Update on Loma Linda University OMFS Program
I am a current resident at Loma Linda and wanted to give an update on our Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery program. The program is currently phasing out the 4-year track and is only accepting applicants to the 6-year combined OMS/MD program. In the 13 years since the above post was written, there have been many changes! First, our program continues to be very strong in orthognathics and facial trauma. We currently have 3 attendings who routinely perform orthognathic surgery. Facial trauma surgery also continues to be a strong point. We currently cover facial trauma 24/7 for Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC), and every 3rd week for Loma Linda University Medical Center, rotating call with plastics and ENT. We treat full-scope facial trauma, including dentoalveolar trauma, mandible fractures, LeFort fractures, orbital fractures, ZMC fractures, NOE fractures, frontal sinus fractures, complex nasal bone fractures, as well as treating soft tissue injuries to the face including scalp, ears, and nose.
The culture of our program is a supportive, faith-based, and family-friendly environment, where residents can learn, grow, and become excellent clinicians. Our program continues to provide a much-needed service to the community in performing hospital-based dentoalveolar surgery for medically compromised patients. We continue to treat benign maxillofacial pathology and have recently begun treating malignant maxillofacial pathology with the addition of a microvascular-trained OMS attending, performing free-flap surgery for patients with malignancies and other acquired defects of the head and neck.
One of the unique strengths of Loma Linda’s OMS program is that as residents we run the ENT inpatient service at ARMC along with ENT attendings, and this brings a greater depth to our training than at many other programs. We learn to manage and treat pharyngeal and tonsillar abscesses, and infections and pathology of the ears/nose/and throat.
We continue to run a basic OMS clinic at ARMC, providing services such as follow ups and surgical planning, in addition to basic extractions and soft tissue biopsies. Our Loma Linda clinic continues to perform routine dentoalveolar surgery under local anesthesia. We also perform 3rd molar extractions, expose & bond, supernumerary/impacted teeth extractions, and soft and hard tissue biopsies under in-office general anesthesia. (Prior to COVID-19, we were performing up to 60 IVGA procedures a month). As a first-year resident, you will have the opportunity to learn how to work up medically complex patients for procedures in clinic and the operating room, and will have invaluable experiences on call, including draining abscesses of multiple facial and neck spaces, repairing scalp lacerations and facial lacerations, splinting teeth, and performing many extractions. (As a reference, I treated at least 36 abscesses and 98 lacerations, and performed 6 splints and 78+ extractions during my 13-month intern year, many of which were on-call, not including many clinic extractions I did not log).
Finally, our academic opportunities on-service include weekly case conference with our attendings, weekly didactic sessions including orthognathics and pathology, and opportunities to teach dental students in our predoctoral OMS clinic. The medical school education as part of the 6-year program emphasizes whole-person care, and provides a strong academic and clinical basis in medicine for the rest of your surgical career. Emerging areas of opportunity in our residency include craniofacial surgery rotations with plastic surgery.
If you want to work hard, grow academically, provide service to many underserved patients, and work with a group of talented and friendly residents, then Loma Linda is the place for you!
Residency Program Webpage
(Attached is a video from several years ago, highlighting one of our current attendings)