Dental Residents

Patient treatment by Dental Residents is performed in the Max W. Pohle Dental Clinic at Meriter Hospital. The clinic is a new, well-equipped facility that resembles a private practice. A tray system is used for most instrument set-ups and a variety of supply materials are available for resident use. Teaching staff specialists and general practitioners are scheduled in the clinic on half-day rotations Monday through Friday.
  
The number of patients requesting treatment in the clinic far exceeds the needs of the program. All patient appointments are scheduled in advance, with the exception of emergency patients. Disruption of the normal schedule is minimized by the development of rapid diagnostic skills and increasing utilization of dental assistant expanded duties as the year progresses.

All patients accepted for treatment at the clinic are assigned to a specific resident. Each resident is responsible for continually monitoring the progress of his or her group of active patients.

Training is given in the following areas throughout the year:

• General Practice
• Endodontics
• Implant Dentistry
• Cosmetic Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Practice Management
• Periodontics
• Fixed and Removable Prosthodontics
• Orthodontics
• Pediatric Dentistry
• Emergency Care
• Patient Hospital Admissions
• Inpatient Consultations
• Operating Room Dentistry

The didactic program consists of:

• Lectures by the dental teaching staff.
• Patient care conferences with the Director to discuss and develop treatment plans and monitor the progress of patient care.
• Journal Club sessions at which the residents abstract current journal articles.
• Dental Staff meetings in which residents give formal case presentations to the teaching staff.

In addition, a variety of medical conferences and seminars are held each month at Meriter Hospital. Residents are encouraged to attend and participate in any presentations that are of interest to them. Residents also attend local dental society meetings and select continuing education courses.
 

Rotations

In addition to receiving training in the areas listed above, rotations are also taken in the following areas to enhance the education of the resident:

• Anesthesiology – a two-week rotation at Meriter Hospital.
• Physical Diagnosis – independent study sessions with one-on-one instruction and practical experience.
• Emergency Medicine – a two-week rotation at Meriter Hospital Emergency Services.
• Temporomandibular Dysfunction – A lecture series, supplemented with clinic observation at the University of Wisconsin Medical Center TMD Clinic.
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery – Clinic observation and interaction with OMFS faculty in their private practice.
• Faculty office visitations.