This may be an odd question, but can dentists work in hospitals? Is it hard to do so?

[Roland225]

The reason i ask this is because I’ve been looking at the different fields in healthcare and recently have been doing research on dentistry and noticed most dentists are private practice. i really don’t want to deal with the hassle and loneliness of a private practice (from what I’ve heard it does get lonely). Yes i know you make more and all that as private practice, but I’m curious if i can get a job at a hospital? Is it hard to do so?

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[ucfknight7]

I've never heard of a general dentist working at a hospital, but I've shadowed a dental oncologist at my local hospital.

 

[InformMe123]

yes you can, look into GPRs

 

[chasing5ym]

My dentist has their own practice, but is on-call at the local hospital. I have no idea how it works, but they're there maybe once a week for a couple hours during the practice's lunch hours.

 

[cooliyak]

Look into public health dentistry too if you are just not wanting to deal with private practice. It can be a pretty sweet deal.

 

[DVA1990]

General dentistry can absolutely work at hospitals! It's more competitive due to here being less spots - but lots of hospitals have pediatric and adult dental clinics. They overlap with specialty work (treating medically complex) but still do general dentistry work

 

[setdoc7]

I work in a large hospital in NY. I am the PD of a GPR. We have many other dentists on staff here. I am surrounded by other hospitals with similar situations. Dentists work in hospitals.

 

[InformMe123]

I work in a large hospital in NY. I am the PD of a GPR. We have many other dentists on staff here. I am surrounded by other hospitals with similar situations. Dentists work in hospitals.

How does one get a hospital job as a dentist? What qualifications do hospital hire?

 

[setdoc7]

In order to work in a hospital as a dentist, it is generally advisable to complete a hospital based residency program after dental school. This may not be the case for perio, endo, and ortho, as these specialties are mostly school based (there are exceptions). OMFS, Pedo, DA, and GPR all have hospital components of training, and will make obtaining privileges easier. Residency programs hire dentists as attendings to supervise the resident class, and often provide care to the outpatients and inpatients. Program directors for GPR must have completed a GPR. Program directors for specialties must be board certified.
VA hospitals often hire staff dentists to provide care to their patient populations. Some hospitals have no dental dept at all. It varies according to the perceived need of the community.

 

[InformMe123]

In order to work in a hospital as a dentist, it is generally advisable to complete a hospital based residency program after dental school. This may not be the case for perio, endo, and ortho, as these specialties are mostly school based (there are exceptions). OMFS, Pedo, DA, and GPR all have hospital components of training, and will make obtaining privileges easier. Residency programs hire dentists as attendings to supervise the resident class, and often provide care to the outpatients and inpatients. Program directors for GPR must have completed a GPR. Program directors for specialties must be board certified.
VA hospitals often hire staff dentists to provide care to their patient populations. Some hospitals have no dental dept at all. It varies according to the perceived need of the community.

Thanks for the info, working in a hospital seems very interesting to me. Could you comment:
1. What kind of qualifications help a dentist get chosen as program director for a gpr? For example, masters degree, reputation of gpr (or dental school), research, working experience, etc.?
2. How competitive is it to get a regular fulltime hospital dentist position?
3. Any big differences between working at VA hospital and non-VA as a dentist?