Dental Graduate Programs

Welcome to Graduate Dental Programs!

Navy Medicine offers a wide range of postgraduate training in a variety of dental specialties and views the process of professional development through Graduate Dental Education (GDE) as a progressive maturing sequence for individuals as both dentists and as Naval Officers.

Navy Graduate Dental Education encompasses Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY-1), Advanced Clinical Program (ACP), Residency, and Fellowship training. All PGY-1 and ACP training and most residency training is done “In-Service”, i.e. within brick and mortar Navy Dentistry training facilities. Some residency training is done outside the Navy in either civilian institutions or in other federal service training programs.

Navy In-Service residency and fellowship training locations include the Naval Postgraduate Dental School, Bethesda, MD, and the three multi-discipline medical centers in Bethesda MD, San Diego CA, and Portsmouth VA.  The Advanced Clinical Program in Exodontia is located at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, Great Lakes, IL.  Other Federal Institution (OFI) locations include, but are not limited to the Air Force Postgraduate Dental School and the Tri-service Orthodontic Program (TORP), both in San Antonio, TX
Navy Out-Service residency and fellowship training can occur in any accredited residency or fellowship program in the United States that is approved by the Specialty Leader of that specialty. Two additional options for out-service residency training are the Navy Active-Duty Delay for Specialists (NADDS) Program and the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) which are administered by PERS.

All eligible Navy Dental Officers are encouraged to apply to the annual Duty Under Instruction (DUINS) Selection Board for their choice of training opportunity sponsored by the Navy Medical Department.  BUMEDNOTE 1520 which contains the application guidance is issued in February or March.  Applications are typically due in May.  The DUINS Selection Board meets in mid-June and results are usually released by early July.

Please click below to review the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY2026) BUMEDNOTE & NMLPDC NOTE 1520 and applicable forms.

The Navy traditionally trains in the following specialties:

-Full-Time In-Service (FTIS): Comprehensive Dentistry (2 year AEGD), Dental Public Health, Endodontics, Exodontia ACP, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Maxillofacial Prosthetics Fellowship, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orofacial Pain, Periodontics, and Prosthodontics.

-Full-Time Out-Service (FTOS), OFI, NADDS and FAP: Dental Research, Operative and Preventive Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Fellowship, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Orofacial Pain, Orthodontics, and Pediatric Dentistry.

This list is not all-inclusive and it is possible that a specialty may not be trained in a given year, depending on the needs of the Navy.  Additionally, some residencies may expand to train in FTOS programs if the need is identified.

In addition to DUINS and PGY1 Selection Boards, this office:
1. Funds and serves as the liaison to the DC for FTOS officers.
2. Funds Specialty Board Exams 
3. Funds CE opportunities for DC officers assigned to Non BSO18 platforms, if funds are available
4. Serves as the Subject Matter expert for Navy Medicine policy as it applies to postgraduate education
Many of the forms needed for these processes are located below.