Admissions Process

The Stony Brook University Medical Center Dental Anesthesiology Program uses the PASS/Match application process and gives preference to accepting residents who have completed the SBUMC GPR Program medical track positions.  Applicants to the SBUMC GPR Program medical track positions will be evaluated and interviewed by a team consisting of dental anesthesiologists and GPR Program faculty.  Selected applicants will be offered positions in the SBUMC GPR Program medical track positions through the November Phase I portion of the Match Program. On successful match, the applicant will receive a letter of commitment to attend the one year SBUMC GPR Program in a medical track position and the option of committing to an additional 2 years in the Dental Anesthesiology Program.  Dental Anesthesiology positions not filled by SBUMC GPR medical track resident positions will be offered after Phase I of the Match Program with a preference to applicants who have had at least a one year general practice residency with an intensified medical track.

Applicants to the SBUMC GPR-Medical Track Program (4 positions available starting July 1, 2013) should send their PASS application to the SBUMC GPR Program, Code Number: 626. Applicants should also Email Pamela Burger at pamela.burger@stonybrook.edu & Dr. Ralph Epstein (program director) ralph.epstein@stonybrook.edu to inform them of your interest in the GPR/Medical Track Program and the Stony Brook Dental Anesthesiology Residency Program. Following initial evaluation of applications, selected applicants will be interviewed in early November 2012 by a team consisting of dentist anesthesiologists and GPR program faculty. If you decide to rank this 1-yr GPR-Medical Track/2-yr Dental Anesthesia Program it is located in the November, Phase I Dental Anesthesia Match with Code Number 5899. On successful match, the applicant will receive a letter of commitment to attend the one year SBUMC GPR/Medical Track Program and the option of committing to an additional 2 years in the Dental Anesthesiology Program.

It is the philosophy of the dental anesthesia faculty that applicants to the 2-yr dental anesthesia residency have at least a one-year GPR with an intensified medical track or other postgraduate training that includes advanced medical training in a hospital venue.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the SBUMC GPR-Medical Track:

1. Why do I need to attend a medically focused GPR Program?
   • It has been our experience that many dental school graduates are lacking basic medical training that is required for treating patients in a tertiary care hospital operating room. Medical rotations raise the medical/clinical knowledge and skills necessary to provide anesthesia services to patients being treated in a hospital setting.
   • The GPR certificate permit satisfies the New York State residency requirement and therefore allows the graduate to get a New York State dental license.
2. Why does the program include three months of internal medicine, cardiology and pulmonary medicine?
   • The physician residents are required to take a one-year rotating internship prior to enrolling in an anesthesiology program. It is our opinion that the dental anesthesia residents should have a well-grounded working foundation in internal medicine and cardiology (including proficiency in ECG analysis & arrhythmia treatment) before administering anesthesia in the operating room.
   • The three months of in-hospital rotations also leads to proficiency in functioning within this institutional setting.
3. Why two-months of anesthesia training?
   • The two-months of anesthesia training provides an introduction into the discipline of dental anesthesiology and provides confidence to the resident when they start their anesthesia residency

Thank you for your interest in the SBUMC Dental Anesthesiology Program. If you have specific questions regarding the residency program, please feel free to contact me at Ralph.epstein@stonybrook.edu.  Good luck as you become more involved in dental anesthesiology.

Attached is a copy of a sample Stony Brook Agreement of Appointment.