Mazuji Nasrin, Chaffin Jeffrey G, Beer Ronald R, Mangelsdorff A David
Dental Corps, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Dental Command, 2050 Worth Road, Suite 4, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA.
Mil Med. 2005 Jan;170(1):21-5. doi: 10.7205/milmed.170.1.21.
The objectives of the survey were to quantify the extent of indebtedness of junior dental officers and to determine the impact of a loan repayment program on career decisions.
We designed a customized survey instrument because no preexisting, validated, survey instrument was available. A query was performed in the Medical Operations Data System to identify all captains (0-3) currently on active duty in the Army (N = 348). The survey sample included 64 junior officers with a 2000 date of rank to captain (0-3), of whom only 52 were in the Medical Command Outlook address book or the Army Knowledge Online white pages. The questionnaire was sent out to these targeted junior dental officers through their official e-mail accounts. Dentists assigned to Korea and to dental field units do not use the same e-mail system as the rest of the Dental Command; therefore, their addresses were not available. In an attempt to increase response rates, commanders were asked to emphasize the importance of responding to the questionnaire.
From the sample population of 52 officers who were queried directly, 34 responses were received, for a response rate of 65%. However, commanders forwarded the survey to all Dental Command captains and 102 responses were received. The respondents represented 30% of the total Army inventory of captains; 92% of respondents reported that they had dental school loans, with 43% reporting loans in excess of dollar 50,000. The average dental school indebtedness was approximately dollar 60,700. More than 60% of all respondents reported that loan repayment could change their minds about remaining on active duty. Officers not included in the original sample rated the impact of loan repayment statistically higher than did officers in the original sample.
The findings were that the majority of junior Army dental officers had significant student loans and many of these officers indicated that they would consider remaining on active duty if loan repayment or other monetary inducements were offered.
本次调查的目的是量化初级牙科军官的负债程度，并确定贷款偿还计划对职业决策的影响。
由于没有现成的经过验证的调查工具，我们设计了一种定制的调查工具。在医疗行动数据系统中进行查询，以识别陆军现役的所有上尉（0-3级）（N = 348）。调查样本包括64名2000年授衔至上尉（0-3级）的初级军官，其中只有52人在医疗司令部通讯录或陆军知识在线白页中。问卷通过他们的官方电子邮件账户发送给这些目标初级牙科军官。被派往韩国和牙科野战部队的牙医使用的电子邮件系统与牙科司令部其他人员不同；因此，无法获取他们的地址。为了提高回复率，要求指挥官强调回复问卷的重要性。
在直接被询问的52名军官样本中，收到了34份回复，回复率为65%。然而，指挥官将调查转发给了所有牙科司令部上尉，共收到102份回复。受访者占陆军上尉总数的30%；92%的受访者报告他们有牙科学校贷款，43%报告贷款超过50,000美元。牙科学校的平均负债约为60,700美元。超过60%的受访者表示，贷款偿还可能会改变他们继续服现役的想法。未纳入原始样本的军官对贷款偿还影响的评分在统计学上高于原始样本中的军官。
研究结果表明，大多数陆军初级牙科军官有大量学生贷款，许多军官表示，如果提供贷款偿还或其他金钱诱因，他们会考虑继续服现役。
