Program Overview Goals and Objectives

The overall goal of the hospital-based GPR Program at Carolinas Medical Center is to produce general dentists with a high level of clinical competency that allows them to care for medically and dentally complex patients and to work alongside their medical colleagues in the healthcare community.  To attain this goal, the program has defined the following specific objectives:

1. To train residents to function effectively in the hospital and other healthcare settings.
2. To enable residents to participate in the interdisciplinary management of medically compromised patients.
3. To prepare residents to serve as primary oral health care providers, coordinators for complex dental cases.
4. To develop additional diagnostic and clinical dental skills in dental emergency, preventive, restorative, pediatric, endodontic, prosthodontic, and oral surgical care.
5. To gain proficiency in medical risk management, as it relates to dental treatment, through development of history taking and physical diagnosis skills.
6. To offer significant experience which will allow residents to make decisions regarding hospital admissions, patient management under sedation or general anesthesia, and the need for medical or dental specialty consultation.
7. To gain additional experience in providing ethical and comprehensive patient-focused oral health care to a variety of populations and direct health promotion and disease prevention within the community.
8. To provide dental treatment in a variety of settings such as a hospital ward, dental clinic, operating room, emergency room, and community setting.
9. To help residents develop a team approach to both practice and patient management through the utilization of auxiliary personnel and through experiences with office staff and hospital administration.
10. To provide additional responsibilities that broaden resident interest and experience in teaching, administration, research, continuing education, and community service.
11. To develop an understanding of general anesthesia, sedation techniques, and pharmacological agents used in medicine and general dentistry.
12. To increase knowledge and skills in the management of medical emergencies during dental treatment and achieve certification in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) skills.
13. To develop an appreciation for team-directed continuous review of patient satisfaction, outcomes, methods, and inefficiencies in providing dental care to patients and populations while implementing changes or improvements which can achieve improved health status. 
14. To emphasize critical thinking, lifelong learning, review of evidence-based dentistry, and objective analysis and interpretation of medical and dental literature.