UPSTATE NEW YORK

Community Health Centers and Group Practices

In addition to the clinical sites in New York City, Lutheran Medical Center offers opportunities in community health centers and group practices in upstate New York. Like community health centers, participating group practices pledge to provide quality dental care at affordable prices for their patients. These practitioners work hard to treat patients like family while fostering the professional growth of the staff. The community health centers and group practices that participate in Lutheran’s Advanced Education Program in General Dentistry warmly welcome dental residents!

GHI Family Dental Practice (GHIFDP) located in Albany, New York, is fully committed to the delivery of affordable dental care. GHIFDP is an Article 28 facility that provides quality dental services to all our patients. The GHI Family Dental Practice provides the services of skilled professional dental practitioners in a comfortable and welcoming environment. The practice was established in 1973 and expanded to two new offices in 1997 in response to the needs of a growing patient base. Both locations are state-of-the art facilities that complement the GHI tradition of excellence in dental benefit programs. GHI staff dentists are more than skilled practitioners. Our dentists are available for second opinions and are also available to discuss any dental concerns with GHIFD patients. For example, in association with the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities spearheaded an effort to improve dental care for people with disabilities through the Special Needs Dentistry Program. As a GHI staff dentist you work with state-of-the-art sterilization equipment, in a modern, hygienic and safe environment. GHI staff dentists find both Albany dental practice locations easy to reach by car or public transportation. The GHI Western Avenue office is a spacious facility with eight dental operatories. The GHI Empire State Plaza office is located near the New York State Legislature and has six operatories. When you join the GHI Family Dental Practice, you not only gain valuable dentistry experience, you also will have the opportunity to see dental benefit programs from the perspective of an insurer, which can provide you with important administrative experience.

The Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center , founded in 1971, provides services to over 18,000 patients from the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, and Schenectady. As a full-service comprehensive health center dedicated to the health and well being of its community, it offers a wide range of preventive and therapeutic services on an outpatient basis. Accredited by JCAHO, the center sponsors special outreach programs to infants, adolescents, and adults and takes great pride in the credentials and quality of its staff. Dental residents work with six general dentists in a busy newly remodeled general practice in downtown Albany. The staff includes three dental hygienists and six dental assistants. The center offers a wide range of primary dental care, prosthodontics and minor periodontics, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. The center refers patients for orthodontic services.

Hometown Health Centers , a community-based health center located in downtown Schenectady, provides a broad range of comprehensive health services to a largely medically underserved population. The center, which is assessed by the Federal Bureau of Primary Health Care, Primary Care Effectiveness Review, manages over 60,000 patient visits per year. In November 2005 the ribbon was cut at their brand new state-of-the-art 12-operatory facility. The dental Director has received the “Access Award” from the American Dental Association. One of the most important elements of the dental department’s array of services is its outreach program. This service brings preventive dental care to over 4,000 Schenectady children in schools and Head Start programs, allowing the center to provide educational and preventive services to nearly twice as many children as in recent years. Residents work in a busy five-dentist general practice with a part-time orthodontist.

1st Advantage Dental Group in Latham is part of multi-location group practices with 30 dentists in New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The group’s mission is to provide the same affordable, quality dental care that they would to their own family. Without the hassles of dealing with the business side of the practice, dentists focus on patient care, which is available 24 hours a day, and their own professional development. In the Latham group, residents work with four general practitioners and three specialists, one each in oral and maxillofacial surgery, endodontics, and periodontics.

The Pulaski Health Center , also known as Northern Oswego County Health Services, Inc., began in 1969. Today, the center, accredited by JCAHO, has 87 employees that include physicians, a physician’s assistant, nurse practitioners, and dentists. The center, which provides family health care for all patients, annually treats more than 12,000 patients during 48,000 visits. The center sponsors three school-based health centers and participates with institutions of higher learning helping to train medical students, nurses, physician’s assistants, dental assistants, and other allied health personnel. We have one full-time family dentist and one part-time dentist doing basic orthodontics, two dental hygienists, and two dental assistants in this newly renovated dental department. Our region is a health professional shortage area and, therefore, we are eligible to offer loan repayment of up to $120,000 through the National Health Service Corps to dentists willing to work for us for two to three years. In addition to the loan repayment program, we offer the dentist a competitive salary and good benefits.

In operation for almost 30 years, the Family Health Network of Central New York sponsors six health centers in and around Cortland, NY. The centers focus on primary care for children and adults, which includes family medicine, internal medicine, perinatal care, pediatrics, and family dentistry. The Network also provides comprehensive health care directly to children in four local schools including elementary through high school. The Federal Bureau of Primary Health Care, Primary Care Effectiveness Review, assesses the Network. The Groton Dental Center is the only oral health care facility among the six centers in the Network and treats over 7,000 patients each year. Two full-time dentists, a part-time dentist, two dental hygienists, and three assistants comprise the dental team in this modern seven-operatory office. One of the assistants coordinates a school-based sealant program. Dental residents can expect to work in an environment that builds on the family practice philosophy of the Network. The dental staff provides preventive services, general restorative dentistry, endodontics, extractions, and prosthodontics. The staff refers complex care to specialists.

Upstate New York

Nestled between the glorious Adirondack and Catskill Mountains, Albany, and its nearby communities of Schenectady and Troy, is the hub for residents’ sites in the lovely northern Hudson River Valley. Albany is the state capital and center of New York government. The cities offer many historical sites, performing arts, and cultural activities ranging from the acclaimed architecture of the Schenectady City Hall and Union College, to the fun and tradition of Saratoga Race Course. Covering more than six million square miles and dotted with spectacular lakes, the Adirondacks area, named after the Algonquin Indians, now hosts recreational activities for every season of the year. Summer activities include hiking; boating; fishing for pike, trout, and walleye; and winter sports such as skiing, tobogganing, and snowshoeing lure outdoor enthusiasts.

The Catskill Mountains are called “land in the sky” by American Indians. Central New York is the “Leatherstocking” region, which inspired the Leatherstocking Tales of James Fenimore Cooper and was the “breadbasket” of the American Revolution. The area is home to Cooperstown, site of baseball’s Hall of Fame and remains a loved family resort and entertainment center.

Onondagas Indian chief Hiawatha chose the site of modern-day Syracuse as the capital of the Iroquois Confederacy in the 16th century. Today, the city, located in the geographic center of New York State, borders the current site of the Iroquois Confederacy and is home to Syracuse University. Just north of Cortland, it offers all the pleasures of a university town and hosts a symphony orchestra and 40 museums and galleries. Cortland lies east of the beautiful Finger Lake Region of New York. The larger lakes are named for the tribes of the Six Nations of the Iroquois-the Cayugas, Mohawks, Onondagas, Oneidas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras. According to American Indian legend, God placed his hand on this spectacular region and created the beautiful lakes. The city of Groton is just east of Lake Cayuga, the largest of the eleven Finger Lakes stretching from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border. This region attracted all sorts of visionary people after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and contributed to important movements including abolitionism, feminism, the Mormon Church, and the Republican Party. Cornell University is in nearby Ithaca. Today, the region retains its natural and historical richness. Just northeast of Syracuse is Oneida Lake, famous for walleye fishing in summer and through the ice in winter. The lake is popular for summer water sports. A little further north is the remote Tug Hill Plateau. The “lake effect” brings heavy winter snows and makes the area popular for winter sports.

Pulaski, a village of about 2,550 people and built on the banks of the Salmon River with a breathtaking view of Lake Ontario, was named in 1820 for General Casimir Pulaski, Polish revolutionary and aide to General George Washington. The river has always been a major resource of the area and a large hatchery and sports fishery have been created nearby. Because of excessive harvesting of Atlantic salmon, Pacific coho, Chinook, and steelhead were introduced to the river and world class sport fishing flourishes. Pulaski is near the cities of Oswego, Watertown, and Syracuse and supports light manufacturing. The village has opened an historical museum, sports center, and fine arts center. The old business district is on the National Register. Pulaski is on the western edge of the Tug Hill Plateau. The area is rich in scenic natural resources and quaint villages, and popular year round for sports, camping, and sightseeing. To the north is the stunning Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River.

Photo by Timothy J. Mallery (http://www.catskillguide.com)