General Practice Dentistry Residency Program Curriculum: Goals and Objectives

The General Practice Dentistry Residency Program at Lehigh Valley Health Network is designed to serve as an enhanced educational experience for the recent dental school graduate, while providing comprehensive dental care to a needy segment of our community.

The goals of the program include preparation of the graduate to:

1. Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients. This includes: providing emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care; obtaining informed consent; providing patient-focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner; directing health promotion and disease prevention activities; using advanced dental treatment modalities; and functioning effectively within interdisciplinary health care teams, including consultation and referral.
2. Assess, diagnose, plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients, including patients with special needs.
3. Manage the delivery of patient-focused oral health care by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic health care environment.
4. Function effectively within the hospital and other health care environments.
5. Function effectively within interdisciplinary health care teams.
6. Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care. This includes using critical thinking, evidence- or outcomes-based clinical decision-making and technology-based information retrieval systems.
7. Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient-centered care, adaptability and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.
8. Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community service.