johnnyrb, thanks for the reply. what kind of cases typically done in the OR? do you do lots of cancer and trauma? or would you consider the program strong in bread and butter oral surgery (wizzies and implants)? how many level I trauma hospitals do you cover every third week? during last four years, did you take your interns?
Great questions. We cover the only level I hospital in southeastern WI which is Froedtert Hospital. We also get a lot of trauma flighted in from northern IL. We also cover Children's Hospital of WI which is level I for peds. We also cover the VA hospital.
Our case load is as follows. We do a lot of trauma in the spring, summer, and fall. We get a lot of pan facial fractures that get flighted in from northern IL and northern MI. We do not do as much as Cook County does. We do a good volume of orthognathic surgery. We get ATV and unhelmeted MCC victims and significant GSWs to the face. Milwaukee has a very high crime rate in the inner city. Our chief last year cut 30 BSSROs, 30 LeFort I mutliple piece, 15 asymmetric double jaws. We do TMJ surgery that includes arthroscopies, arthroplasties (disk removals with silicone implant placement, disk repairs with disk repositioning with mitek bone anchors, total custom TMJs). We have a good referral source for large OKCs, ameloblastomas, etc. We do not do very much H&N cancer like SCCa. About 2-3 times a year we do tag time with ENT or Plastics to do mandibulectomies with free fibula grafts to reconstruct the mandible.
Good case load in clinic for third molars. We have a resident schedule where we sedate our own patients and remove thirds. We also jump in and split or do the whole case of our staff thirds. Implants are mostly done through the VA our second year. Our chief last year did 96 implants. I did 60 implants though I was at the VA when the Iraq first rounders were called up/ returning home and needed thirds out. Our second year put in 12 implants last week.
We have three full time staff. They are benevolent and work extremely hard. They pimp you but do not demean you in front of patients, nurses, etc. Our program is a hidden gem. No research requirement as of yet because we are to busy in the OR and clinic with procedures. We are in the OR three days and add ons prn. If you are looking to become competent at doing basic bread and butter oral surgery plus trauma, TMJ, it is an awesome program. Because it is a small program younger residents cut earlier because of work load demands which makes for great training. Staff cut with any residents, not just the chief.
We do not take our intern every year. I was the last intern taken 3 years ago and maybe we keep our intern every 5-6 years. If the person is an excellent intern than we will keep them. By the way, my name is John Rydlewicz. Hope this info helps!