General Practice Residency

[TimR]

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Can anyone inform me or steer me towards information on the overall idea behind GP residencies. IE the benefits, the time, the competition. I noticed some dental schools (marquette, UOP) collaborate with local hospitals. What would be the role of a dental student in a hospital???

 

[12YearOldKid]

Can anyone inform me or steer me towards information on the overall idea behind GP residencies. IE the benefits, the time, the competition. I noticed some dental schools (marquette, UOP) collaborate with local hospitals. What would be the role of a dental student in a hospital???

It really varies from residency to residency. Choosing one depends on what you want to get out of it. Some will give you tons of experience in bread and butter dentistry - operative, fixed, removable, endo. Others have a more surgical focus. Some do lots of IV sedation; others do none.

There are many different reasons for doing a GPR. Are you looking to improve your CV to apply for specialty programs? Do you feel unprepared to enter private practice? Are you hoping to gain specific new skills before entering the real world?

Some GPRs are competitive, but there are always seats that go unfilled every year. If just anything will do, you will definitely match somewhere. Pay varies from a small stipend ~$10,000 to as high as ~$45,000. Usually hospital-associated residencies pay the best because they get GME funding.

As far as hospital duties go, the residents at my school take a lot of emergency call for dental issues at the ER. (Remember, you will no longer be a student in your GPR; you will be Dr. Tim.) They also rotate for brief periods through different areas of the hospital though I am vague on the specifics.

I hope some others chime in.

 

[12YearOldKid]

Oh, almost forgot. The residents at my school work LONG hours. Lots of nights at the hospital and then patients during the day. Only the OMS residents work as hard as the GPR guys.

 

[teefRcool]

It really varies from residency to residency. Choosing one depends on what you want to get out of it. Some will give you tons of experience in bread and butter dentistry - operative, fixed, removable, endo. Others have a more surgical focus. Some do lots of IV sedation; others do none.

There are many different reasons for doing a GPR. Are you looking to improve your CV to apply for specialty programs? Do you feel unprepared to enter private practice? Are you hoping to gain specific new skills before entering the real world?

Some GPRs are competitive, but there are always seats that go unfilled every year. If just anything will do, you will definitely match somewhere. Pay varies from a small stipend ~$10,000 to as high as ~$45,000. Usually hospital-associated residencies pay the best because they get GME funding.

As far as hospital duties go, the residents at my school take a lot of emergency call for dental issues at the ER. (Remember, you will no longer be a student in your GPR; you will be Dr. Tim.) They also rotate for brief periods through different areas of the hospital though I am vague on the specifics.

I hope some others chime in.

So whats the benefit wouldn't you be making 90+ working straight out of school. Theres so many openings and places to open practices in. Why waste the time. Wouldn't it be better to get experience while your making the real dough. It sounds more like the people that slept the first 4 years and when they ended their like crap, time to pay attention.

 

[12YearOldKid]

So whats the benefit wouldn't you be making 90+ working straight out of school. Theres so many openings and places to open practices in. Why waste the time. Wouldn't it be better to get experience while your making the real dough. It sounds more like the people that slept the first 4 years and when they ended their like crap, time to pay attention.

A lot of people feel that same way and that is why most people don't do one. But some people don't feel ready for completely unsupervised practice. Or they have found a GPR with heavy focus on a skill they want to learn. Some things like IV sedation are best learned in a residency-type environment. They may just want to improve their resume to get into a specialty.

But, yeah, obviously money is NOT a motivator. 😀

 

[TimR]

are there any studies or evidence to suggest that the people who do residencies end up as better dentists, or more competitive for specialty programs. Who can live off of 10,000 a year? It seems like working 80+ hour weeks would merit more pay.

 

[ecdoesit]

There are two programs:
AEGD and GPR.

Once I thought AEGD is kinda meaningless, but now I heard more about it.
SInce you are in sch, u dont have to pay interest for most loans or at least have a lower interest rate. then once u finish that program, ur speed and skill improve, so u could find a higher pay job/become more competitive employee.

For GPR, i want to do that because I figure I have the rest of my life doing GP, so taking a yr out to do something totally different will be good for my career.

 

[dentalman]

are there any studies or evidence to suggest that the people who do residencies end up as better dentists, or more competitive for specialty programs. Who can live off of 10,000 a year? It seems like working 80+ hour weeks would merit more pay.

The reasons our GPR coordinator gave us which I found compelling are: (I am a fourth year student, but not doing a GPR)

1) You want to be able to do IV sedation. A general dentist is not licensed to do IV sedation on your own. (But is it possible to hire an anesthesiologist?) I found this argument most compelling ... if that's what I wanted to do.

2) At this particular program, one would gain more experience with "whizzies". (3rd molars).

3) You are interested in doing "hospital dentistry". Either medically compromised or the more rare case of really rich people who need a lot of work but want and can afford to get sedated to do it all at once.

4) The other reasons listed.

Again, this isn't my thing, but he made a good case for doing it.

 

[drhobie7]

I've spent a fair amount of time around GPR residents. I can say with certainty that I would not do a GPR. Obviously each program is different, but the residents I've seen spend too much time doing nothing or meaningless administrative tasks. My perspective on a GPR is that you are exposed to many things but master nothing. I can't see how it would build up your speed. You will treat far fewer patients than in private practice. In addition, you will be doing things you will never do in private practice, because your private practice will not be run in a hospital. As for IV sedation, I would rather take a course in this after graduation. IV sedation is no big deal. People without a college degree can insert an IV. All you have to do is push in the midazolam and fentanyl. Regarding 3rd molars, do you really think you'll be extracting these as a GP? I doubt it, unless there's no surgeon around for miles.

As for an AEGD, I wouldn't do this either. It is similar to a 5th year of dental school. You do your work and faculty comes and checks it along the way. You will not build speed doing this because the number of patients you treat will be much less than private practice.

If you want to build speed go work at some chop shop practice for 4-6 months. You'll make pretty good money and become fast. If you want to build skill, associate with a knowledgable dentist who you trust and take plenty of good CE courses.

A lot of people do GRP/AEGD because they don't have the confidence to treat patients right out of school. I say just dive in and after a few weeks you'll be right at home.

 

[dentalman]

I thought general dentists could only provide conscious sedation with one oral sedative and nitrous? Or is this just the case in Washington? In other words, IV sedation is not a matter of skill, but a legal matter. I need to review my state statutes! It may be different state by state.

 

[drhobie7]

I thought general dentists could only provide conscious sedation with one oral sedative and nitrous? Or is this just the case in Washington? In other words, IV sedation is not a matter of skill, but a legal matter. I need to review my state statutes! It may be different state by state.

If you want to do IV sedation or oral sedation on a kid under 13 you have to have a certificate. You can obtain this certificate through CE courses. You do not need to do a residency.