Off We Go

The first 3 words of the Air Force song pretty much sum up the last 5 months of my life.  I've severely neglected to post as frequently as I intended but that was partly due to the lack of particularly interesting things to talk about since January.

Not anymore.

The residency is coming to an end in a couple short months and the last 5 months have gone by about as fast as 1 month seemed to go back in the fall.  Finally getting in the flow of clinic, understanding expectations a little better, having more freedom in clinic, a new oral surgery rotation schedule, Spring Break, some federal holidays, better weather, and some fun courses have all contributed to the increase in moral and the perceived increase in speed of the residency.

My wife and I were able to hit the ski slopes for the first time in March (I seemed to be on-call for most of the prime opportunities in the fall) and we took a road trip through a good majority of the state of Colorado for our 5 day spring break.  It was the trip of a lifetime and I highly recommend it to anyone!  Email me if you want information on where we went; it was incredible.

If you follow my on twitter, or read the tweets off to the side on my blog, you'll know that we got our base list not long after my previous post with all the bases that had openings.  We had lots of great options but we were disappointed to find many of the bases we wanted were not available.  However, we were still able to put bases on our "dream sheet" that were not on "the list" just in case an opening popped up.  Surprisingly, it seems that many AEGD residents from around the country put bases high on their list that were not available (apparently) but ended up going there.  To be honest, I have no clue what the list we got was all about because it seems like people went to lots of bases that weren't on "the list". So who knows!  Maybe they just make their best guess at which bases will be open, I have no idea.

We got our #15 choice and I'll reveal what base that is once we get there.  There's been a pretty heavy crackdown on information and things lately in the military as a whole so I'm going to try to walk the line of being transparent and safe with this information.  For comparison, 2 of my classmates volunteered for their assignments, another got their #1 and another their #9 (I think). So overall, very good!

A month or so ago we had a meet up with all the AEGD residents across the country at Lackland AFB in San Antonio.  It's something they want to try to do every year and it was a really fun experience to meet everyone and talk about some Air Force stuff.  Every base was off the entire week (except us) so most of you doing an AEGD will get to be out of clinic for a week and hang out in San Antonio with all the other residents.  We did go out a couple nights and it was a pretty fun time.

One thing that going to San Antonio helped me realize were the stark differences in each AEGD program.  Some bases are set up poorly for certain things while others are set up well.  I think my base is set up well for oral surgery because we have so many young cadets, but this very thing also puts us at a disadvantage for prosthodontics.  I also assumed each resident would get similar levels of training but it seems that a lot of that depends on the faculty that are at the different locations as to how much freedom the residents will have to do certain things.  Some seemed more intent on taking it slowly getting into clinic while others emphasize clinical experience as the main mode of education. If you're interested or concerned about these things, I would try to figure out a way to contact a resident at each of the bases.  It sounds like a lot of work but it might help you figure out which program fits your personality better.

Two words of advice for everyone that does an AEGD.  First, try to understand very clearly the expectations.  I've run into trouble lately with not understanding expectations from faculty both academically and clinically for various reasons.  Sometimes it's getting vague information or mixed information from different faculty members on the exact same topic. So get clarification when you need it and never assume a low level of effort will be enough. The Air Force is a little different than a normal AEGD program because people are coming and going all the time.  So often the faculty aren't on the same page about what a resident should know or do in a particular situation so don't be afraid to ask.

Second, don't be shy to let your directors know that you want to do more of a certain procedure, or that you would prefer NOT to do a certain procedure when you leave.  If you're performing well in all areas, but don't particularly like some of it, you could get stuck going to a base that needs the skills you do well, but don't like.  So help the Air Force help you and be clear about what you hope to do when you leave the residency.

I hope to summarize my feelings about doing an AEGD once my AEGD is over and perhaps after I've been at my new base a few months and can truly appreciate what I've learned.

***FYI; I've heard from applicants and current HPSP students that the AEGD will be mandatory if you are accepted.  I can confirm that I've heard this from higher ups as well.  You are no longer permitted to apply and decline an AEGD in the Air Force.