V.A. Medical Center, Bronx (Mt. Sinai Medical Center)

The James J. Peters VA Medical Center is a tertiary care 378 bed in and outpatient facility located in the west Bronx that serves the health care needs of veterans in the New York Metropolitan area. 

The Bronx VA treats approximately 26,000 veterans annually and has an on site general practice residency in dentistry that is sponsored by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Department of Dentistry.

The Dental Program is also affiliated with Mount Sinai Health System, and is a member of the VISN 2 regional group of VA Medical Centers.  These affiliations provide ample resources to support resident training.

The Bronx VA is conveniently accessible via public transportation and shuttle buses are available to its Mount Sinai and the Montrose VA affiliates.

The Dental Section includes 16 modern operatories and a full service dental laboratory. 

The Bronx VA Dental Program has a total of 21 full time equivalent employees. 

The full time attending staff includes:

• 3 full time, 3 part time general dentists

• 1 part time maxillofacial prosthodontists

• 2 full time periodontists

• 1 part time endodontist

• 1 full time, 1 part time oral and maxillofacial surgeon

Additional resources at the Bronx VA include Medical Media Production Service (for photography, lecture and manuscript preparation and other education materials), a medical library, computer training center, conference rooms and on-line training.  There is an in-house cafeteria and several local eating establishments

The Bronx VA offers 2-3 PGY-1 and 2-3 PGY-2 general practice residency positions.  In addition, the Bronx VA receives residents in training in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (sponsored by Mount Sinai). The program follows non-discriminatory policies in the selection of all residents.

 General Practice residents remain on site for all of their clinical training with the exception of a 1 week pediatric dentistry rotation at Mount Sinai.  The opportunities for clinical training at the Bronx VA are exceptional.  Most veterans that are treated here are eligible for comprehensive care.  Residents gain substantial experience in diagnosis and treatment planning, restorative dentistry, endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, implantology, oral and maxillofacial surgery and oral pathology.  Intramural rotations include two  rotations (one month each) in oral surgery, 70 hours in anesthesiology, 70 hours in  medicine and 24 hours in the Emergency Room.

The Bronx VA participates in the National Matching Program and the Postdoctoral Application Support Service for the PGY-1 positions. 

Mount Sinai/Bronx VA

Goals and Objectives

General Practice Residency in Dentistry

PGY-1

The Mount Sinai/Bronx VA Medical Center PGY-1 General Practice Residency in Dentistry is dedicated to providing education and clinical experiences that exceed and build upon the foundations provided by dental school curricula. The primary objective of this program is to provide comprehensive, high quality, timely and professional general dental services to eligible patients in an efficient and timely manner. Clinical, didactic, equipment and material resources are maintained to support this objective. Our residents treat a wide array of general dental needs. We offer dedicated mentorship for residents in a range of dental specialties. Our residents learn alongside experts in every field of dentistry, including orthodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, and endodontics, with the option of an additional second year.

The goals and objectives of the Mount Sinai/Bronx VA PGY-1 General Practice Residency in Dentistry emphasize the following: 

1.      General dentistry: Provide broad and comprehensive training in all phases of general dentistry (with the exception of orthodontics at the Bronx VA).  There will be an adequate supply of patients with diverse dental needs to provide the aforementioned training. Residents will develop working relationships with dental specialists to best meet the needs of patients under treatment.

2.      Resident education: Maintain the instructional, administrative, environmental and material resources needed to support resident education.  Residents will be provided with a comprehensive didactic program with contributions from attending staff, affiliate staff, and guest lecturers.  There will be literature review meetings with residents leading these sessions. Residents will have access to library and on-line educational resources. There will be case presentation sessions that will be overseen by attending staff.  

3.      Patient care:  Provide high quality, professional and efficient comprehensive care to patients.  The delivery of comprehensive care to patients is the primary focus of this training program.  All other aspects of this general practice residency program serve to support this primary goal.  All clinical care performed by dental residents will be supervised by an attending dentist. 

4.      Community service:  Residents provide emergency care on a humanitarian basis to patients who otherwise do not qualify for treatment.  Residents are encouraged to incorporate teaching and service to their community as a component of future long-term goals.  When available residents participate in oral cancer screenings, Give Kids a Smile Day, community health fairs sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Hospital and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.

5.      Training residents to provide oral health care in a hospital setting:  Residents will become a significant component of the medical center team.  Residents learn how to manage the care of inpatients and outpatients in a hospital setting. They will learn how to admit, perform modified physical examinations, manage and discharge patients. Residents will be able to consult with other members of the medical center. The hospital environment will provide resources that are necessary for residents to learn how to manage medically compromised patients. Residents will do off-service rotations in Medicine, Anesthesiology and the Emergency Department.

Curriculum

Our didactic program begins with a series of orientation lectures during July. Thereafter, we have formal lectures during the week, monthly oral pathology conferences and grand rounds in general dentistry. Our didactic program disciplines include oral diagnosis, pathology, endodontics, esthetic dentistry, implantology, local anesthesia and sedation, periodontics, and preventative dentistry, among other subjects.

•           Oral Surgery Rotation: Residents spend two months assisting with oral surgery in clinic, emergency, and operating room settings. They handle first-call at James J Peters VAMC.

•           Internal Medicine Rotation: Residents establish a medical assessment by obtaining and interpreting a patient’s chief complaint, medical, and social history. They interpret data from other providers, use laboratory services, and perform physical evaluations.

•           Anesthesia Rotation: Residents spend two weeks in the operating room preparing patients for anesthesia, utilizing monitoring equipment, and participating in venipuncture, intubations, and airway management.

•           Emergency Rotation: Residents participate in the evaluation and management of medical and surgical emergencies, including treating and admitting patients with significant infections and trauma.

Outcomes Assessment

 The attending staff will meet on a triennial basis to assess the degree to which the overall goals and objectives of the PGY-1 general practice residency program are being met and where program improvements can be made.  Data sources include: 1) individual resident performance evaluations (to establish general trends); 2) resident evaluations of facility; and 3) resident evaluations of attending staff. A plan of action will be taken to address areas requiring improvement. Goals and objectives requiring action will be followed up at the next triennial meeting.