RESIDENCY PROGRAM IN DENTAL
PUBLIC HEALTH
Division
of Public Health, Oral Health Section
North
Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Raleigh, North
Carolina
______________________________________________________________________
The
purpose of the residency is to provide practical experiences for those dentists
who have completed formal academic training in dental public health. The program provides an educational opportunity
beyond the masters level and the opportunity to complete the educational requirements
necessary for Board Certification in Dental Public Health.
The
Oral Health Section has sponsored this training in dental public health since
1965, and is currently one of only four state or local health departments
to do so. The Program is well established
as an educational entity within the state dental program. General Statute 130A-11 of the North Carolina
Public Health Laws provides for the establishment of a dental public health
residency program by the State of North
Carolina, which probably makes it the only state in
the Nation required by law to train public health dentists.
The
Residency Program serves the dual purpose of training public health dentists
for roles in state government, as well as other positions such as those in
federal or local government, dental education, or research. Twenty-five residents have been trained during
the past three decades, and graduates have gone on to a variety of positions
in dental public health. The program is fully accredited by the Commission
on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
PROGRAM GOAL
The goals of the Residency
Program are to train dentists who are qualified to: practice dental public
health in an array of health care settings, plan and run community-based public
health programs and contribute to the scientific basis of public health practice
through the conduct of applied public health research in order to improve
the oral health of the public. The
residency activities are guided by the Dental Public Health Competencies
(1).
RESOURCES AVAILABLE
The
Residency Program is offered as a partnership between and supported by resources
within the Division of Public Health, Oral Health Section and the School of Public Health. Because the program is located in the state
health department and in one of the largest state dental programs in the country,
it provides an excellent array of exposures to the philosophy and practice
of dental public health. Considering
the scope and comprehensiveness of the state dental program and the cooperative
relationships with the extensive resources that exist in North Carolina, an almost
unlimited variety of practical training experiences are available. The state dental program provides an excellent
opportunity for designing a residency that is responsive to the individual
needs of a dentist interested in public health practice. The dental program provides experiences in management,
health promotion and disease prevention, the delivery of health services,
the political process and applied research. The Oral Health Section was awarded special
recognition by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry in 1988
for its contributions to improved oral health over a seventy-year period. North
Carolina has the oldest state dental program in the
Nation and in 1988 concluded its 70th Anniversary with a National
Symposium on the Future of Dental Public Health (2). The Section used this year of reflection
to actively plan for the expansion of its nationally recognized efforts in
preventive programs for children (having twice received recognition from the
American Dental Association for its Preventive Dentistry Program for Children).
With the assistance from the Section and other groups, the North Carolina
Dental Society was awarded the Geriatric Dental Health Award at the 1988 meeting
of the American Dental Association for a statewide program designed to improve
senior citizen access to health care through education. long-term care programs,
financing and research. Within this
environment of service to the state, professional education maintains a high
priority.
A
number of resources are available to dental public health residents on the
University of North Carolina campus, a short drive from
the Section’s offices. Linkages with
the Schools of Public Health and Dentistry and the larger university community
provide an avenue to all the resources available on a university campus –
faculty, library resources, computer and data management capabilities, academic
course work, and a large group of dentists enrolled in masters, doctoral,
and postdoctoral programs in public health dentistry, epidemiology, and health
services research.
An Advisory
Committee representing a variety of backgrounds and experiences in public
health serves the dual role of providing guidance to the residency Co-directors
and providing advice to residents on their curriculum and performance.
The Committee includes dentists with expertise in state and federal
practice of dental public health, professors of dentistry and public health,
statisticians and health educators. Further,
the Committee includes diplomates and past presidents of the American Board
of Dental Public Health.
DESCRIPTION
MPH/Residency. Dentists enter the residency after having completed
an MPH or equivalent degree program. The
residency must be at least 12 months, but may be either 24 months part-time,
or 24 months full-time. The part-time
residency is provided primarily for dentists employed by the Oral Health Section
and requires that the resident be based in the Raleigh office and have an adequate amount of
time to devote to the residency. The
24 month, full-time residency is provided so that the program can provide
the resident with both a broad-based exposure to dental public health and
concentrated study and experiences in a specialized area. The additional year of training enables the
resident to assume more management responsibilities than would otherwise be
possible or to conduct more involved research projects with primary data collection
and in-depth data analysis.
REQUIREMENTS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
Residents are expected to work a minimum of 224 days, fulfill the
educational requirements of the program and follow the personnel guidelines
of the Oral Health Section regarding sick leave, holidays, and personnel records.
The program does not charge tuition or other fees. When a stipend is provided by a training grant,
health insurance is covered by the grant. Residents are provided office space and supplies,
and travel within the state and to at least one national meeting.
Residents receive a written letter of acceptance once the decision
is made that they are to be admitted to the program.
ADMISSION
REQUIREMENTS
Residents
are selected based on scholarship, experience and leadership. Applicants must be graduates of a school of
dentistry accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American
Dental Association. The applicant must
also have completed course work required for the Master of Public Health or
equivalent degree from an educational institution accredited by the Council
on Education for Public Health of the American Public Health Association. A stipend of up to $32,300 is available in some
years.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For
more information about the North
Carolina Dental Public Health Residency Program
contact:
R.
Gary Rozier, DDS, MPH
Residency
Program Co-Director
Dept
of Health Policy and Administration
CB#7400
McGavran-Greenberg Hall
University of North
Carolina
Chapel Hill, NC
27599-7400
(919)
966-7388
email:
or
Rebecca
S. King, DDS, MPH
Residency
Program Co-Director
North Carolina Dept. of Health and Human
Services, Division of Public Health, Oral Health Section
5505 Six
Forks Road, 1910 MSC
Raleigh, NC
27699-1910
(919)
707-5487
email:
(1)
Dental Public Health Competencies. J
Public Health Dent 1998;58:121-122.
(2)
J Public Health Dent 1990(Spec Iss);50(2).