Hi all, just wanted to share my experience with the GPR program at Highland Hospital in Oakland. I went back for a GPR after 4 years in private practice because of my passion to treat patients with special health care needs.
1. we take patients with special health care needs to the OR (operating room) every Thursday, and every other Monday. Full mouth dental rehabilitations- wisdom teeth EXTs, fills, cleanings, the whole nine yard.
2. one month rotation with omfs- omfs is a 4 year residency program- you will learn biopsies, extractions, do implant consults, tmj and botox consults. I didn't learn a whole lot here. theres a lot of hierarchy in the omfs program and they treat gpr residents the same as PGY 1 omfs residents- so basically you end up doing a lot of grunt work. Its a good way to figure out if you're cut out for an omfs program or not
we are going to recc shortening the length of this rotation to 2 weeks which is a CODA requirement for the enxt years batch since we do way more wisdom teeth in our gpr clinic anyway.
3. 2 weeks in peds- excellent- stainless steel crowns, fills, nitrous, and if youre lucky, a baby root canal. this is a very fun rotation
4. we have an amazing endodontist 2 days a week. if all your patients show up it is possible to do atleast 8 root canals a week! i interviewed at several programs across california and didnt come across this anywhere. dr scott (past ucsf and uop prof) is def a highlight of our program!
4. 2 weeks in anesthesia and 2 weeks in internal medicine. anesthesia- they let you intubate and everything! highland is a trauma level 1 center so theres never a shortage of cases!
5. we go on call minimum once week a month, some months its more than that because other residents are on rotation. that can and will lead to severe burnout. yesterday and day before I began to cry spontaneously at home. i was just so tired and stressed and wanted to throw my pager against the wall. residency is hard.
6. the leadership of our program is really unique. dr venkatesh is the program director- really understanding, kind and also bloody good at dentistry. shes someone you can talk to and who will not judge you. if you are burning out or going through stuff at home, she is very understanding about it and will make room for you.
7. we have a pros attending twice a week
overall here are the ups-
1. endo twice a week (although i do endo everyday because dr scott has made it look so easy that it has made me lose my anxiety towards endo, oh we use waveone btw!)
2. treatment for patients with special health care needs- oral conscious sedation, desensitization and full mouth rehab in the OR has taught me so much about the medical side of things. It also helps you become a better advocate for these patients, and hopefully will inspire you to invite and treat these patients into your practice after
3. treating pts with complex medical histories- and getting super comfortable with that. never having a shortage of pts.
downs
1. being on call
Please ask any questions you may have regarding this amazing program, i cannot recommend it more highly