Oral Medicine Residency

Program-Specific Curriculum

S. Gary Cohen Conference in Oral Medicine
This course in Oral Medicine meets weekly and will allow academic discussion of disease and disease processes, as well as therapeutic management of a wide range of topics related to the field of Oral Medicine including but not limited to, oral-mucosal disease, orofacial pain, salivary gland diseases, infectious disease, oral pathology, oral radiology, and internal medicine.

Vernon J. Brightman Conference in Oral Medicine
This conference meets weekly and provides residents with didactic training in the fundamentals of oral medicine, including oral mucosal diseases, orofacial pain syndromes, oral pathology, oral and maxillofacial radiology, laboratory medicine, internal medicine, pharmacology, and research methodology. The lectures are given by faculty within the Department of Oral Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Weekly Seminar Series - This course introduces residents to the techniques and principles needed for the histopathologic evaluation of biopsy specimens. These include grossing, orienting and mounting specimens, various staining techniques, and the principles of microscopic diagnosis.

Clinical Conferences in Oral Medicine
This course is a weekly clinical conference in which diagnostic and therapeutic data concerning patients seen in the oral medicine referral practice are presented for evaluation and discussion.

Oral Medicine Journal Club
This course allows students to present and discuss recent scientific articles related to the field of oral medicine. Students will develop the ability to critically review papers. Residents will meet with faculty members to discuss recent literature in their field of interest and/or expertise.

Clinical Oral Medicine
Residents will spend time with departmental faculty diagnosing and treating patients with a variety of disorders related to oral medicine.

Introduction to Medicine
This one-month block rotation and courses, offered via the School of Medicine, is designed as an introduction to clinical medicine and is taught through clinical demonstrations, lectures, and seminars. Fundamental principles of internal medicine are stressed to prepare residents for ensuing rotations in various medical disciplines.

Management of Medically Complex Patients
Residents will spend time in the medically complex patient clinic providing general dental care to patients with a multitude of complicating medical diagnoses in an outpatient setting.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery History and Physical Examination Lecture Series
This course, offered through the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, is designed to cover topics relevant for residents involved in the on-call service, including maxillofacial infections, trauma, and advanced head and neck anatomy.

Thesis Research
After developing of a research proposal, residents will perform clinical or laboratory research. A variety of topics and projects are available through The Leon Levy Center for Oral Health Research. Following the successful defense of a thesis, a Master in Oral Biology will be conferred. For both the two- and three-year tracks, it is expected that each resident will be involved in the preparation of at least one paper eligible for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Presentation of abstracts and posters at annual scientific meetings is encouraged.