Eastman Institute for Oral Health, part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, has added public health to its range of postdoctoral dental training programs.
Formerly sponsored by the New York State (NYS) Department of Health, this residency program is designed for dentists planning careers in dental public health. It prepares dentists who have a master’s degree in dental public health with a broad scope of didactic instruction and practical experience in dental public health practice, Eastman reports.
As the oldest dental public health residency program and Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) approved since 1966, it is now sponsored by Eastman Institute for Oral Health and called the New York State Dental Public Health Residency Program.
As a research-based residency program, residents will learn numerous public health competencies, such as how to manage oral health programs for population health, design surveillance systems for oral health, communicate and educate on oral and public health issues, and advocate for public health policy, legislation, and regulation.
Eastman is accepting three full-time residents for the one-year program and two part-time residents who can complete the program over two years. Residents can participate from Eastman Institute or its program affiliates at the NYS Department of Health, School of Public Health at the State University at New York in Albany and Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
“Rotations will be site specific, but all residents visit Albany to get experience in advocacy and health policy development, legislation, and regulation,” said Sangeeta Gajendra, DDS, MPH, program director and associate professor and clinical chief of Eastman’s Community Dentistry and Oral Disease Prevention. “The residents will also attend a hearing in the NYS State Senate or House.”
Gajendra, who is among a small group nationwide that is board certified in dental public health, has appointments in the university’s School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Department of Dentistry, Department of Public Health Sciences and Center for Community Health and Prevention. For more information, email sangeeta.gajendra@urmc.rochester.edu.
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