Year 4

The third and fourth years of the program are intensely clinical. They include some 8 AM lecture courses (Year 3 only), CPR training (Year 4 only), clinical rotations and many small group seminars/workshops, all of which are aimed at the development of greater understanding and enhanced skills in the area of patient care. The lecture courses include Pharmacology, Periodontology II, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Prosthodontics & Operative Dentistry and Craniofacial Function III. Seminars in Behavioral Science, Practice Management, Endodontics and other subjects add to the learning experience.

Hands-on workshops compliment the clinical experience. Several patient simulation and patient competency examinations and seminars are scheduled throughout the third and fourth years to test competency and prepare the students to take state licensing boards. In Year 3 and 4, the Curriculum Integrated Format for the ADLEX (American Dental Licensing Examination) administered by the Northeast Regional Board Examination (NERB) and the WREB examination can allow the student to successfully complete their licensing examination before graduation. In Year 3, a Board Review II course is given to prepare the students to take the National Board Part II Examination, a requirement for graduation.

The general clinic is divided into eight group practices which function in a manner similar to private practice. The eight practices are administered by seventeen Practice Coordinators, dentists who organize and oversee the activities of the students, and Dental Practice Assistants (administrative staff) who participate in the management of the practices. Each practice has contiguous operatories that help to maximize efficiency.

Faculty members are assigned to the practices with general dentists serving as core faculty and specialist faculty available when needed. This format allows students to provide comprehensive care with enhanced patient satisfaction and closer supervision of patient care and student progress. Rotations in special clinic areas such as Pediatric Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Emergency, Periodontology, Orthodontics, Postgraduate Prosthodontics, Special Care, and Geriatric Dentistry enhance patient care knowledge and techniques.

In Year 3, the Medicine III program teaches students techniques that they will use in their practice for medically compromised patients. The students participate in a series of workshops and hospital rotations including hospital rounds, patient examinations, emergency clinics, tumor board, the pain clinic and anesthesiology.

In the third and fourth years’ Community Service Learning Externship Program, students are assigned to clinical community service facilities outside of the dental school for a five-week period. These sites are located throughout the New England states, New York, Illinois, California, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, and Montana. At these sites, students learn a sense of community service. They also further develop their clinical skills and their confidence in their abilities by treating patients in various types of health care delivery systems.

Students who excel in the achievement of clinical procedures and patient care can participate in the Incentive Program in the fourth year. This Incentive Program allows the student to become involved in teaching and/or to participate in elective clinical and continuing education programs such as Implant Dentistry, Esthetic Dentistry, or Emergency Care. Awards are granted to students who excel in clinical performance and in National Board Examinations.

Upon completion of the curriculum, the graduate will be both intellectually and technically prepared to practice the profession of dentistry as it exists today, as well as stay up-to-date and cope with future changes in dental care.