Residency Training

Statement of Intent

The Swedish Medical Center GPR program aims to provide residents with an unparalleled education in hospital dentistry. The program involves two main settings: Swedish Medical Center, the largest non-profit hospital system in the greater Seattle area, and Seattle Special Care Dentistry, a private practice designed for medically complex and special needs patients. This unique affiliation between the two entities allows for residents to learn not only how to manage medically complex/special needs patients, but how to incorporate hospital dentistry into a private practice setting. The intent of this program is to train dentists to have the knowledge, skill and desire to continue to care for these types of patients throughout their careers. It is also our hope that many will seek medical staff privileges at their local hospitals.

Program goals and objectives

We have a comprehensive list of overall program goals and objectives. Please click here for a copy of our document. Our focus is on caring for those patients who present the greatest challenges to the dental profession.

Competencies

The American Dental Association has asked us to create a list of Competencies that we feel our residents should be able to perform by the time they finish the program. These competency statements form the core of our evaluation process. Please click here for a copy of our document. Note that we have every confidence that a quality resident will be able to complete all of these statements by the end of the program with ease.

Structure of the program

The majority of our outpatient clinical care is performed at Seattle Special Care Dentistry. As stated earlier, the practice was designed for medically complex/special needs patients. The residents will get significant amount of IV sedation and General Anesthesia experience in the private practice setting. We have excellent specialty support including pediatric dentists, endodontists, and a staff dental anesthesiologist. The resident is given designated time at SSCD to work directly with all of these professionals.

Rotations:

  • An anesthesia rotation at Swedish Medical Center (Ballard Campus) where residents spend six weeks learning about anesthetic techniques, airway management, venipuncture, general physiology, fluid balance and emergency preparedness.
  • A medicine rotation that includes seven days with Swedish's hospitalists, two days with the organ transplant team and five days with the cardiothoracic surgery team. These rotations give the residents ample experience in history and physicals, laboratory studies, transplant considerations, and the opportunity to learn about and view open-heart surgeries.
  • A robust pediatric dental experience, consisting of a rotation to Odessa Brown Children's Clinic (a low-income, healthy child clinic) and weekly GA cases performed at SSCD with our pediatric dentists. This rotation is comprised of four days per week for four months.

On-call experience

Residents cover the Swedish Medical Center Emergency Department via pager from home. When paged, the resident evaluates the patient with the ED attending. Dental attendings are consulted and go in to meet with the resident as appropriate. Emergent patients include dentoalveolar and maxillofacial trauma, significant infections, and risk management cases within the medical center.

Didactic program

We feature a very robust didactic program. Lectures are held every week at the following times:

Monday mornings 7:00 am-8:45 am
Tuesday evenings 6:30 pm-8:30 pm, followed by treatment planning reviews
Thursday mornings 7:00 am-8:45 am

Lecture Series:

  • Physical diagnosis (taking/recording a History and Physical examination)
  • Internal Medicine (a comprehensive review of anatomy, physiology, medical treatment and how dentistry may need to be modified as a result.)
  • Moderate/Conscious Sedation (oral, nitrous, transmucosal, intravenous)
  • Medical Emergencies and Dental emergencies
  • Pharmacology of medications used in dentistry (Anesthetics, Analgesics, Antimicrobials, etc.)
  • Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
  • Advanced dentistry (Restorative, Endo, Perio, OMFS, Pros, Pedo, Ortho, Oral Med, etc.)
  • Business/Legal (Guest lectures by Accountants, Attorneys, Bankers, Office designers, etc.)

Grand Rounds:

Grand rounds are held about every six weeks on a Tuesday evening. Each resident presents an interesting case via a PowerPoint presentation to their fellow residents and attendings. These presentations include a pertinent review of the literature and are expected to be about twenty minutes in length. Afterwards, a discussion of the material ensues.

Resident Lectures:

Each resident presents an in-depth literature review/lecture (via PowerPoint) on a particular subject related to dentistry. Expected length is 1.5 hours.

Clinical Experiences


The program has a strong clincal experience in the following areas:
  1. Dentoalveolar Surgery (extractions [including impactions], alveoloplasty, pre-prosthetic surgery, tori removal, implants)
  2. Oral sedation/Nitrous Oxide sedation/IV sedation/General Anesthesia
  3. Restorative Dentistry, including some crown/bridge and implant restorations
  4. Endodontics
  5. Pediatric Dentistry
  6. Removable Prosthodontics
  7. Business/legal side of dentistry (insurance billing, financial consults, etc.)

Application Requirements

We accept three residents per year for this one-year program. Applicants must have graduated from a US or Canadian Dental School by the start of the residency on July 1, 2011. They must have passed Parts I and II of the National Board exam. In making our decisions, we evaluate dental school performance, letters of recommendation, demonstrated motivation and how well-rounded the applicant is. We are looking for applicants who will flourish in our area of dentistry and incorporate it into their careers. We recognize that while high academic performance is desirable, some candidates excel in other ways, and we consider the complete application. Interviews are mandatory for those whose paper applications meet our standards.

Application process

We participate in both PASS and the National Matching Service. Our PASS program number is GPR548 and our Match program code is 8055. The PASS applications are due by October 15, 2010 with no additional materials required. Earlier submission is encouraged due to the heavy backload at PASS in late September. Our interview dates are scheduled for November 15, 2010 and December 13, 2010. Match results will be released January 31, 2011.

About the Director, Assistant Director, and Faculty

Dr. Bart Johnson is the Director of the program. He has been involved in residency teaching for 25 years, 18 of which have been as a GPR Director. He loves teaching and is delighted to lead this exciting program. Click here for more information.

Dr. Amy Winston is the Assistant Director of the program. She completed her two-year GPR in 2004 and has been GPR faculty ever since. She has been instrumental in making this program exciting and full of rich experiences. Click here for more information.

Our other faculty members are all high-quality educators who have been involved in both the academic and private community. They have agreed to work in this program because they love to teach, are committed to residency training, and believe in the mission of the program.

Salary and Benefits

Expected salary is $48,500 plus benefits. Each resident is provided three weeks of vacation per year. Residents expecting to apply for specialty programs must conserve their vacation time for interviews and transfer time at the end of the year.

Our Strengths and Details to Consider

Our Strengths:

  1. Our greatest strength is the quality of the faculty members who have agreed to work with us. Dentists and non-dentists alike, they comprise some of the finest experts we have ever found in their fields. Residents in this program will be immersed in a network of amazingly talented people.
  2. Swedish Medical Center is a very well-established hospital system here in Seattle. They have been extremely excited about this residency program and the level of support they are providing is exceptional. We are very pleased to be able to work with them.
  3. Seattle Special Care Dentistry is a new office with all digital radiography and electronic records. Residents will become comfortable in a near-paperless office and will learn volumes about how a private practice is managed from a business point of view. Because we built the office, we can even teach the ins-and-outs of starting a practice from scratch!
  4. We have full initial accreditation from the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation, and are recognized by the Washington State Dental Quality Assurance Commission.
  5. Our training in GA/IV sedation, pediatric dentistry, dentoalveolar surgery, special needs, and medically complex patient care is among the finest in the nation.
  6. All of the above makes a wonderful and unique educational opportunity. Perhaps the most important thing we want to teach is that we have had wonderful careers working with patients the average dentist is unwilling or unable to treat. We work with underserved/underfunded patients and enjoy doing so. Our goal is to never have to refuse care to someone who requires our expertise based upon their financial situation. We hope to pass these ideals on to our residents, and have them find similar ways to be civically minded in their careers.

Details to Consider:

  1. Our focus is on medically complex/special needs patients. Ample routine dentistry is available throughout the year, but this is not a program that has its primary focus on luxury dentistry. Residents in this program are much more likely to transfuse platelets than do porcelain veneers.
  2. As a newer program, we still have some minor glitches to work out. We are committed to keeping this as smooth and low-impact to the educational process as possible. We will naturally ask for patience and flexibility as we solve our unforeseen problems!
  3. Residents are issued limited licenses that apply to their duties while working in our program. A full Washington State license is not required.
  4. Assistants are available at all clinical treatment sites. Residents only do labwork that would normally be expected of any general dentist in a private practice setting.
  5. We treat our residents like professional colleagues and associates in our practice. We expect a lot of them, but give a lot in return. Residents work hard and put in long hours because we believe this is the best way to learn!
  6. Questions are welcome. Please feel free to contact us!

Thank you for considering our residency. GPRs/AEGDs provide wonderful opportunities for career enhancement, and you are to be congratulated for pursuing a postdoctoral program!