a triage officer. Basically anything your brigade does you can be involved in, like they go to NTC/JRTC to train or deploy, you go too.

Location plays a big part in people being happy. There are some BCT spots overseas which could be more desirable than others (europe, hawaii, korea etc). Others are in such exotic places like Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Georgia etc. Are all these bad places, no. But if you don't want to live there, then it can effect your perspective.

They are attached to a line unit so you are not assigned to a DENTAC, but you will always have privileges and some dedicated chairs at a clinic wherever you are stationed. The BCT docs have an advantage in that they have a somewhat smaller patient population to take care of. For example, I can not discriminate in the patients that i see based off their unit, but the BCT docs can. Some BCT docs ONLY treat people in their brigade. Its not wrong for them to do this because, well, its their mission too. Also, the BCT docs can come and go as they please. Big army doesn't care if they are productive or not as long as they keep their readiness numbers up. Once that is accomplished they can pick and choose what they want to do. And they can do PT with their unit every day if they want.

 

[AirborneDentist]

Hello everyone. I'm about to graduate next spring from dental school (HPSP recipient) and I have some questions in regard to AEGD programs offered in the Army as well as some miscellaneous questions/comments.

I've read a quite a few threads in regard to AEGD programs offered but I still have a few questions. Here's what I've gathered so far:

1. A 1-year AEGD offers a lot in terms of dental experiences. Coming fresh out of dental school you're hand skills and experiences are very limited and this program really allows you to expand you're repertoire and increase your confidence and abilities. In addition, you're instructed by board certified specialists making your education second to none to any civilian AEGD. In turn, since you've completed a residency, the Army has more confidence in your skills and therefore gives you more complex cases (crowns, bridge, endo, etc.) opposed to being placed on the dreaded "amalgam line". The Army also forces every HPSP graduate to apply to the program (cool!), however, there's limited spots (~48) for the number of incoming dentists (~110-130). This limit in available AEGD spots has made the program competitive, accepting only those with the best GPA, class rank, letters of recommendation, etc. My question is, what's roughly average GPA and class rank for those accepted into the program?

2. A 2-year AEGD, on the other hand, also offers a tremendous opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in all the different facets of dentistry. Unlike the 1-year program, the 2-year AEGD includes a hefty didactic component. However, by completing the 2-year program, the Army views you as a specialist in general dentistry and therefore gives you even more responsibilities (command, etc.) and even more complex cases (no amalgam line here!). In addition, you have more freedom in the places you'd like to work (Monterey possibly?) as well as more pay once you've completed your active duty time for HPSP. My questions are, how many spots are available each year? What's the GPA/class rank numbers (roughly)? Can you specialized later in your career if you want (OFMS, ortho, endo etc.)?

I also had a few other random questions for a noobs like myself.

1. Moonlighting. From what I understand, you're allowed to moonlight at a civilian dental clinic within the vicinity of you're stationed fort/base (whatever you want to call it). However, I'm curious about the rules:
How often are you allowed to moonlight (every weekend, once a month)? How difficult is it to get permission to moonlight from command? Are you allowed to moonlight at multiple dental clinics or just one?

2. Duty Location Desires! The things I've heard that help get the place you want: time in service, deployments, 1 or 2-year residency, and strong officer evaluation reports. I've also heard that some places are just very hard to get (Hawaii, Monterey, Carson, Lewis) due to high demand or limited availability, while others are easier (Hood, Bliss, Bragg, etc.) for the opposite reasons mentioned above. My question is, in today's Army, how difficult would it be to get stationed in Germany? Italy? Monterey? Lewis? Carson?

Say we have three different incoming dentists (very general descriptions):
A- Dentist A (strong candidate) has a GPA of 3.7-3.9, of top 10% class, and will complete a 1-year AEGD with the hopes of being accepted into OFMS the following year.
B- Dentist B (middle of the road candidate) has a GPA of 3.4-3.6, ranked 50-75/130 students, will complete 1-year or 2-year AEGD if offered. May consider specializing in the future.
B - Dentist C (closer to the bottom) has a GPA of 2.6-3.3, ranked in bottom third of class, will complete 1-year AEGD if offered. Plans on getting out of the Army once commitment is complete.

My question is, what are the odds for each of the three dentists getting stationed in one of the five aforementioned locations (Germany, Italy, Monterey, Lewis, Carson)?

3. Korea! I've seen it mentioned on here that if you complete a hardship tour like Korea your preference for the next duty location is strongly considered. My question is, how hard is the hardship tour? Are they any perks to doing the tour (trips to Japan, China, SE Asia, etc.)? Is the tour just one horrible year adjacent to the 38th parallel?

If you've read this far, I apologize for this painfully long thread. My hope with this thread is some clarification. I understand that I'm probably wrong with most of the conclusions I've mentioned above. PLEASE feel free let me know if I am! I want to be as well informed as I can be before I make a decision and my hope is this thread will accomplish that (or at least point me in the right direction on who ask or talk to).

Please feel free to answer any of the questions I asked OR (more importantly) help clarify any statements I've made!

Thanks again for reading!

I just read some bits and pieces, but can give you a few answers as far as I know them.

Korea is NOT a hardship tour. HRC will not give you special preference coming back from Korea. Korea is in pretty high demand.

GPA is irrelevant on you getting an assignment. It all comes down to availability and the desire. When I was at HRC, all of the "needed fills" would be done first, such as those people with EFMP requirements, MACP, ETC. Then, the brigades are filled. After that, whatever is left is given out. If there isn't anyone leaving, there is a 0% chance of you going to a location.

At HRC, they are not looking at your skillset for your assignment straight out of school. Many times, that is not even available to them. They are just looking at your wish list and comparing it with everyone else.

2 Year program has 20 slots each year. You can specialize in a different field later on if you have completed 5 years past your graduation from the 2 year and got your board certification. You would compete just as anyone else for the other specialty.

New graduates can go to any location pretty much. The Dental Corps does not want to put all new graduates in one location, just as they don't want to put all senior people in one location. There needs to be a mix at each place. Almost every year new graduates go to places like Carson, Lewis and Hawaii. The problem is that so many people have these as their #1 that very few (based on the demand) are selected.

Hope that helps,

Eric

 

[Rlow04]

I'm starting the 2yr AEGD right now at Ft Hood, definitely no moonlighting in the residency.

We've got an awesome group of mentors/directors and it's going to be a good 2 years. Let me know if you have more 2yr AEGD questions and I'll be happy to answer what I can


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[skabbaraju]

I'm starting the 2yr AEGD right now at Ft Hood, definitely no moonlighting in the residency.

We've got an awesome group of mentors/directors and it's going to be a good 2 years. Let me know if you have more 2yr AEGD questions and I'll be happy to answer what I can


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Hi Rlow04,
I graduated in 2011 and been in the USAR since 2013. I am interested in the 2 yr AEGD program.
What is the process? Is a reservist eligible to apply? I am a BOLC graduate.
Thanks.

 

[skabbaraju]

I just read some bits and pieces, but can give you a few answers as far as I know them.

Korea is NOT a hardship tour. HRC will not give you special preference coming back from Korea. Korea is in pretty high demand.

GPA is irrelevant on you getting an assignment. It all comes down to availability and the desire. When I was at HRC, all of the "needed fills" would be done first, such as those people with EFMP requirements, MACP, ETC. Then, the brigades are filled. After that, whatever is left is given out. If there isn't anyone leaving, there is a 0% chance of you going to a location.

At HRC, they are not looking at your skillset for your assignment straight out of school. Many times, that is not even available to them. They are just looking at your wish list and comparing it with everyone else.

2 Year program has 20 slots each year. You can specialize in a different field later on if you have completed 5 years past your graduation from the 2 year and got your board certification. You would compete just as anyone else for the other specialty.

New graduates can go to any location pretty much. The Dental Corps does not want to put all new graduates in one location, just as they don't want to put all senior people in one location. There needs to be a mix at each place. Almost every year new graduates go to places like Carson, Lewis and Hawaii. The problem is that so many people have these as their #1 that very few (based on the demand) are selected.

Hope that helps,

Eric

Hi Eric,
I am interested in comprehensive dentistry residency. What is the process? Do I have to be AD to apply? If so, what are the application deadlines?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ALTOSS]

Hi Eric,
I am interested in comprehensive dentistry residency. What is the process? Do I have to be AD to apply? If so, what are the application deadlines?
Thanks in advance.

AD only, I believe. The deadline is typically in December.

 

[Rlow04]

Hi Rlow04,
I graduated in 2011 and been in the USAR since 2013. I am interested in the 2 yr AEGD program.
What is the process? Is a reservist eligible to apply? I am a BOLC graduate.
Thanks.

Unfortunately you do have to be active duty to apply and complete the residency. It incurs a 2yr payback commitment as well.


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[Rlow04]

AD only, I believe. The deadline is typically in December.

What he said


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