Orlando VA AEGD Dental Residency Program

The Orlando VA Health Care System offers a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency Program which specifically revolves around the requirements listed by the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation. The program begins July 1 of each year and ends 52 weeks later (around June 30th).

The overall goal of the Orlando VA Health Care System Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) Residency Program is to provide the resident with experiences in general dentistry beyond the scope of the undergraduate dental school curriculum and to provide that dental care in a hospital setting.

The primary objectives of the residency include:

1. Serving as a primary dental care provider for patients, providing multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care, emergency treatment, and maintenance therapy. In doing so, residents will diagnose and treat patients in a competent and compassionate manner without compromise to ethics, morals, or eligibility. Treatment modalities to be used will include most dental specialty disciplines and will encourage using advanced treatment modalities leading to improving the resident’s competency, proficiency, and confidence.
2. Use sound clinical judgment; plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients including patients with special medical or physical needs.
3. Appreciate the relationship of oral disease to systemic medical health and disease. Manage the delivery of oral health care by applying concepts of patient and practice management and quality improvement that are responsive to a dynamic health care environment. 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.
4. Appreciate the oral health needs of communities including homeless Veterans, and to engage in community service such as Homeless Stand Downs.
5. Develop competency in the interaction with other health care providers, to include physicians, nurses, pharmacist, and others to further develop competency in providing consultative information to those practitioners.
6. Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.

Residents' salaries are established annually. Currently, the salary is approximately $65,000 for First Year Residents (PGY-1). Dental jackets and scrubs are furnished by the medical center. Residents are eligible to enroll in medical and life insurance programs and earn 10 days of annual leave and 7 days of sick leave per year. In addition, a total of 5 days of official leave may be approved to attend professional meetings and continuing education courses and to take State Board Examinations. Any tuition or travel costs will be the responsibility of the resident. Annual and official leave is granted at the discretion of the Chief, Dental Service, contingent upon patient care needs. Leave must be requested at least 30 days in advance except in cases of emergency.

• Each Resident has an assigned operatory daily.
• Each Resident has a Dental Assistant assigned daily.
• Each Resident has dedicated office workspace outside of the operatory.
• On-site dental lab with 3D printer
• Modern equipment: 3D Cone Beam all digital radiography, surgical microscope, CEREC, CAD/CAM dental prosthesis.

All qualified candidates will receive equal consideration without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, politics, marital status, non-disqualifying or mental handicaps, age or membership or non-membership in a labor organization.

All applicants should meet the following requirements:

• Be a citizen of the United States and a graduate of a dental school accredited by the American Dental Association. (United States and Canadian Dental Schools)
• Meet the licensure requirements necessary to be licensed to practice in a state or territory of the United States, or in the District of Columbia. (Dental license is not required for PGY-1 year)

How to Apply

This program is a participant in PASS (Postdoctoral Application Support Service) of the American Association of Dental Schools. This program does not participate with MATCH.

Completed applications to this program should be filed with PASS no later than October 16th.

Interviews will be granted to selected applicants during November.

To initiate your application to any of the programs participating in PASS, please request an application packet from PASS at the following address:

PASS
1625 Massachusetts Ave N.W., Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036-2212
800-353-2237 or 202-667-1887
www.adea.org *

Additional application documents can be mailed directly to the program such as a 2 x 2 passport photo and VA Form 10-2850D - Application for Health Professions Trainees.

If you any questions concerning the application process, please reach out to:

Pedro J. Andujar, DMD
Director, Advanced Education in General Dentistry
Orlando VA Medical Center, Dental Service
13800 Veterans Way
Orlando, FL 32827
Email: Pedro.Andujar-Felix@va.gov 

The program in Advanced Education in General Dentistry is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) and has been granted the accreditation status of Approval Without Reporting Requirements.

CODA is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education. 

CODA has accredited the postdoctoral program in Advanced Education in General Dentistry. However, this education area is not one of the American Dental Association’s recognized dental specialty areas. Therefore, dentists graduating from this program cannot announce that they are specialists, as recognized by the American Dental Association.

Opportunity To File Complaints

CODA will review complaints that relate to a program’s compliance with the accreditation standards. The Commission is interested in the sustained quality and continued improvement of dental education programs but does not intervene on behalf of individuals or act as a court of appeals for treatment received by patients or individuals in matters of admission, appointment, promotion, or dismissal of faculty, staff or students.

The Commission will only consider written, signed complaints. Oral and unsigned complaints will not be considered.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) can be reached at:

211 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611-2678
312-440-4653
Website: coda.ada.org*