What Are The Top Career Options After Dental Graduation (BDS/MDS)
This comprehensive article describes all the career options that are available to a Dental Graduate after Completing BDS.
6. What After BDS: Army Dental Corps is a good idea … you know why?
Here we are just mentioning the Army Dental Corps in India. The army of every country has a Dental Corps Divison and you need to check with the official army website of your own country.
In India, under the Army Dental Corps, only civil dental surgeons are recruited for the job. No competition from any dentists from armed forces colleges as they directly qualify for the army job once they graduate from the armed dental college!
The posts are available to both BDS and MDS. So, it is a great opportunity for BDS graduates to apply. BDS graduates who have completed an internship or going to complete an internship before the stipulated time of appointment can apply for the dental corps openings. A minimum aggregate of 55% is required in the final year BDS exams to apply.
Candidate must have mandatorily appeared in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, NEET (MDS)- conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE), New Delhi.
The selection process has the following steps:
- Apply the online submission form within the stipulated time with all the required documents
- Shortlisting of the candidates for interview. The list of the candidates who are shortlisted for the interview is based on the marks secured in NEET (MDS)-2020 & other eligibility criteria
- Shortlisted candidates will be called to appear for an interview before a duly constituted Selection Board, at New Delhi to assess their suitability & merit for grant of Short Service Commission (SSC) in Army Dental Corps.
- The final merit list for Grant of SSC in the Army Dental Corps will be based on the performance in the interview alone.
- All the candidates who are provisionally placed on the merit list will have to undergo a detailed medical examination for ascertaining their medical fitness.
- Only those candidates, who are declared medically fit, will be eligible for grant of Short Service Commission (SSC) in the Army Dental Corps.
- Selected candidates/ Civilian Dental surgeons will be granted Short Service Commission in AD Corps in the rank of Captain, from the date specified in the offer letter.
- The tenure of SSC Officers is five (05) years, extendable by another nine(09)years in two spells, first five(05)years, and second of four(04) years. Total SSC tenure of fourteen (14) years) for those who are willing to continue.
So, is it sensible to try for Army Dental Corps?
Short Answer: If you are a BDS graduate with 55% marks in Final BDS, you must apply for the Army Dental Corps, whenever the openings are published on the army website.
The selection is completely based on how good you perform in your interview. So, plan ahead and give the best short in your NEET Exams to score good percentile. Candidates are shortlisted for the interview in the ratio of 1:10, i.e. for each advertised vacancy ten candidates will be called for interview. So, if 50 posts are published then 500 candidates will be shortlisted for the interview. Thus, you might have the chance to be called for an interview. So, have faith and apply for Army Dental Corps.
If you manage to clear the interview and medical evaluation, you will get the joining letter for Army Dental Corps Short Service Commission. It’s a central govt. defense posting and has many advantages:
- You get a chance to be a part of the Indian Army, which itself is highly respectable.
- With time you get a promotion and can rise to a higher level in the army. You start as a Captain on entry. You are eligible for promotions up to the rank of Major (or Equivalent in Navy & Air Force) after four years & six months of service & Lt Col (or Equivalent in Navy & Air Force) after eleven years & six months of service.
- You can be appointed as Dental Surgeon in Army, Air Force & Navy.
- Pay is good with lots of perks, that are available to army personnel.
It’s a package of money and respect with the satisfaction of playing a role in the defense of the country.
ARMY DENTAL CORPS , DENTIST IN ARMY
A warm welcome to all dental students. Dentalorg.com has brought to you regular updates on Army Dental Corps. This article is collected from the experiences of the past candidates who appeared for the exam.
The openings for the Army Dental corps are published every year and you need to apply at the correct time.
Seats are limited and Competition is tough requiring a good career and interview-facing skills from you.
For a fresh BDS graduate or MDS, Army Dental Corps is a good option. Yet there are certain points that you must be aware of:
- Army Dental Corps is SSC (Short service commission) which lets you work for a max of 14 years to the rank of Lt Col.
- After the completion of 14 years, you may apply for your SSC to be converted to PC (permanent commission). But there is no guarantee that it will be approved as it is not in your control and gets influenced by the availability and various other factors.
- If your SSC does not gets converted to PC: then you will have to leave the service.
- You will not receive any pension, medical benefits after leaving the service as all these are applicable only to PC (Permanent Commission)
- After 14 years when you leave the service: You leave the Army Life and get back to the Civilian World. The major problem people face is that after spending a long time (the majority of the time when you are young) in the Defence environment, it becomes very difficult to adjust outside. It might be like starting your career as a fresh dentist again. You will have to slog to kick start your private practice or compete again (after 14 years in new time) with other dentists. You may also try to join corporate dental setups. But keep in mind that the establishments are under no obligation to hire you as an ex-serviceman. This transition from a Lt. Col officer to again starting from scratch in the real world may not be easy for many. (And to add in the 14 years you might be married with a family and your responsibilities will have increased)
- Hence, if you consider in total practicality: The SSC Army Dental Corps is great when you just consider the present. But when you think 14 years down the line, you will have some serious questions for when you leave the service.
Is there any way the Army Dental Corps SSC can be converted to Permanent Commission?
On completion of two (02) years of service as SSC officer, as on 31st March of the year of application, SSC Army Dental Corps are eligible to apply for a limited number of vacancies available for Departmental Permanent Commission (DPC) provided they have not attained the age of 30 years (for BDS candidates) and 35 years (for MDS candidates) on 31 Dec of the year of application for DPC. This is subjected to availability and requirements.
