General Practice Residency

The mission of the General Practice Residency (GPR) program at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) is to elevate the skills and knowledge base of the dental graduate in both general and hospital dentistry.

The goal of the program’s didactic and clinical training and experiences is to ensure that residents completing the program receive adequate training and clinical experience in providing comprehensive multidisciplinary oral health care at a level of skill and complexity beyond that accomplished in pre-doctorial training. The RSDM GPR program incorporates the CODA-recommended goals as their own- this includes preparation of the graduate to:

•  Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients. This includes: providing emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care; providing patient focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner; and directing health promotion and disease prevention activities 
• Plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients including patients with special needs 
• Manage the delivery of oral health care by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic health care environment
• Function effectively within the hospital and other health care environments
• Function effectively within interdisciplinary health care teams
•  Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care. This includes using critical thinking, evidence or outcomes-based clinical decision-making, and technology-based information retrieval systems
• Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice
• Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community service

Applications are submitted through ADEA PASS and Match. Specific questions with regard to the admissions requirements or any other aspect of the General Practice Residency at RSDM should be addressed to the Program Director: 

Dr. Ali Abbas

abbasal@sdm.rutgers.edu

Each resident is expected to attend all academic activities scheduled by the department. Residents and faculty will receive a monthly schedule of conferences to allow adequate time for preparation. The graduate will also be proficient in scientific evaluation of the literature and application of this knowledge to their future practices.

The first year residents (PGY1) will receive advanced level didactic and clinical training in:

• General dentistry
• Oral Surgery
• Endodontics
• Periodontics
• TMD/Orofacial Pain
• Implant placement and restoration
• Oral Medicine and Pathology

Residents also gain experience in:

• Dental management of medically complex patients, both ambulatory and hospital-based
• Dental treatment in the operating room under sedation or general anesthesia
• Dental management of the transplant patient, dialysis patient and head and neck cancer patient
• Community Dentistry

On-call is an in-person responsibility. Nightly on-call duty on weekdays and 24-hour calls on weekends/holidays is shared equally by all first year GPR and Pediatric Dentistry Residents on a rotating basis throughout the year.

Both the post-call and incoming on-call residents participate in the morning rounds in the Oral Medicine conference room. This allows for inpatient follow-up and exchange of information about admitted and/or referred emergency patients. Interesting ER cases and consults are also discussed during morning rounds.

All residents will participate in daily huddle with the respective Attendings, that will include discussion of patient care for patients scheduled for a given day. This will include all aspects of their care including treatment planning and needs assessment, as well as quality control.

A timely and thorough dental clearance for patients with head-and-neck cancer is an essential and inherent component of cancer care. The Head and Neck Tumor Board is a weekly multidisciplinary conference attended by General Practice Residents, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Otolaryngology, Radiology, Pathology, Social Services, Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology. Individual services present new and interesting cases for group discussion and comprehensive management of head and neck cancer patients.

Residents have two to four-week block rotations through: Anesthesia, Internal Medicine, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Special Care Dentistry. These rotations provide dental residents with experience in dental medical risk assessment, emergency patient management and interaction with other health care professionals.

Anesthesia rotation: Residents perform physical examinations, determine medical risk for general anesthesia, perform phlebotomies and intubations, and become familiar with pharmacological agents and equipment used for general anesthesia and/or deep sedation.

Internal Medicine rotation: Residents participate with the medical resident in inpatient care as part of the medical team. Residents also take call with their medical team, admit, manage and discharge patients, and attend morning rounds under the supervision of a senior resident and a medical attending.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) rotation: Residents rotate at University Hospital, joining their surgical colleagues in assessment and management of maxillofacial surgery patients in the ambulatory, same day surgery and inpatient settings. They examine, treat and follow-up OMFS patients under the supervision of OMFS chief residents and attending.

Special Care Dentistry rotation: The resident has thethe opportunity to provide comprehensive oral health care to special needs patients both in the outpatient clinic and in the same day surgery setting.