Program Overview

Introduction to the General Practice Residency Program

The University of Michigan General Practice Residency Program in Hospital Dentistry is a 1-year postdoctoral training program that provides advanced training in clinical dentistry with a focus on the special needs and medically complex patient population requiring dental care and management in the hospital setting.

Curriculum Overview

The program's curriculum is designed to increase the resident's proficiency in various aspects of dentistry, including:

• Dental Ethics: The goal is to heighten ethical and professional responsibility and to promote ethical and moral conduct and professionalism in dentistry.
• Dental Implants: The goal is to develop competence in at least one implant system and increase experience in the use of dental implants.
• Endodontics: The goal is to increase proficiency in conventional root canal therapy and introduce surgical endodontics.
• Fixed Prosthodontics: The goal is to allow increased proficiency in diagnosis, treatment planning, and provision of fixed prosthodontic care.
• Infection, Hazard Control, and Asepsis: The goal is to integrate principles of infection and hazard control with the hospital's program of infection control.
• Laboratory Skills: The goal is to develop communication skills with the dental laboratory technician and effectively utilize off-site services.
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: The goal is to increase competence in routine and surgical exodontia and gain exposure to complicated maxillofacial surgery.
• Dental Diagnosis and Treatment Planning: The goal is to improve the ability to recognize, diagnose, and manage pathology present in the oral cavity and surrounding structures.
• Pain Control: The goal is to increase familiarity with modern pain management techniques.
• Periodontics: The goal is to increase development of expertise in nonsurgical periodontics and understand the indications for periodontal surgery.
• Physical Evaluation: The goal is to develop the ability to evaluate a patient's general health status and interpret physical signs and symptoms of systemic disease.
• Practice Management: The goal is to provide the resident with insight into techniques of managing a dental practice.
• Preventive Dentistry: The goal is to increase the refinement of an integrated team approach to dental care.
• Radiology: The goal is to increase the development of advanced radiological techniques.
• Removable Prosthodontics: The goal is to increase proficiency in diagnosis and treatment planning for complete and partial dentures.
• Restorative Dentistry: The goal is to increase experience in the use of established and new restorative materials.
• Special Care Dentistry: The goal is to increase experience and knowledge of techniques and modalities of care for special needs patients.
• TMD and Orofacial Pain: The goal is to provide the resident with the skills required to assess, diagnose, and treat routine TMJ system disorders and orofacial pain disorders.

Rotations

The program includes both on-service and off-service rotations.

On-Service Rotations

On-service rotations include:

• Comprehensive Dental Care in an Operating Room Setting Under General Anesthesia
• Emergency Dentistry - Day Call Rotation
• Temporomandibular Disorders, Orofacial Pain, Sleep Dentistry

Off-Service Rotations

Off-service rotations include:

• Anesthesiology Rotation
• Emergency Medicine Rotation
• History & Physical Rotation
• Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Rotation

Objectives

Upon completion of the program, residents will be able to:

• Demonstrate proficiency in skills and techniques for standard operating room protocol
• Assess, treat, and monitor patients receiving general anesthesia
• Record and evaluate pre-, peri-, and post-operative patients
• Obtain intravenous access on patients
• Manage the airway and intubate patients
• Understand the use and nature of action of various anesthetic agents
• Experience in patient monitoring
• Experience in prevention and treatment of anesthetic emergencies

Conclusion

The University of Michigan General Practice Residency Program in Hospital Dentistry provides a comprehensive education and training experience for residents, preparing them for a successful career in dentistry.