Residency Year 1
The first year consists of assignments in the oral and maxillofacial surgery service to provide the trainee with a basic background in oral and maxillofacial surgery and anesthesia. During the first year, the resident is expected to successfully complete Part I of the National Boards in Medicine. The first-year resident is assigned to primary service call on afternoons and alternate evenings for two months of the first year. During this time, the resident is paired with an upper-level resident to learn how to properly function in the hospital setting. After the first two months, the first-year residents take primary calls alone, averaging being on call every third night, with an upper-level resident as a secondary resident on call when needed. The first year residents' didactic time is spent with lectures on a variety of topics covering the spectrum of the specialty. Didactics are scheduled once or twice a week for approximately an hour.
Two months of the first year will be spent in the Anesthesia Department. Through the assignment to Anesthesia, the first-year resident will gain knowledge and experience in advanced forms of pain and anxiety control as well as patient assessment and management. During this period, the resident is with the Anesthesia Service in the operating room helping with pre-, intra-, and post-operative functions of the service.
The first-year resident’s experience in patient assessment includes physical diagnosis, dentoalveolar surgery, biopsy and culture techniques, root resections and apicoectomy, removal of bone cysts and odontogenic tumors not requiring extensive resection, and removal of benign tumors of the soft tissues. He/she will participate as surgeon or first assistant in the entire gamut of oral and maxillofacial surgery, including trauma, orthognathic, TMJ, and reconstructive procedures, to ensure an appropriate bonding to the specialty.
The first-year resident (along with the fifth- and sixth-year residents) also attends and participates in all departmental lectures and seminars, as well as seminars and multidisciplinary conferences in craniomandibular disorders, implants, surgical/orthodontic diagnosis and treatment, and comprehensive oral pathology review, differential diagnosis, and histopathologic interpretation.
