About the Program
The General Practice Residency program at the Dental College of Georgia is a one-year educational program leading to a certificate. The program is designed to provide clinical, didactic, and hospital experience at the postdoctoral level. The instruction and experience provided are intended to prepare residents to meet the oral health needs of a broad range of patients.
This General Practice Residency program is designed to provide training beyond the level of pre-doctoral education in oral healthcare, using applied basic and behavioral sciences. Education in this program is based on the concept that oral health is an integral and interactive part of total health. This program is designed to expand the scope and depth of the graduates’ knowledge and skills to enable them to provide comprehensive oral healthcare to a wide range of population groups.
The goals of this program include preparation of the graduate to:
- Act as primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients. This includes: providing emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral healthcare; providing patient focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner; directing health promotion and disease prevention activities, and using advanced dental treatment modalities.
- Plan and provide multidisciplinary oral healthcare for a wide variety of patients, including patients with special needs.
- Manage the delivery of oral healthcare by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic healthcare environment.
- Function effectively within the hospital and other healthcare environments.
- Function effectively within interdisciplinary healthcare teams.
- Apply scientific principles to learning and oral healthcare. This includes using critical thinking, evidence or outcomes-based clinical decision-making and technology-based information retrieval systems.
- Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.
- Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community services.
To support the mission of the Dental College of Georgia: To educate skilled professionals who make a positive difference in the oral health of the widely dispersed and highly diverse population of Georgia.
Admission Requirements
Please see the Dental College of Georgia website for specific admissions information:
http://www.gru.edu/dentalmedicine/adved/gp.php
We only accept candidates who are U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents.
Program Fees, Stipends, and Benefits
Tuition: There is no tuition associated with the Certificate Program in general practice. If the resident is enrolled in the Master of Science in Oral Biology degree program, he/she must pay tuition for courses taken through the College of Graduate Studies. Total Estimated Cost for books and supplies for the entire program: $1500.00. Room and board: Not Applicable. Median Debt: $0.00
Stipends: Last year the general practice residents received an annual stipend of approximately $46,000. This stipend is provided by the university Health System, and is subject to change each year based on availability of funds. Augusta, Georgia is a beautiful city with a low cost of living. This makes it ideal for residency training from a financial standpoint.
Equipment: All supplies and equipment associated with the clinical program are provided by the institution. Residents must provide their own high-quality digital camera for intra-oral photography, approximately $1,500-$2,000.
Benefits: The Dental College of Georgia provides malpractice insurance coverage for residents while providing patient care at the Dental College of Georgia. This insurance does not cover any outside dental practice. Residents are eligible for healthcare insurance if they pay a monthly co-premium.
Leave: Residents are entitled to employee holidays, though assignments for emergency coverage must be maintained. Residents may be entitled to up to 12 days annual leave, and 5 days of professional leave, at the discretion of the Program Director. 12 Days of medical leave are also granted to residents as outlined in the Dental College of Georgia Leave Policy for Dental Residents.
The Facilities
The GPR clinic is located in the brand new state-of-the-art Dental College of Georgia. The General Practice Program has its residents’ offices, clinics dedicated to the program, and laboratory facilities on site. Clinical training also occurs in the university Health System hospital and clinics. The univeristy Health System is a tertiary care hospital that serves the needs of patients throughout the state. The univeristy Health System has an inpatient operating room and a modern Ambulatory Procedure Center for general anesthesia cases.
Emergency Department in the hospital has a fully equipped treatment room for dental procedures. Full time dental assistants are assigned to assist the residents in the clinic.
Department Information
Program Director: Michael Pruett, DMD
Phone (Work): 706-721-6038
Accreditation: The Advanced Education program in General Practice Residency is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation and have been granted the accreditation status of approved. The Commission is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education. The Commission on Dental Accreditation can be contacted at (312) 440-4653 or at 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611-2678. The Commission’s web address is http://www.ada.org/en/coda. The Commission on Dental Accreditation has accredited the postdoctoral program in (–education area–). However, this education area is not one of the American Dental Association’s recognized dental specialty areas. Therefore, dentists graduating from this program cannot announce that they are specialists, as recognized by the American Dental Association. Revised: 8/14; 7/09; Reaffirmed: 8/10, 7/04, 7/00, 1/95; Adopted: 12/83
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Gainful Employment Disclosure
General Practice Residency Program
ONET Code: 29-1029.00 Dentists, All other Specialists
CIP Code: 60.0199
OPEID: 01579
CIP Program Description: Any dental residency specialty program not listed above (Excluding Orthodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Endodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontology, and Prosthodontics).