The General Practice Residency in Dentistry is fully accredited by the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation and conforms to the Standards of Accreditation for Advanced Education Programs in General Dentistry. The Department of Dentistry supports nine General Practice Residents. There is a 2nd year option in addition to the 1st year experience. The department manages two recently constructed modern dental facilities with a total of 19 available operatories. There are five full-time and one half-time salaried dentists with the department, in addition to an active volunteer attending teaching staff. The department has a large supporting staff of clinical personnel, including dental assistants, dental hygienists, certified laboratory technicians and clerical personnel.

St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center is the largest Catholic Hospital in New England. It is a tertiary teaching hospital and is affiliated with the University of Connecticut’s Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.

The Department of Dentistry is an integral part of the hospital and provides structured patient, didactic, and interdepartmental experiences. The principal teaching method employed in the residency program is clinical experience. Clinical practice is augmented with regular (weekly) schedule of lectures and seminars presented by local and visiting faculty from various fields of dentistry and other branches of medicine. Although there are no specific case requirements, residents are expected to maintain a varied case load that adequately addresses all disciplines of clinical practice. There are approximately 20,000 patient visits to the Department of Dentistry each year.


Program Features

1. Our own in-house dental laboratory:
Direct access to certified dental technicians enhance treatment planning, case design, patient management, and knowledge of dental materials.

2. Peter Dawson, D.D.S. on occlusion and complete dentistry:
Each year the department sends the residents to St. Petersburg, Florida to hear one of the great minds in dentistry. This continuing education course is enthusiastically appreciated by the residents.

3. Intravenous Conscious Sedation:
Each resident receives practical clinical experience in addition to didactic instructions in intravenous conscious sedation.

4. Rotary Endodontics:
Modern, up-to-date clinical and didactic instructions in rotary Endodontics is provided.

5. On-campus resident housing:
Convenient location and reasonable rent (subsidized) make this option very popular with dental residents, especially those from out of state.

6. “Critical Mass”:
The program is large enough to encourage a sharing of diverse backgrounds among residents, reduce on-call obligations, and create opportunities for life-long professional and personal relationships.

7. “The Chief Resident Effect”:
Without exception, the 1st year residents find great comfort in having 2nd year residents available to aid in their professional development.

See more details: PGY-1 and PGY-2

This information is reposted with thanks to Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.