Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Academics Information
An intense didactic program exposes residents to multiple aspects of oral and maxillofacial surgical practice including seminars in: oral pathology, dentofacial deformities, prosthetics, anesthesiology, and the other surgical aspects of the specialty. Journal club is once a month. Combined meetings with the Air Force and Army OMS training programs occur approximately six times each year.
The first year starts in UT Health San Antonio Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine. After one month of ward service, you are enrolled in medical school beginning in your sophomore year, which is approximately 10 months in length. While not in class, you will participate in oral and maxillofacial surgery rotations, lectures and conferences.
The second year of residency involves clinical clerkships (48 weeks). You will be assigned to medical and surgical rotations. As time permits, you will also attend conferences and rounds with the oral and maxillofacial surgery service.
During the third year of training, you will be in your senior year of medical school and you will serve as a junior resident in oral and maxillofacial surgery. This will allow you to gain experience in outpatient dentoalveolar surgery, doing physical examinations and case presentations of orthognathic surgery patients. Toward the end of this year and successful completion of medical school requirements, a medical degree is awarded at medical school graduation (usually at the end of May). Approximately six weeks are spent in medical school for Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine classes and rotations. ACLS is part of this rotation. A one-month rotation in a discipline in medicine, such as sleep medicine, is also required.
The fourth year of residency is a general surgery internship. Rotations on various general surgery services are designed to learn basic general surgery techniques, and surgical management, particularly pre- and postoperative care. This includes general surgery, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, head and neck surgery, and neurosurgery. ATLS is obtained during this year. Six months are spent on the anesthesiology service (five months on adults, one month on pediatrics). Following the successful completion of the internship, you are eligible to take the state licensure examination in medicine.
During the fifth year, you will serve as senior assistant in oral and maxillofacial surgery where you will be provided with increasing latitude for independent action that is commensurate with your knowledge and skills.
During the sixth chief resident year, all aspects of oral and maxillofacial surgery are performed and you are responsible for running the oral and maxillofacial surgery hospital service. This year is divided between the University Hospital and the School of Dentistry Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Practice.
When on the OMS service, residents spend time in both the School of Dentistry Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery outpatient practice and University Hospital. The surgery suite is a fully equipped outpatient operating facility with general anesthesia capabilities in all rooms. Residents participate in an extensive number and variety of cases that are beyond the capability of undergraduate dental students. These cases include, but are not necessarily limited to, impactions, biopsies, other dentalveolar procedures and benign oral lesions, implants, scar revisions, osteotomies and fractures. It also provides an opportunity for clinical teaching experience with dental students and other dental specialties.
The department has an orthodontist who is actively involved in clinical practice and resident training. Residents work closely with the orthodontist in screening and preoperative evaluations of orthognathic patients as well as during postoperative care.
The department also has a prosthodontist who works with the residents in the diagnosis and treatment of patients who require prosthetic reconstruction with dental implants.