Oral Medicine - Year 2
The final year of oral medicine residency (PGY-3) includes formal hospital-based training at CMC and Glasgow Dental Hospital in Scotland (Table 3). Rotations in several medical subspecialties in the last year allow for a deeper understanding of pathophysiology and the medical management of oral medical conditions. A 4 week rotation to the United Kingdom provides experience with a clinical environment and faculty unavailable to trainees in the United States. The oral medicine department in Glasgow Dental Hospital in Scotland sees around 10,000 patients annually and is the largest Oral Medicine Department in Europe. Here, additional experience may be obtained in the management of patients with mucosal disease (including aphthous stomatitis, pemphigoid, pemphigus, lichen planus), mucosal infections (fungal, bacterial and viral), salivary gland disorders, and chronic orofacial pain syndromes. In addition, one of the consultant staff has a specific interest in allergy and allergic orofacial disorders.

A unique feature of this residency program is the solid training in both of the major areas of oral medicine-that of the management of nonsurgical disorders of the maxillofacial region and the dental management of medically-compromised patients. Graduates of this program will likely maintain some of their surgical skills, so that they can teach the management of these complex patients as well as carry out treatment such as biopsies and dental extractions in the appropriate setting (e.g., clinic, bedside, operating room). As our healthcare system evolves, there will be an even greater need for dentists who understand the broad scope of medical and dental healthcare delivery. This broad training will allow for a variety of career options that span the clinical practice and academic spectrum. For example, they would be highly qualified for positions as department chairs or program directors in a hospital or dental school setting. In addition, they could limit their community based practice to the skills acquired in this training program.