Posted on 11/29/2010 7:12:03 PM PST by darrellmaurina
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2010) — Military spouses routinely have difficulty maintaining a career due to frequent moves. In an attempt to address that problem, a program run jointly by the Fort Leonard Wood American Red Cross chapter and the Army’s DENTAC dental program provides dental assistant training, a course that would ordinarily cost several thousand dollars, free of charge to military spouses and retiree spouses. Dental assistants can often be in high demand and frequently can find employment rapidly at military or civilian dental facilities following a military move. Gabriella Gallagher of the Red Cross said the classes are held twice per year; for the classes beginning Jan. 4, the application window opened on Nov. 15 and runs until Nov. 30. Applications can be picked up at the Red Cross office in Building 496, with interviews held on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. “Every applicant will be interviewed,” Gallagher said. “This is a very highly skilled program, we have many, many applicants every time but we can have only six in the program.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pulaskicountydaily.com ...
This is a small example of how people can be helped in a way that empowers them instead of making them dependents. Good on the Red Cross (whom I rarely complement).
This is GOOD! Congrats to whomever brought this through.
My husband, retired Army dentist, but still working for them in the same clinic almost on contract, says that similar programs have been going on at other posts at least 10 years. Schofield Barrack’s course was bigger - 15 or so “students” to start. He gave a few lectures to their classes and was very impressed with their abilities. The application process had obviously done a good job with selection. He says he worked with several over the past few years and always enjoyed it. They require a ton of hours of direct practice before you get certified, so it’s a nice little boost for the clinics as well... cheap/free labor.
A Dental Tech/Technician fabricates dental prosthesies or appliances for a Dentist, such as partial or full dentures, crowns, bridges, space maintainers, night guards or orthodontic devices.
I should know, as I am a Dental Technician.
God bless.
Sursum Corda
Thank you for the clarification. I need to go back and check my tape of the meeting to see precisely what was said. The person speaking was not a dentist or in the dental field and it’s possible this was a well-intentioned misunderstanding, but it also may be my own error, in which case the Fort Leonard Wood Red Cross deserves an apology from me. Again, thank you for calling this to my attention.
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