Harvard School of Dental Medicine
- Massachusetts
- Advanced Education in General Dentistry
- hsdm.harvard.edu
Program Contact
The Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program-Rural Track will address a gap in dental education and in access to care with respect to underserved and vulnerable populations in rural areas of New Hampshire. As a state without a dental school or residency programs, it is critical for New Hampshire to collaborate with Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) to grow its dental workforce with the advanced skill-set and cultural competency experience required to meet the needs of underserved persons, especially those in rural areas with limited resources. The program will expand the training pipeline of dental professionals in the state and create opportunities for dentists to become more proficient in providing quality health care focused on population health.
Overall Program Goals and Objectives
- Enhance the residents’ knowledge and competencies in all phases of general dentistry.
- Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients in a rural setting. This includes providing emergency and multidisciplinary comprehensive oral health care; providing patient focused care that is coordinated by the general practitioner; and directing health promotion and disease prevention activities.
- Plan and provide multidisciplinary oral health care for a wide variety of patients including patients with special needs and living in a rural setting.
- 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.
- Function effectively and efficiently in multiple rural health care environments within interdisciplinary health care teams.
- Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care. This includes using critical thinking, evidence, or outcomes-based clinical decision-making, tele dentistry and technology-based information retrieval systems.
- Utilize the values of professional ethics, lifelong learning, patient centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.
- Understand the oral health needs of vulnerable, underserved, and older adult populations living in rural communities and engage in community service
Summary of Clinical Sites
Dental Health Works (DHW) is an independent 501c3 (non-profit dental program) located in Keene, Cheshire County in southwestern NH along the Vermont border. DHW serves a variety of vulnerable and underserved populations in the region including individuals struggling with mental health conditions, developmental disabilities, medically complex illnesses, homelessness, and immigrant status. DHW is the only practice in southwestern NH providing comprehensive care to Medicaid children and adults. The residents will each spend four days a week (Monday through Thursday) for four months. This will be supervised by Dr. Stephen Hoffman.
Mid-State Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) located in Bristol, Grafton County in northwestern NH. It is the main provider of primary care in the region for more than 11,000 people in 19 geographically isolated rural communities. Mid-State is the only dental clinic in the service area offering a formalized, discounted fee schedule for low-income residents and one of the few who accepts Medicaid. The residents will each spend three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday) for four months. This will be supervised by Dr. Kelly Perry.
Greater Seacoast Community Health is a network of federally qualified community health centers providing primary care, pediatrics, dental care, and other services to more than 16,000 individuals in eastern Rockingham and Strafford Counties, NH, and York County, Maine. The residents will each spend four days a week (Monday through Thursday) for four months at the dental clinic in Somersworth. This will be supervised by Dr. Whitney Goode.
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) located in Lebanon is New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer. A tertiary care center available to 1.9 million residents across NH and Vermont (VT), DHMC also includes affiliated member hospitals and 24 Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinics that provide ambulatory services. DHMC provides regular care to 225,739 patients at its clinics and main campus. The residents will each spend one day a week for four months for oral surgery experience. The one day a week will be on Tuesdays of the weeks the resident is assigned to Mid-State. This will be supervised by Dr. Rocco Addante
Coos County Family Health Services (CCFHS) located in Berlin is an FQHC and the main provider of primary care for over 12,000 patients across 13 communities in NH’s most northern region. Coos County Family Dental, within CCFHS is the closest dental provider for many patients, despite being hours away. They are also the only dentists in the region accepting new patients (adults or children) with Medicaid. The residents will each spend one day a month (during the Healthworks assignment) for four months for interprofessional education. This will be supervised by Dr. Zahra Gulamhussein.
Oral Healthcare@Home, Inc. based in Manchester is a private agency dedicated to bringing skilled preventive dental services to a homebound population in communities across NH. A Certified Public Health Dental Hygienist working in a collaborative practice agreement with a dentist is deployed to serve homebound patients in private and group residential settings. This site will offer the trainees a unique experience in all issues involved with homebound patients and the residents will each spend one day a month (during the Greater Seacoast assignment) for four months. This will be supervised by Joan Fitzgerald, RDH.
Harbor Care Health and Wellness Center located in Nashua is a FQHC that provides low-income, homeless, and disabled NewHampshire residents with primary, behavioral/mental, and oral health care as well as affordable housing, substance use, veteran, home care, and HIV/AIDS services. Each resident will be able to participate in the operation of a mobile health van for one day a month (during the Greater Seacoast assignment) for four months. This will be supervised by Dr. Neha Gupta.
Didactics and Research
Educational seminars will be provided by HSDM using a zoom platform on Friday mornings. The residents will travel to HSDM for orientation and IV sedation class and to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for a class in Physical Evaluation and Medical Assessment. The residents will have Friday afternoons to work on a required research project and will be required to each prepare a poster for presentation at the HSDM student research day in April and professional conferences.
For application information: please visit the HSDM AGE Admissions web page.
For program specific information or for the program's competency statements list: please visit the HSDM AEGD web page or contact the program director, Dr. John Zdanowicz.
Program Information
| Accreditation | This program is accredited by CODA |
|---|---|
| Program Type | Advanced Education in General Dentistry |
| Program Code | AEGD1609 |
| Degrees Offered | Certificate |
| Program Size | 3 |
| Program Length | 12 months |
| Application Deadline | February 1 |
| Program Start Date | June 29 |
| Supplemental Application | Yes |
| Supplemental Fee | Yes |
| Stipend Offered | Yes |
| Match Participating | Yes |
| Program Website | hsdm.harvard.edu |
Application Requirements
Required Standardized Tests
- INBDE
- NBDE1
- NBDE2
- TOEFL
- Passing the INBDE before matriculation into the advanced dental education program
Supplemental Requirements
- Requires supplemental application
- Requires supplemental fee
Transcript Evaluation and Instructions
Unofficial Degree Transcripts: applicants must upload, to the ADEA PASS application, unofficial transcripts for each undergraduate or graduate degree obtained, in addition to official dental school transcripts. Do not email or mail college transcripts directly to the Office of Admissions.
Letters of Evaluation Instructions
If you do not have an Institution Evaluation Form (IEF) from your Dean's office, we will accept an IEF from a program you did after dental school; such as a specialty program. The evaluation can also be from a Principal Investigator.
One of the Professional Evaluation Forms (PEF) must be from your most recent academic director and/or employer (if applicable).
TOEFL Requirement Instructions
Applicants (including native English speakers) who do not have BOTH the bachelor's degree and dental degree obtained in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, or the United Kingdom must submit official TOEFL scores from a test taken within the past two years. Holding a bachelor's degree in dental medicine or surgery alone is not enough to be exempt from the TOEFL.
The minimum acceptable overall score is 95, with subcategory score minimums in the following areas:
- Reading 21
- Listening 17
- Speaking 24
- Writing 25
*All subcategory minimum scores must be satisfied.
Other Requirement Instructions
Official NBDE/INBDE scores are not required at the point of application, but must be submitted prior to matriculation. Scores are required for all applicants.
Supplemental applications must be emailed directly to AGE Admissions.
The non-refundable HSDM Application Fee of $95 can be paid here. You may qualify for a fee waiver if you are a member or veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. To apply for a fee waiver, please email AGE Admissions with proof of military service.
International Student Eligibility
This program will consider applicants who graduated, or plan to graduate, from a non-CODA accredited dental school: No
Applicants are eligible to enroll if they are:
- US Citizen
- US Permanent Resident
Additional Information
Each resident must hold a DDS or DMD from a CODA-accredited dental school by the time of enrollment, must be either a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and must be eligible to hold a New Hampshire dental license.
Applicants may apply to one program per academic year. HSDM will not consider applicants for multiple programs.
NOTE: Please do not submit any of the following to HSDM: transcripts, resumes/CVs, letter of recommendation, portfolios, research papers, etc. All materials submitted to PASS will suffice for the application process.
For application information: please visit the HSDM AGE Admissions web page.
For program specific information or for the program's competency statements list: please visit the HSDM AEGD web page or contact the program director, Dr. John Zdanowicz.