cover stor y residencies: their benefit to patient populations
Washington’s General Dental Practice Residencies (GPR) Community Health Center Based Residencies: GPR/CHC Based Residencies Organization University of Washington Northwest Dental Residency Neighborcare Swedish Hospital Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic ‐ Pediatric Dentistry Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic Columbia Basin Health Association Healthpoint Community Health Care Totals after the residency. I was drawn to the emphasis on procedures that I wanted more training in — particularly IV sedation and treating medically-complex patients. Even if I’m overtraining in complex procedures now, I know that when I’m treating run-ofthe-mill patients I’ll feel confident to handle any issue that arises. Also, I think that patients with complex issues have trouble finding care, and this program provides me the tools and information to treat them competently once I graduate, which I fully plan to do.” Life after residency should have an interesting dynamic for Westcott, who goes to her father’s practice as the expert on procedures like placing implants, extracting third molars, IV sedation and treating medically-complex patients.
Adding value to their practice
For the attending dentists, having residents adds much to their practice — from increasing their productivity by having more licensed dentists on board, to the influx of enthusiasm and new dental techniques that residents bring with them. Having their salaries paid for by the federal government makes the program even more enticing, especially at Community Health Centers, which lost most state funding two years ago. There, having residents not only helps with their bottom line, says Koday,
2012 Growth 2013 Total in 2013 Total 9 0 9 6 0 6 5 1 6 3 1 4
Location Seattle/Yakima Yakima County Seattle Seattle Yakima County Spokane, Walla Walla Counties Grant, Benton Counties King County Pierce County
“It keeps us challenged. For me, and many of the other dentists, it reminds us of the excitement we felt when we first graduated from dental school, we’re always pumping them for information, and they are constantly pumping us for information. Being able to do a procedure and being able to teach how to do a procedure are two very different things — so it forces you to go back to the books. You have an obligation, and you can’t give residents incorrect information, or information that isn’t current. It renews you — they’re a fun group to work with. The other part of it is — and I think I can speak for all dentists — the dental profession has been good to us, and this is a way of giving back to the profession. By working with residents you’re ensuring that they have a good start to their career.” Johnson, agrees, saying “We give them a skill set that they cannot get in dental school, which will have a huge downstream effect over the course of their careers. It’s fun, exciting and brings a lot of energy into the practice, which keeps us young. It helps us tremendously to treat the needs of the population we’re trying to reach.” Plus, Johnson says, he just loves teaching — “I have been teaching residents for all of my career and I just love the residency model – I love to teach, I love the idea, I love everything about it. We’re turn-
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ing out three (soon to be four) highly qualified dentists a year, which gives them a jump-start on their career.” Winston adds, “Having residents allows us to see more patients and increase our volume significantly. Additionally, they bring positive, youthful energy to the place that is really exciting. We get to learn what they’re being taught in dental school – we’ve all been out a certain number of years, and it’s really nice to keep up on what’s being taught currently. We are allowed to do a lot more charity care because of the residents — it enables us to provide care to underfunded patients that we wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. Plus, we’ve been able to participate in some amazing things in the community, like the NW Kidney Center Program, and the SCSC Clinic over at Swedish. The residents provide exponentially more opportunities to our practice.” Even with federal funding paying their salaries, having residents on staff is a labor of love, according to Johnson, who relates, “While we don’t pay their salaries, we pay with our time, our energy and our expertise. The biggest problem with business people who want to set up new residencies is that they often think they can start one up, get free labor and not have to do anything more. Nothing could be further from the truth!”
2 2 · th e wsda ne w s · issue 6, may · 2013 · www.wsda.org