I haven't blogged in a while, and there's a reason - I haven't been around. It's the end of the fiscal year, so once again I am using up vacation days so I don't lose any (I know poor me). So I have been out of the clinic quite a bit. I have several more to use up in September also. It has actually been a good thing, because we lost several dental assistants because of moves and we are streched thin. I recently got back from the University of...read more

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Monday I had a chance to go up and help SGT Armbrust in Chicago at the UIC Dental School. This time of year can get busy with a lot of students just starting dental school. Many students start dental school and suddenly realize the financial debt they are going to be in. At UIC an out of state resident would pay around $100k/yr just in tuition and expenses - cost of living extra. Fortunately one of the out of state residents (there are only 6) was on the Army...read more

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I had a little surprise when I came in to work Friday morning. There were 3 fire engines outside the dental clinic when I showed up. One of our employees had smelled fire and called the fire department when she arrived. Fortunately the fire was only in the mulch outside the clinic. They are not sure how it started that early in the morning - spontaneous mulch fire, cigarette butt, etc... Each military base is like its own self-sufficient city able to...read more

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The 100th Centennial Boy Scout Jamboree at Ft. A.P. Hill, Va was held July 26-4 Aug. The Department of Defense (DOD) was tasked with helping to support the Jamboree. Not only was it held on a military installation, but the federal services also assisted in many other ways including running close to 1/3 of the merit badges offered. Army, Navy, Air Force, Public Health, FEMA, and other agencies were there to assist. It is estimated that close to 40,000 boys, and...read more

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In a previous post, myself and other bloggers have mentioned about scouting activities, the Army is very supportive of the Boy Scout program. I was able to take a week away from work to go scouting without having to use up vacation days to go with my boy scout troop on our High Adventure summer camp. We went on the New River Adventure near Roanoke, Va. We had 16 boys and 3 adults and was a week filled with rafting, canoeing, caving, and a high obstacle course. The boys...read more

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You may have noticed I haven't put up as much about things we did in the clinic - it's because now that I'm there everyday I don't think as much about getting pictures of things that come along. Also it is because it seems like by the time I get patients seen and records written up - it's time to go. So here are some cases I saw last week - part 2. This patient had had a root canal done several years ago, but they began to experience pain and swelling...read more

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You may have noticed I haven't put up as much about things we did in the clinic - it's because now that I'm there everyday I don't think as much about getting pictures of things that come along. Also it is because it seems like by the time I get patients seen and records written up - it's time to go. So here are some cases I saw last week. We frequently see Soldiers who are coming through mobilizing or demobilizing from assignments. This was a...read more

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We recently had the change of command for the North Atlantic Regional Dental Command. COL Priscilla Hamilton our outgoing regional commander (and new incoming DENCOM commander) was replaced by COL Rob Tempel. I had actually recorded the ceremony, but unfortunately in the uploading stage of things the file became corrupted. However, I still got some photographs of the ceremony. COL(P) Ted Wong the next Dental Corps general was present for the ceremony also. For...read more

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I had a chance to head to Indiana Thursday and Friday to speak to the new incoming freshman class. They had the freshman split into 2 groups over those 2 days during orientation, so we spoke to half on one day, and the other half on the other day. Other than delays at the airport both coming and going, things went really well. I had a chance to meet the new dean Dr. John Williams that seemed like a great guy. He just came from the University of North Carolina....read more

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I don't recall if I've mentioned it before, but it is not uncommon to get the day before or after a federal holiday off as well. The 2nd of July was no exception. We had the day off, and my family and I put it to good use. We took a trip into DC to go and visit Madame Tussauds wax museum. With the 30 days annual leave, 10 federal holidays, and additional training holidays - you can have 40+ days off a year :) Wife and kids with George Washington. My...read more

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