When I joined the
National Guard to help pay for my undergraduate degree, I hadn’t made any
definite plans to pursue an Army career. That decision evolved later on.
As a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, one
of the things I have enjoyed is the diversity of career opportunities available
in the Army. In private practice you
have options to work in several different settings - group practice, solo
practice, associate, partner, managed dental company, education, etc... But, if you want to change from one of these
to another it requires you to relocate, affects your salary or requires a
financial investment from you into your new venture. In the Army we have many of the same options,
but changing from one type to another does not affect us financially.
U.S. Army Dental Corps Soldiers have opportunities to work
in education, research, administration, policy, group practice, and dental
professional leadership. We can be
assigned in almost any region of the United States as well as many locations
overseas. Dental Corps Soldiers can specialize
in all the traditional specialties and can change between different career
tracks (clinical vs. education vs. leadership).
Because of the diversity of our patients and the ever changing
patient population, we have a chance to see some pretty interesting cases and
to do some pretty cool procedures.
Half joking I tell people that the military is perfect for
someone having a mid-life crisis. If you
have felt that your life or career is getting stagnant, there are always new
opportunities for you within the Army. Ultimately
U.S. Dental Corps Soldiers get to help the men and women who serve our nation.
You can get more information at GoArmy.com or Army Strong Stories, the U.S. Army’s
premier Soldier Blog.
Lieutenant Colonel
Kendall Mower is a dentist in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, currently based in
Ft. Myer, Va. LTC Mower is a frequent contributor to Army Strong Stories where
he blogs about Soldier life and his career in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. More from LTC Mower on Army Strong Stories.
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