Advanced Education in General Dentistry

Program Overview

The Advanced Education Program in General Dentistry (AEGD) is a one-year program with an optional second year. This is a clinical and academic program that is focused on developing an evidence-informed practitioner, who is broadly trained, patient focused, and community based in their approach to primary health care delivery. The resident's stipend for the academic year is $35,000. There is no tuition or fees associated with this program for which the residents are responsible.

The resident's "home" is the dedicated AEGD comprehensive care clinic located within the University's new James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine Patient Care Facility. The residents are also scheduled to spend several weeks during the year at community clinics located in locally underserved areas; however, the bulk of their time will be spent within the AEGD Clinic itself.

• Learn new techniques and improve their existing skills
• Be competent in providing primary dental care for a wide variety of patients including those with Special Health Care Needs in the Special Needs Clinic
• Be capable of managing the dental care of patients with complex medical, dental and social conditions
• Improve their knowledge, skills, judgment, and problem-solving abilities using evidence-based decisions augmented with the use of technology-based information systems
• Develop professional relationship skills with multiple health care providers to promote the enhancement of their patient's care through collaborative measures
• Understand the needs of local communities and engage in community service using their professional knowledge and skills, develop an ethical patient-centered philosophy of care in which professional adaptability and awareness of cultural identity allows improved access to health care.

The opportunities for professional growth within this program are meant to enrich the resident's global perspective, insight and personal growth in ways that will allow them to:

• Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients
• Plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients including patients with Special Health Care Needs
• Manage the delivery of oral health care by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic health care environment
• Function effectively in multiple health care environments within interdisciplinary health care teams
• Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care
• Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community services
• Understand, demonstrate and appropriately utilize professional values, including the use of:
• Critical thinking using evidence-based decision-making
• Ethical as well as professional reasoning in health care decision-making
• Providing patient focused care coordinated by the general practitioner and
• Directing health promotion and disease prevention activities using advanced dental treatment modalities
• Develop a philosophy of patient centered care, which includes an adaptability to and acceptance of cultural considerations in all professional practice
• Become involved in voluntary professional services or organizations including direct professional services, health care education and improving access to care for underserved populations

New dental graduates are expected to be competent in most basic areas of clinical dentistry. During their residency, the breadth, depth and number of those procedures in which they are competent should become expanded. They should demonstrate general improvement in all areas.

Goals

1. To develop transformative leaders and oral health providers to improve wellness and innovate the future of oral health by ensuring that students gain the knowledge, skills, and values to begin general practice in dentistry.
2. Exhibit knowledge and understanding of biomedical sciences, behavioral sciences, and understanding of evidence informed scientific literature in preparation for clinical competency and lifelong learning in dental medicine.
3. Demonstrate professional behavior and ethical principles in all aspects of patient care.

Admission Criteria for Program

It is the policy of the Medical University of South Carolina not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin or sex in its admissions, employment and other educational activities and programs.

Applications for admission to the program can be submitted through the American Dental Education Association's Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) program. To apply to the program, the applicant must have passed Part I of the National Boards and be fluent in English.

Applications must be received by November 1 to be considered for acceptance by the program which begins the following academic year. Qualified applicants will be invited for an interview at MUSC. To enroll in the AEGD program, the applicant must have been selected by the MUSC AEGD admissions committee and have accepted the position. They must have passed Parts I and II of the National Dental Board Examination, graduated from a U.S. or Canadian dental school and earned a D.M.D/D.D.S. degree. These requirements are subject to change, and such changes will be reflected on the ADEA PASS webpage.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Program History

The program was granted "initial accreditation" by the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation, a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council on Post-Secondary Accreditation, in September of 2010. The first class of four residents began on July 1, 2011.