General Practice Residency

Orientation

Orientation to the program begins the first week; the resident is introduced to dental clinic procedures and protocols, record keeping, medical risk assessment, clinical privileges and the many other operational details of a Medical Center dental practice.  From time to time as the program advances, additional orientation will be provided.

Duty and Leave

Appointment as a resident is for one year starting July 1.  The program is designed to give the graduate dentist one-year of training in various phases of general dentistry.

The residency is a full-time commitment.  Despite the fact that the regular clinic hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., residents are considered on duty 24 hours/day, seven days/week.  Attendance at all scheduled activities is required.  To obtain full benefits from the training program, residents must take an active participatory role in all seminars, journal clubs and conferences.  Residents must maintain current CPR and ACLS certification.

Residents must be present  for all assigned rotations and are expected to conscientiously diagnose and treat all assigned patients.  Residents will conduct themselves professionally at all times.

The Loma Linda GPR program rotations are as follows: three weeks ENT, one week in ER and one week in Anesthesia on a rotating schedule throughout the year. Additionally, in service block rotations in oral surgery and exam room occur on a rotating basis every fifth week. Finally, during GPR rotation, residents provide comprehensive care to assigned group of patients.

The stipend for the 2023-2024 residency was approximately $70,990.  The amount is subject to change on a yearly basis.  It is paid on a bi-weekly basis.  Health insurance is available at reduced cost through the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Malpractice insurance is provided.  Residents will be allowed 15 days of leave and sick leave as approved.  In addition, authorized leave is granted for certain continuing education that may occur during the work week.

Residents are on-call on a rotating basis.  The on-call residents will be assigned first and second call duties for the dental service on a weekly basis.  During this time, they will be responsible for all dental emergencies that may arise.  Pagers are provided to residents.  Attending staff are available on call for supervision.

Residents spend five weeks throughout the year on the following off service rotations: ENT, ER and Anesthesia.  In-service dental rotations include comprehensive patient care GPR clinic, exam room and oral surgery clinics.

Clinical Facilities

The VA Dental Service has a modern state of the art facility with 32-operatory dental clinic, complete with an oral surgery suite, an oral hygiene area and a fully equipped dental laboratory.  Adult dental care is provided on an inpatient and outpatient basis.  Additional facilities include a Resident Education room and separate X-ray rooms for digital radiography.  Advanced modalities such as video, intraoral scanners, same day crowns, and intraoral cameras.

Additional training and experience is provided at the Loma Linda School of Dentistry, where the resident will have courses, seminars and rotations in endodontics, prosthodontics and oral pathology.

The Medical Center has a library containing over 1,800 books and 135 hard copy journal subscriptions and an outstanding electronic database.  The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System library is a member of 3 interlibrary loan consortiums including UCLA, LLU and 143 VA libraries throughout the United States.  The affiliate Loma Linda University collection consists of 381,871 books, 6,817 e-books, 724 print journals, 11,264 e-journals and 61 different databases.  The Loma Linda University collection has 100 dental specific journals.

General dentists and specialists in Prosthodontics, Endodontics, Periodontics and Oral Surgery are on the full-time staff. 

Clinical Observations and Tours

We are no longer able to provide prospective candidates with a pre-tour of the dental facility. If a candidate is selected for an interview after the PASS application is reviewed, he/she will have ample opportunity to tour the dental facility and speak with current dental residents.

Opportunity to File a Complaint with CODA

Policy on Bloodborne Infectious Diseases

We are unable to provide prospective candidates with a direct link to internal facility policies. However, any candidate may contact the program director and be provided with a PDF copy of the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan (Medical Center Policy 11-70).