A Cost Analysis Model for Army Sponsored Graduate Dental Education Programs.

Currently, 85 Army officers pursue graduate dental education GDE in 28 different training programs. Programs were surveyed to determine the direct and indirect costs to the Army for its sponsored GDE. Total training costs exceeded 48.40 million to complete one Army residency training cycle from 1 to 6 years in duration or about 576,000 per resident. When the dental procedures and services provided by the residents and mentors involved with GDE are considered as generated revenue, Army GDE operates at a net profit revenues minus costs of just under 865,000 or 10,300 per resident. If the net profit per resident is divided by the mean specialty trained career length of 17.91 years of service, the amortized net profit of training equates to 587 per resident per retained year. The hypothesis that outsourcing GDE to civilian institutions was refuted by the data collected. The Army Dental Care System ADCS does have more dental specialists in its inventory then needed to service its current population which perpetuates a higher than average dental specialist to generalist ratio. Readiness requirements mandate some programs, e.g., Advanced Education in General Dentistry AEGD 1 and 2 year programs as well as oral and maxillofacial OMFS residencies, must be continued regardless of the cost. To remain viable the other product line GDE programs must share their best business practices to think of GDE as a business and not a luxury easily affordable to the military. Failing to focus on the bottom line, to show a profit, may lead to their extinction.