Dayton VA Hospital

[Cold Front]

Does anyone know about this program? is it competitive to get into? any good or bad experience from current/previous residents?

Thanks

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[aphistis]

Does anyone know about this program? is it competitive to get into? any good or bad experience from current/previous residents?

Thanks

I know it's where we send all our hyperbaric oxygen patients. Other than that, can't help you.

 

[Odontologist]

I would highly recommend a different GPR. Our dental school had a 2-week rotation through that hospital and we sat around 90% of the time, and the residents were NOT thrilled with their overall experience there.

I'm under the impression that it's not a competitive program.

If you're dying to live in Dayton for some crazy reason, the GPR at Miami Valley is a great program where you will get lots of experience.

Good luck!

 

[Cold Front]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

My goal is to stay in the midwest area (if possible), preferably Ohio or it's neighboring states, and from what I heard - VA hospitals generally provide more of everything than regular GPR's.

Any thoughts on these programs?:

- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Cleveland
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Philadelphia
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Pittsburgh
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Wilkes-Barre
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Detroit - Dental Service
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Ann Arbor
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Indianapolis

thanks

 

[aphistis]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

My goal is to stay in the midwest area (if possible), preferably Ohio or it's neighboring states, and from what I heard - VA hospitals generally provide more of everything than regular GPR's.

Any thoughts on these programs?:

- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Cleveland
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Philadelphia
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Pittsburgh
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Wilkes-Barre
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center-Detroit - Dental Service
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Ann Arbor
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center/Indianapolis

thanks

I'm at the Indianapolis VAMC, and my co-GPR and I are both happy with the program.

- Fairly steep learning curve the first month, since most dentists haven't spent two years of med school learning how a hospital service works.
- Plenty of patients covering a nice broad spectrum of comprehensive treatment needs
- Hundreds of medical consults (H&N cancer, inpatient dentoalveolar, pre-transplants, pre-chemo, anything else you can think of).
- Tons of dentoalveolar surgery D)
- 20 or so OR cases so far, at two hospitals (VA and Wishard)
- Good off-service rotations (rad onc, IM, OMFS, anesthesiology, ER, oral path)
- Decent implant exposure (restorative only--one potential drawback)
- Frequent interaction with the IU GPR and OMFS programs (separate programs, but regular joint activities)
- VA call is q6th week and practically nonexistent, Wishard is also q6th week but busier. 95% of calls are phone-manageable. You'll have to go in periodically, but the ED staff are pretty good about not calling you in for piddly crap. Most phone-only pages are toothaches, infections, and post-op complaints; when you have to come in it's usually for MVC or "pt vs. bar counter"-type stuff.
- Good attendings & clinic staff
- Specialists available, but are busy enough with their own cases that they don't have to poach yours and usually encourage you to do as many of your own specialty procedures as you can.
- Good stipend, flexible clinic schedule, good treatment rooms

On a normal clinic day without any seminars/lectures/etc. I'll typically have 6-8 patients scheduled, and consults come in pretty much daily and need to be worked if you're able. It's an active, but not frantic, pace. We meet with attendings weekly to discuss new treatment plans, but once approved they're yours to run with unless you need help.

All in all, like I said, I think the Indy VA is a good program and I'd encourage anyone to look into it if they're interested.

 

[pietrodds]

VA GPRs do vary from place to place based on how good or bad/lazy the director is. Any VA though has a surplus of pt's that need lots of work for free. Much of what you do in a VA is only limited by your desire to develop good Tx plans and deliver the treatment. Call the programs and ask to talk to the residents... or see if you can hunt down residents that have been out a year or two. I didn't realize the extent of my training til I got out into private practice and started talking to other dentists/specialists. The specialists in particular have made many comments about how they're blown away by my understanding of Tx planning and specifics in areas such as implants. I took for granted the experience I got at the Baltimore VA at the time. It's a good program if you're self-motivated but if you want someone to guide you through Tx chairside you'd probably find it frustrating. I've heard that the Miami VA, San Antonio VA, Indianapolis VA, most of the Cali VAs, are among some of the better ones. I have not heard good things about the Philly VA or Wilkes Barre VA. Pittsburgh is ok but they have multiple hospitals you have to bounce around to. Another thing I'd look for is to see how involved the get their residents in the medical/ on-call aspect of being in a hospital. It's kinda cool to see for a week or two but it's a waste of your time in becoming a better dentist if private practice is your goal so I'd avoid programs where you're on month long rotations in the ER, anesth, general med, etc. I had friends who did non-VA GPRs where they didn't touch a handpiece for the first 4 months. What a waste of your time imo!

Rule #1 you learn at the VA - Teeth aren't for everyone and the sooner you learn that the happier your life is going to be. The first two months you should spend figuring out which patients are going to actually follow through with Tx. You can write up a huge Tx plan but if they don't give a damn about their teeth you'll get frustrated quick having them miss their 3 hour app't slots twice in a row.