The rotations included in the General Practice Residency Program, as mandated by the American Dental Association, include —
| Restorative Clinic |
6 months |
| Oral Surgery Clinic |
3 months |
| Hospital Protocol and Orientation |
1 week |
| Medicine |
2 weeks |
| Anesthesia |
80 hours |
| Physical Diagnosis |
20 hours |
| Emergency Room |
80 hours |
| Periodontics |
4 hours/week |
July is Orientation Month. The first week is spent with attending dentists in reviewing hospital and Dental Service protocols and learning the computer medical record. Residents spend time in Restorative Clinic beginning in comprehensive care dentistry, in Oral Surgery Clinic, and in the Anesthesiology Service getting acquainted with operating room protocol.
From the start of the resident year in July, residents spend 3 weeks per month in Restorative Clinic and one week in Oral Surgery Clinic. Physical Diagnosis, Anesthesia Rotation and Emergency Room Rotation are interspersed during this time. During assignment to Anesthesiology Service, residents participate in the administration of general anesthesia and monitoring of the surgical patient under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist. Emergency Room Rotation, where the resident becomes acquainted with the triage and management of medical emergencies, is conducted at the VA Emergency Room which is located in close proximity to the Dental Clinic. The staff oral and maxillofacial surgeon conducts the physical diagnosis course, teaching the process of taking a history and doing a medical assessment of the patient.
Emergency On-Call
Residents are responsible for being on call for emergencies one week out of every 10 weeks. The Memphis VA Medical Center provides pagers allowing on call staff mobility. An attending dentist is on call as a back up for consultation and/or assistance. The nature of our on-call service is for true dental emergencies and not for care of chronic dental neglect, which is addressed during regular clinic hours.
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