Program Information | Stony Brook University School of Dental Medicine

INTRODUCTION

R. Epstein

Ralph Epstein, DDS Program Director
Chief of Dental Anesthesia

The Division of Dental Anesthesia is responsible for providing anesthesia to pediatric and adult patients who require dental rehabilitation, dental alveolar surgery, treatment for facial trauma and treatment for orthognathic surgery. A major responsibility for this division is providing care for pre-cooperative children and children and adults with special needs. The Division of Dental Anesthesiology has three members: Dr. Ralph Epstein, Dr. Martin Boorin and Dr. David Pfeffer.

The Division of Dental Anesthesia is responsible for a 3-year accredited dental anesthesia residency program which accepts 4 residents per year. Following completion of the residency program these dentist anesthesiologists provide anesthesia for patients receiving dental and oral surgical care in multiple venues, i.e., office -based, ambulatory surgical centers, and hospitals. In addition, many of our graduates join the faculty of dental schools to provide didactic and clinical education to pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral residents in multiple specialties. Our graduates have accepted positions in states throughout this country and in Canada

During their training, the dental anesthesia residents are responsible for providing anesthesia care for all types of medical procedures. They are scheduled in a similar way to the physician anesthesia residents except they are not scheduled in the cardiac or obstetric rotations. A major part of the clinical portion of the anesthesia residency program is spent with Dr. Boorin, Dr. Pfeffer and Dr. Epstein in dental and oral surgery offices providing the full spectrum of anesthesia care in an office-based venue. Dr. Boorin and Dr. Epstein also supervise anesthesia care in the operating room of Stony Brook University Hospital. Dr. Pfeffer supervises the dental anesthesia residents in Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine and he is also in charge of teaching moderate sedation to the periodontal post-doctoral student

During the 1st year, the dental anesthesia residents receive extensive training with rotations in Stony Brook University Hospital on the following services: cardiology, internal medicine/medical optimization, radiology, perioperative services and rapid response team. In the 2nd year, the residents continue this training with a 4-week rotation in pediatric medicine. During the 2nd and 3rd years, the residents attend the comprehensive didactic education program provided by the physician faculty within the Stony Brook Department of Anesthesiology. This training includes extensive time in the simulation suite with nationally recognized experts in simulation

Clinical anesthesia training in the 1st year takes place in University Hospital, School of Dental Medicine and in private offices. In the 2nd year of the program, clinical training occurs in the main operating room at University Hospital, Northport VA Medical Center, the School of Dental Medicine and in private offices. The third year starts with PACU/ICU rotations where the dental anesthesia resident is the resident in charge of the PACU/ICU for 3-4 weeks. This is a very challenging rotation but one that brings all aspects of anesthesia care together and prepares the resident for challenging and difficult situations they may encounter once they graduate. Clinical anesthesia training for this year expands to the Stony Brook Ambulatory Surgical Center providing a variation on anesthesia care to pediatric and adult patients in another type of ambulatory

Our faculty and residents have given poster presentations, PowerPoint presentations and workshops at local, regional and national physician and dental anesthesia meetings. Residents and faculty within the Division & the Dental Anesthesia Residency Program have published in peer reviewed journals.

Division Members & Hospital Committees:


Ralph Epstein D.D.S. is the Program Director for Dental Anesthesiology Residency & has the academic position of Clinical Associate Professor. Dr. Epstein is a member of the Anesthesia Department’s Executive Committee & the CCC Committee and is also a member of the GME Program Director’s Committee.		Martin Boorin, D.M.D has the academic position of Clinical Assistant Professor

Residency Training

The Residency Training program for Dental Anesthesiology is described on the website.

Recent Division Activity

Dr. Ralph H. Epstein is a past Chairman of the NYS Board for Dentistry and its Committee on Anesthesiology. He is currently an extended member of that Board. Dr. Boorin is a Director of the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists and is also an Oral Board Examiner for the American Dental Board for Anesthesiology.

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PROGRAM MISSION STATEMENT

The overall mission of the dental anesthesia residency program is to train dentists in all aspects of anesthesiology to provide them with an appropriate foundation for the administration of anesthesia and pain control for dental patients. To gain these skills, the
dental anesthesia resident will be fully embedded into the physician anesthesia residency program.

Upon completion of the three-year program, the residents will have the competency and proficiency to provide sedation and general anesthesia, in the inpatient and office-based settings, to the general adult population along with pediatric adult and geriatric patients. This program will provide a special emphasis in the treatment of patients with special needs, i.e., patients with autism and the developmentally disabled. The residents will also be trained to treat patients with acute and chronic pain syndromes.

Because of the University’s high regard for excellence in teaching and research, the selection process will look for prospective residents who have an interest in part-time or full time teaching at the completion of their residency program. To this end, the residents, in their second and third year, will mentor dental and medical students when they rotate through the operating room. These 2nd and 3rd year residents will also help supervise the pediatric and periodontal residents during their anesthesia rotations. The third-year residents help teach the 2nd year predoctoral dental students in their anesthesia and pain control curriculum.

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Admissions Process: Admissions Process SBUHC Dental Anesthesiology Residency Program

For the residency year commencing 2025 the Stony Brook University Hospital Dental Anesthesiology program will continue to participate in the ADEA PASS program and the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program, administered by National Matching Services Inc. (NMS)

Applicants can access information on our residency program by looking at our Division’s web page which is located on the Department of Anesthesiology’s web site https://medicine.stonybrookmedicine.edu/anesthesiology or on the Residency program’s web site https://dentistry.stonybrookmedicine.edu/anesthesiology/dentalweb. The admissions process is completely explained on the Program’s web page.

Applicants interested in applying to the program are encouraged to visit our web site, call the program director and consider visiting the program as an observer/extern. Stony Brook University Hospital permits applicants to visit for 1-2 days.

The application deadline through PASS is September 1, 2024 for the academic year starting July 1, 2025. Applications are not reviewed until September 1, 2024. The applications are reviewed by the program director and the two-other dental anesthesia faculty members. The three will determine which applicants will be offered interviews and invitations are emailed to those applicants.

The interview process will be held virtually on Thursday, October 31 and Friday, November 1 2024. There will be an information session via Zoom on Wednesday evening, October 30, 2024

Immediately following the interviews, the residents and faculty will discuss the applicants to begin the ranking process. The interview committee (residents and faculty interviewing the applicants) is interested in: the total presentation of the applicant, their academic performance, letters of recommendation, personal statement and interview performance. The applicant’s ability to articulate who they are and why he/she is interested and motivated to become a dentist anesthesiologist is extremely important.

Since the Stony Brook Dental Anesthesia Residency program participates in Phase I of the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program, applicants and programs must submit their ranking list by (to be determined). The results of the Match are posted on ____________. If you decide to rank our program our Match ranking number is code #: 5899

All phases of the recruitment process, conform to the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York and other University personnel guidelines. As an adherent to Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity plans, the University encourages applications to all positions from historically underrepresented groups. These guidelines are followed by the programs based in the School of Dental Medicine. The Office of Personnel has approved the recruitment procedure followed by the Department of Hospital Dentistry at University Hospital.

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Case Review Conferences: Stony Brook Dental Anesthesiology Residency Program

Formal case reviews are scheduled in the Department of Anesthesiology once a month during the QA session of Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds are scheduled on Wednesday mornings from 7am – 8am. During these QA conferences, multiple cases are presented followed by a question and answer period.

Please see the Grand Rounds QA schedule in Appendix I

Cases reviews are also discussed with residents when traveling from private offices and after cases in the hospital and SDM. In addition, challenging cases are presented before journal club presentations.

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WHAT YOU MUST DO CHECKLIST Must be done before ORIENTATION unless you are registered for a course at Stony Brook taking place after orientation
TOPIC	REFER TO PDF Titled:	EXPLANATION
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL (SBUH) ORIENTATION	Preliminary Schedule	SBUH Orientation is mandatory. If for some reason, you absolutely cannot attend, please email me.
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION (VAMC) ORIENTATION SCHEDULE	Veterans Administration Medical Center Orientation	Make sure you are required to attend this orientation by checking the Preliminary Schedule.
*HEALTH EXAMINATION	Employee Health Physical Exam Instructions & Physical Exam Form	SUBMIT BY JUNE 2nd or you will not be able to begin your residency/fellowship or receive a paycheck on time, and the time you spend at orientation will be increased significantly. Please don’t forget to attach lab documentation. REMEMBER: if you wish, you may schedule an appointment with Employee Health at Stony Brook to have your physical exam and labs done. This exam and lab work is provided free of charge.
*NATIONAL PROVIDER IDENTIFIER (NPI Number)	National Provider Identifier	If you already have a NPI number, please email it to me. If you do not, please apply for one immediately. Instructions for applying are attached. Once you obtain a number, please email it to us. (For those of you who already sent it to me, pls do not send it again.
*BLS, ACLS and ATLS PALS (for pediatrics and dental pediatrics only)	Life Support Certification Courses	All residents/fellows MUST have BLS certification. All residents/fellows (except Pediatrics and Dental Pediatrics) MUST have ACLS certification. Send certificates to house staff office immediately. ATLS is required for Surgery, Surgery Critical Care, Anesthesiology and Orthopaedics. (NOTE: Emergency Medicine residents have been scheduled for ATLS at a different time with your dept). Refer to attached Life Support information sheet for additional information
*INFECTION CONTROL TRAINING	Infection Control Training	Complete the course on line OR if you have already taken the course, just send us a copy of your certificate (unless you are exempt, i.e., NY Medical School graduate within the past year)
CENTRAL LINE INSERTION – ON LINE TRAINING	Completion of Central Line Education Module	MANDATORY FOR: Anesthesiology Residents Dental Anesthesiology Residents Emergency Medicine Residents Internal Medicine Residents Cardiology Fellows Electrophysiology Fellows Interventional Cardiology Fellows Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellows Radiology Residents Surgery residents Surgery Critical Care Fellow
*WORKFORCE CONFIDENTIALITY FORM	WORKFORCE CONFIDENTIALITY FORM	Read, sign and return to the Medical/House Staff Office
EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION	Documents For Employment	BRING YOUR ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATION (READ THE FORM CAREFULLY TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE CORRECT DOCUMENTS) to both the SBUH and the VAMC Orientation. Without original documentation we can’t process your paycheck. Please complete the form attached and bring it to SBUH orientation. YOU MUST BRING YOUR ORIGINAL SOCIAL SECURITY CARD
WEB BASED ORIENTATION TRAINING		For all residents/fellows Information for completing this will be emailed under separate cover.
WEB BASED COMPUTER TRAINING		Residents in Pathology, Radiology, Preventive Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation are NOT required to do this training. All other residents/fellows must complete this training before you arrive at SBUH for on site computer training. INFORMATION FOR COMPLETING THIS WILL BE EMAILED UNDER SEPARATE COVER THIS MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO YOUR ONSITE COMPUTER TRAINING
COMPUTER TRAINING ON SITE AT SBUH		Computer training at SBUH is mandatory. Residents in Radiology, Preventive Medicine, Pathology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation will NOT attend this training. Your program will be providing training.
PARKING	Parking	Self explanatory
BENEFITS		Health benefit information will be sent to you via email in the future. Please read the information carefully and make sure you have appropriate documentation to enroll.
IF YOU CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS – CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY. YOU WILL BE RECEIVING ALL INFORMATION VIA EMAIL. The Medical/House Staff Office is here to help you. Please do not hesitate to call or email. Phone – 631-444-8413, 444-2812, 444-6707 Fax – 631-444-6031
Mailing Address:	Stony Brook University Hospital Medical/House Staff Services Dept T9-110 Stony Brook, NY 11794-7097
Email address:	Joyce.Klein@stonybrookmedicine.edu

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