Officers finish dental residency at Scott Published Aug. 8, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Jake Eckhardt 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- On July 31, six members of the Scott Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency program, or AEGD, graduated after training with the 375th Dental Squadron. The program accepts six residents annually. All of the residents are dental school graduates who received an Air Force Professions Scholarship during their dental school training. "The amount of training that we were required to do here was substantial," said Capt. Jesse Welsh, 375th Medical Group AEGD chief resident. "What we learned here will definitely help us." The residents advanced in their training by learning complex root canals, impacted third molars and wisdom teeth extractions, along with other techniques and surgeries. Capt. Kurt Walejko, 375th Medical Group AEGD resident, said, "The one-on-one training with each of the specialty doctors was what really helped us. Whenever we had a question, they were more than willing to work with us and provide us with answers." The teaching staff consists of board certified or board eligible specialists representing a range of expertise as Air Force officers, clinicians and educators. The program also has a Training Affiliation Agreement with the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville School of Dental Medicine, which enables residents to rotate through Pediatric/Special Care Dentistry and to provide community service for underserved children in the East St. Louis area. The graduates have been assigned to Air Force bases around the world where their additional specialty skills are needed. The 2012 graduates and their base of assignment are: Capt. Jesse Welsh, Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Capt. Kaori Ema, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.; Capt. Jessica Jaworowicz, RAF Lakenheath, England; Capt. Gina Corrado, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.; Capt. Kurt Walejko, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. and Capt. Jonathan Harmon, Misawa Air Base, Japan. "We will be getting sent to places where there aren't any specialists, so they want us to be able to tackle some of those cases where they would normally have to be sent to an off-base specialist. I feel that having this extra year of training sets us apart," said Walejko.