Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program

The Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency at the University of Connecticut is a six-year residency approved by the American Dental Association and sponsored by the School of Dental Medicine. The trainee obtains education leading to an M.D. degree as well as a two year Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education approved General Surgery certificate, and education in oral and maxillofacial surgery leading to a certificate and eligibility for examination by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Oral and maxillofacial surgical training is provided under the auspices of the School of Dental Medicine at the affiliated hospitals. The residents rotate at UConn John Dempsey Hospital (UConn Health), Hartford Hospital, Connecticut Children’s, and Saint Francis Hospital. Formal medical education is provided through the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the General Surgery residency is obtained in the Integrated General Surgery program of the School of Medicine. The combination of numerous full-time and part-time faculty in the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery provides a unique blend of academic and clinical education. The first year consists of clinical oral and maxillofacial surgery and an anesthesiology rotation. The next 19 months are committed to the mandatory and elective School of Medicine third- and fourth-year clerkships after which the medical degree is awarded. The fourth year and part of the fifth year are accredited by the General Surgery Department and the final one and a half years are in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Master’s and Ph.D. degree programs are available in addition to the oral and maxillofacial surgery residency program. The entire full-time Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery faculty are Diplomates of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Faculty from other departments within the Schools of Dental Medicine and Medicine, as well as staff members of the affiliated hospitals, participate fully in the residency program.

 

Application Information

Dear Applicants: We will only consider your application for either the 4 year program or the 6 year program, as per the ADEA website. Please do not apply to both programs.

Residency Requirements

Applicants must have a complete predental education and must be a graduate of an American or Canadian School of Dentistry by the time their program begins. The applicant should have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement during college and dental school and have undertaken activities during dental school which demonstrate special interest in oral and maxillofacial surgery. A minimum of three years of undergraduate college with 90 credits is required; however, a bachelor’s degree is preferred. A letter of recommendation is required from the Dean of your dental school, including class rank for each year and the total number of students in the class. All applications and accompanying materials must be received by October 1st of the year preceding the appointment. Interviews are on an invitation-only basis and will be held during November. All applications will be processed through the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) of the American Association of Dental Schools. Information and an application can be obtained by contacting: PASS All applicants are required to register with the National Matching Services.

The following materials should be sent directly to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery:

• Please send a letter saying which program you are applying to, a recent 2x2 photo (email is acceptable), and a $75.00 U.S. Check or Money Order made payable to UConn School of Dental Medicine or via PayPal at the following link: https://enrollmentfees.uchc.edu/DentAppFees.html.

Contact Information:
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
UConn School of Dental Medicine
263 Farmington Avenue, Room L7062
Mail Code: 1720
Farmington, CT 06030
860-679-3004

The application deadline is October 1 of the year preceding July 1 matriculation (or when the CBSE results are in).

Please note that the interviews will be held in person. Please visit the ADEA website for dates. 

Externship Requirements

The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the UConn School of Dental Medicine, and its affiliated teaching hospitals are offering an externship for dental students. Its primary objective is to provide students with an opportunity to gain clinical experience to the broad scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery exposure practice.

The University of Connecticut program is based in the School of Dental Medicine, the UConn John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, Hartford Hospital, and Connecticut Children’s. The University program has four full-time and 20 part-time board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons as well as 12 residents, with whom the externs will work closely.

Patients requiring a wide variety of types of surgery are seen among the teaching sites. These include patients receiving orthognatic, temporomandibular joint, cleft management, bone graft reconstruction, facial trauma, preprosthetic, and major dentoalveolar surgery. The externs will also be involved in outpatient dentoalveolar surgery. They will assist and learn in the operating room, emergency room, and on the hospital inpatient service. During a typical month, about 50 patients are admitted for major oral and maxillofacial surgery. The student’s time will be divided as is possible to allow maximum exposure to the greatest number and variety of surgical problems. Externships can last from two to four weeks, depending on our schedule and the student’s wishes.

In order to be considered for an externship position, the student is required to be a registered third or fourth year dental student in good standing from an accredited school in the United States, have successfully completed a Fundamentals of Oral Surgery course, and have initial clinical experiences in oral surgery. The student must have letters of recommendation from the chief of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the student’s dental school and from the dental school Dean’s office. Please fill out and submit the externship application form.

The program does not discriminate with regard to sex, race, age, religion, color, disability or national origin.

Salary/Benefits

While on service as a resident, the trainee will be paid a salary commensurate with their level of training.

During the second and third years, while the trainee is enrolled in the School of Medicine, full tuition will be paid by the resident. Financial aid may be available while enrolled in the School of Medicine.

Salary Schedule

Program Year 1 - PGY1 Salary
Program Year 2 - No Salary (Medical School)
Program Year 3 - July - November No Salary (Medical School), December - June PGY2 Salary
Program Year 4 - PGY3 Salary
Program Year 5 - PGY4 Salary
Program Year 6 - PGY5 Salary

Employee benefits are included while functioning as a resident.

Four Year Schedule

4-Year Program Clinical Rotation Outline

Year 1	9 months OMFS	3 months Anesthesia including 1 month Pediatric Anesthesia
Year 2	2 months Anesthesia	2 months Medicine	2 months Elective / Research	6 months OMFS
Year 3	6 months General Surgery		6 months OMFS including Children's Hospital OMFS
Year 4	12 months OMFS Senior Resident Level

Six Year Schedule

Program Totals
35 months OMFS
16 months General Surgery
17 months Medical School
4 months Anesthesia

Year I

The first year consists of three basic activities:

1. Graduate Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
2. Principles of Clinical Medicine
3. Anesthesiology

Graduate Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery comprises ten months of the first year of training and includes both didactic and clinical components. The clinical component during the first year of training is comprised of performing and assisting in oral and maxillofacial surgery at all levels of patient care, including in-patients and ambulatory patients, in both clinic and operating room settings and in the diagnostic and therapeutic phases of care.

OMFS students participate in the Delivery of Clinical Care (DoCC) course where they learn the necessary skills to interact with and examine patients, and will be provided regular feedback for ultimate growth as a professional. Starting early in the first year, students will have clinical experiences both at an outpatient practice and within the continuum of care. The course extends throughout the first year of the program.

Anesthesiology is a two-month rotation in the Department of Anesthesiology where the trainee functions at the resident level. The resident learns principles of anesthesia and delivers anesthesia care to patients from all surgical disciplines.

Year II

The second year of OMFS training begins in July and consists of the School of Medicine’s core clinical clerkships known as Stage 2 of the medical school curriculum. The resident has no responsibilities on the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service during this year. This year is divided into inpatient and outpatient clerkships

of 4 or 6 weeks in length; Radiology and Geriatrics are threaded throughout specific clerkships and Homeweeks. OMFS students are required to attend the orientation to Stage 2 (called Kickoff) in late April/early May as well as the spring and fall Homeweeks A/B.  Important curricular content is delivered including content which fulfills the VITAL course requirement. All students must pass the end of year clinical skills assessment before moving on to the next stage in the curriculum.

Students also complete a longitudinal continuity clinic experience within the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic under the guidance of a surgical preceptor. Students are expected to complete 36 half day sessions during their Stage 2 clinical clerkships. (see above re: Stage 2 Continuity Clinic)

Year III

During the third year, the final 10 months of medical school are completed (year 4 of medical school). Requirements include 4 weeks each of emergency medicine, critical care, a sub‐internship (acting internship), five months of elective time (three of which are OMFS), the 2‐week Transition to Residency course and the longitudinal VITAL course. Upon successful completion of these courses and another clinical skills assessment, the trainee will have fulfilled the requirements for obtaining a medical degree, which will be awarded during the regularly scheduled graduation in May. The remaining two months of the year are assigned to an anesthesia rotation.

Year IV

The fourth year is a general surgery year in the UConn School of Medicine Integrated General Surgery Training Program accredited by the Residency Review Committee for Surgery of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education. This year is comprised of rotations on: general surgery, surgical specialties, trauma surgery, plastic surgery, surgery emergency room, surgery intensive care unit, and two months of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Year V

The fifth year consists of six months of continued time on the general surgery service and six months on the OMFS service. For part of the OMFS time, the resident will function at chief resident level.

Year VI

The sixth year is spent as a chief resident on the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service. As chief resident, the trainee has major responsibility for delivery of patient care and for leadership of junior residents. Time is spent as chief resident at each of our affiliated hospitals.

Six Year Resident Schedule
2 New Residents Per Year
Year 1	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery - 10 months				Anesthesia - 2 months
Year 2	Medical School Core - 12 Months
Year 3	Medical School Core 3 Months	Medical School Selective 2 Months	Medical School Elective 5 Months (3 Month OMFS)	OMFS On service 2 Months	Anesthesia - 2 months
Year 4	General Surgery - 10 Months				OMFS 2 Months
Year 5	General Surgery - 6 Months		OMFS - 6 Months (Children’s Hospital)
Year 6	OMFS Chief Resident - 12 Months

Didactics

Throughout all segments of time assigned to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Service, each resident is involved in a comprehensive and carefully planned lecture, conference, and seminar activity specifically designed to meet the educational needs of the surgeon-in-training. The didactic program consists of the following activities:

Instructional Core Lectures: A 1-1/2 hour period is devoted weekly to instruction in basic medical and surgical problems as they apply to oral and maxillofacial surgery. Included is material on such disciplines as microbiology, pharmacology, radiology, as well as orthognathic surgery, trauma, infections, tumor surgery, reconstruction, preprosthetic surgery, implant surgery, and temporomandibular joint disorders.

Oral and Head and Neck Pathology: A one hour conference three weeks per month is devoted to a formal course in pathology of the oral and maxillofacial regions. The course is directed by full-time oral pathologists and includes lectures, CPC’s, histopathology slide sessions, and reviews of current biopsy material.

Joint Orthodontic/Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Seminar Series: One hour monthly is devoted to a meeting between faculty and residents of both orthodontics and oral and maxillofacial surgery during which either a formal lecture is presented or an interesting orthognathic surgery case is jointly presented and reviewed.

Journal Review and Resident Seminar: Three times monthly, current and classic articles pertaining to oral and maxillofacial surgery are reviewed at a meeting of the residents and faculty. In addition, a resident seminar is conducted during these meetings.

Teaching Rounds: Residents and faculty hold weekly teaching rounds at each hospital during which in-patients and upcoming surgical patients are reviewed.

Trauma Conference: Each month, a trauma conference is held which includes residents and faculty from all of the surgical services involved in trauma care.

Quality Assurance Conference: A two-hour, city-wide conference is held quarterly to review complications encountered in the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Methods of prevention, recognition, and management of problems are discussed.

Craniofacial Deformities Team: A four-hour meeting, including faculty and residents from the various specialties which manage major craniofacial anomalies is held bi-weekly during which patients are examined and treatment planned.

Tumor Board: A weekly tumor board is held and attended by faculty and residents, during which patients with malignant diseases are examined and comprehensive treatment discussed.

Surgical Scope

Orthognathics: Full-scope orthognathic surgery is performed in all teaching hospitals, with 75-100 cases performed annually. A surgical-orthodontics seminar in conjunction with the Department of Orthodontics occurs on a monthly basis for treatment planning, case presentation, etc. In addition, residents benefit from the involvement of Dr. Joseph Piecuch, currently the section editor of Orthognathic Surgery/Trauma/TMJ for the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Trauma: The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery covers all oral, maxillofacial and craniofacial trauma for the University of Connecticut, New Britain General Hospital, Saint Francis Hospital, Hartford Hospital, and Connecticut Children’s. A monthly trauma conference is held at Hartford Hospital for discussion of recent trauma cases.

TMJ: Full-scope diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the temporomandibular joints is performed throughout the residency. Treatment ranges from arthrocentesis to arthrotomy/condylectomy and reconstruction with autogenous or prosthetic sources.

Pathology: Extensive exposure to pathology of the head and neck occurs throughout the residency program, both while on the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery service, and while rotating though General Surgery/ENT. Experience in the management of both benign and malignant disease of the head and neck is gained, including their preoperative and postoperative management. In addition, residents benefit from the teaching of Dr. Ellen Eisenberg, currently the section editor of Pathology for the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Reconstruction: Maxillofacial reconstruction is performed in all teaching institutions for post-ablative or post-traumatic injuries. Treatment ranges from simple autogenous bone grafts to autogenous free-flaps, done in conjunction with the Plastic Surgery Department.

Cosmetics: Full-scope facial cosmetic surgery procedures are performed with attendings from both the Departments of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the Plastic Surgery Department.

Craniofacial: Residents are an integral member of the Craniofacial Team at Connecticut Children’s, and act as the only surgical resident assigned to cover the craniofacial cases. Exposure includes surgical repair of cleft lip, cleft palate, alveolar cleft repair, orthognathic surgery, distraction osteogenesis, cranioplasty for craniosynostosis, and secondary soft tissue refinements in the maxillofacial region. Surgical procedures occur every Friday, with cases by attendings from both Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic Surgery.

Residents are encouraged to participate in short overseas surgical programs, which are regularly organized by Dr. Topazian and Dr. Martin. Surgical scope on such trips includes dentoalveolar, cleft lip/palate and head/neck pathology. In the past, resident have been involved in programs in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Ecuador.

Osseointegrated Implants: Residents are extensively involved in treatment planning / surgical placement of osseointegrated implants, and all adjunctive surgical procedures, at UConn Health and Hartford Hospital. In addition, a monthly Implant Conference is held at UConn Health in conjunction with the Departments of Periodontics and Prosthodontics.

Anesthesia/Sedation: Residents are comprehensively trained in the administration of deep sedation/general anesthesia, including 4 months rotating on the University of Connecticut Anesthesia Service, acting as an Anesthesia resident at the respective teaching institutions. Residents administer approximately 600 deep sedation/general anesthetics annually.

Dentoalveolar: Extensive, comprehensive exposure to the diagnosis, preoperative planning, and performance of surgical extractions/preprosthetic surgery occurs on a daily basis in each teaching institution.

Research Requirements

An important and required part of the resident educational experience at the University of Connecticut Affiliated Program is submission of an abstract for the Annual AAOMS Scientific Session and preparation of a paper suitable for publication. The abstract must be submitted by April 1 of the year prior to completion of the program and the paper completed by the middle of the final year of the program. The abstract and paper may be a report of cases with literature review, a description of a new technique, an essay dealing with any significant aspect of oral and maxillofacial surgery, a report based on a research project, or any other topic approved by the faculty.

Because of the necessary deadlines, it is essential that each resident choose a topic during the second year. The subject of the paper should be discussed with the assigned faculty advisor. The project does not need to be performed with the assigned advisor; it can be done under the supervision of others among the faculty and attending surgeons community-wide; however, it is the resident’s responsibility to keep the assigned advisor informed of progress on the paper.

The project must progress to the point that by April 1 prior to the year of program completion an abstract can be prepared and submitted for presentation at the Annual AAOMS meeting; attendance at the meeting is contingent upon the submission of an abstract. The final manuscript for submission for publication will be completed by January 30 of the final year.

There are two main opportunities for research projects. First, residents may participate in ongoing faculty research projects. Second, the resident with a strong interest in a specific project will be encouraged to design such a project and will receive faculty support of his/her clinical or laboratory experimental endeavors.

*Obtaining a badge from UConn Health is mandatory and required in order to be enrolled. This process includes a full background check. Badges are subject to approval from UConn Police and the Risk Management Office.