General Practice Residency Program for General Dentists

The OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center General Practice Residency Program for General Dentists (GPR) is conducted primarily at OSF Saint Francis, OSF Dental Clinic – Forest Park, and OSF Dental Clinic – Sheridan.

Additional training may take place at other locations, such as the OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and our dental faculty offices.

The GPR is a 12-month, full-time residency program designed in conformance with the Council on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.

The program currently supports four dental residents and awards a certificate upon satisfactory completion of the program.

About Our Dental Residency Program

Our program is structured to increase diagnostics, general knowledge and clinical ability in dentistry.

Residents work closely with attending dentists, dental faculty and physicians. During the hospital rotation, GPR residents work with emergency-medicine residents and assist in surgical cases. This provides residents with intensive experience in evaluating and treating dental and facial emergencies, oral surgery techniques and trauma.

Approximately 60 percent of residents’ time is devoted to the delivery of oral health care. The program emphasizes the treatment of a wide range of oral health disorders, medical considerations related to dental care, the ability to treat medically compromised patients and patients with special needs. The GPR also teaches how to provide dental care in a hospital environment and how to interact with health care providers of various disciplines.

Residents will receive a stipend during their training program.

Program Goals

The goals of the OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center GPR Program are to:

  • Act as a primary care provider for individuals and groups of patients. 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 those with special needs.
  • 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 within the hospital and other health care environments, as well as within interdisciplinary health care teams.
  • Apply scientific principles to learning and oral health care. This includes using critical thinking, evidence or outcome-based clinical decision making, and technology-based information retrieval systems.
  • Utilize the values of professional ethics, life-long learning, patient-centered care, adaptability, and acceptance of cultural diversity in professional practice.
  • Understand the oral health needs of communities and engage in community service.

Clinical Experiences

Under supervision from attending dentists, clinical experiences consist of:

Saint Francis Medical Center- One-month rotation in medicine consisting of at least 70 hours of anesthesia, and at least 70 hours of internal medicine and pediatrics.

OSF Dental Clinic Sheridan- Three-month rotation primarily treating children and adults with special needs. 

Hospital Rotation at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center- Three months of managing inpatients and outpatients, including surgery. History and Physicals, as well as admitting and discharging patients, are also taught. During this rotation, outpatient dental care is provided at OSF HealthCare Dental Clinic – Forest Park.

Local Private Practices- Various days and times as needed, for more advanced or specialized procedures for a resident’s patients’ dental needs.

Hospital Call- All residents take call for one week a month throughout the year. The emergency department is covered 24/7 by a resident and an attending physician. The hospital resident takes call for three months on weekdays, while the other residents rotate call after hours, weekends and holidays.

Commission on Dental Accreditation Site Visit

The Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) site visit schedules for allied, advanced and dental education programs can be downloaded below. The United States Department of Education (USDE) procedures require accrediting agencies to provide an opportunity for third-party comment with respect to institutions or programs scheduled for review. 
You can view the policies for third-party comments in the Evaluation and Operational Policies and Procedures manual.

All comments must relate to accreditation standards for the discipline and/or accreditation policies. All comments relative to programs being visited will be due in the CODA office no later than 60 days prior to each program’s site visit to allow time for the program to respond. Negative comments received after the deadline of 60 days prior to the site visit will be handled as a complaint.

Comments should be submitted to:

CODA
211 East Chicago Avenue 
Chicago, Illinois
Fax: (312) 587-5107 

Third-party Comment Form

Posting Form for Third Party Comments

Statement of Diversity

All societies and peoples have contributed to the rich mix of contemporary humanity, especially in America. In order to achieve the development of full human potential, we must build on this diversity.

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center embraces an open, harmonious and hospitable climate that facilitates learning and work.

We are committed to education that explores the significance of diversity in order to better enable our community to engage the future.

This commitment strives for a resident's workforce that manifests diversity.

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