Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, MD

The Advanced Educational Program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans is a six-year OMS-MD residency program designed to fulfill the educational requirements of the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association and the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Each year four applicants are selected to begin seventy-two months of training. The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (Interim Louisiana Hospital) serves as the primary teaching hospital. Other affiliated institutions are Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Carolinas Healthcare System, Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, and the dental and medical schools of Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Biomedical-science instruction is incorporated throughout the six-year residency program. Formal didactic courses outside of the medical school curriculum include Applied Head and Neck Surgical Anatomy, Advanced Oral Pathology, TMJ Diseases, and Orthognathic Surgery. Conferences consist of Clinical Pathology, Preoperative Surgery, Pain Control and Sedation, Journal Club and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Teaching Seminars.

Enrollment in the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Medicine in New Orleans for Introduction to Clinical Medicine, Clinical Pathology and Dermatology is concurrent with the initial twelve-month clinical oral and maxillofacial surgery rotation. Advanced standing for third-year entry into medical school is predicated on passage of the national Medical Boards Step I in June of the applicant’s first year of training. Following 24 months of medical school, one year of General Surgery credit is gained with rotation in the Emergency Room, General Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties, Neurosurgery, and Anesthesia. The residents return to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department for twenty-four months to complete the program.

Patient load during the thirty-six months of oral and maxillofacial surgery training includes extensive maxillofacial hard-  and soft-tissue trauma and reconstruction, orthognathic, and craniofacial surgery, temporomandibular joint disorders, all forms of cosmetic surgery, pathology, preprosthetic and implant surgery, advanced exodontia, and ambulatory outpatient general anesthesia. The combined annual inpatient surgery at all teaching hospitals exceeds 1,500 cases. Over 25,000 outpatients are seen each year, which accounts for 6,000 procedures.

The program is closely supervised by five full-time and fifteen part time board certified oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Applicants must be graduates or seniors in the upper 25% of their class of dental schools recognized by the Council on Dental Education of the American Dental Association. Applications from graduates of dental schools outside the U.S. and Canada will be considered if they have attended a US equivalency program and receive a US DDS equivalency degree. Foreign applicants must already have permanent USA residency status prior to application.

Participation in the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) program is required. Additional experience beyond dental school (general practice residency, anesthesia residency, private practice, graduate school, etc.) may strengthen the applicant’s credentials. A $50.00 processing fee payable to the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry is required of those applying. After applications have been received and reviewed, invitations for interviews will be sent out by the director of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program. Applicants must agree to participate in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residents Matching Program.