The Virtual Classroom Community and Core Curriculum

Lutheran Medical Center has established an innovative, interactive television teaching network between the main site in Brooklyn and other sites whether in New York or Hawai`i. Over ten years ago, we seamlessly integrated distance learning into our core curriculum. In 2003, we expanded the distance learning curriculum via live video teleconferencing to include the pediatric dentistry curriculum. Compressed video conferencing allows residents to participate weekly in a shared academic program in a “virtual classroom” whether they are in New York City, the Hudson River Valley, Tucson, Providence, or Honolulu.

Lutheran formed a partnership with the schools of dentistry at Columbia University and the University of the Pacific to combine resources and apply new technologies to strengthen our respective residency programs. We are collaborating to design distinguished educational programs that will link Lutheran in Metropolitan New York with more than 75 residents in sites in several states. The collaboration places these programs on the cutting edge of graduate dental education. Having participated in a virtual classroom community, graduates leave our programs prepared to use contemporary communication and business technology in daily office operations and continuing education.

Residents in the General Practice Residency (GPR) and AEGD programs participate in Lutheran’s core curriculum. First-year pediatric and first-year endodontic residents take part in relevant academic elements of the core curriculum. This aspect of the educational program provides concentrated advanced training in treatment planning, oral medicine, oral pathology, endodontics, periodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and asynchronous online literature reviews in endodontics, prosthodontics, and sedation and pain control.

The academic curriculum also focuses on pediatric dentistry, geriatric dentistry, special care patients, and materials science. Residents learn the newest information in implant dentistry and many gain experience placing implants. Included in the core curriculum are current concepts in esthetic dentistry, pain control and sedation, orthodontics, preventive dentistry, and medical emergencies in dental practice. Residents study the principles of dental practice management and practice administration but more importantly have many opportunities to apply in daily practice the principles of the psychodynamics of dental care, managing decisions and choices of care, quality management, and ethics.

In the GPR program, there are also required minimum clinical rotations in endodontics, geriatrics, pediatric dentistry, periodontics, prosthetics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral medicine, and orthodontics.

All first-year residents (and second-year residents who did not study at Lutheran Medical Center during their first year) take a five-hour introductory methods and materials in research course. This class covers topics such as basic dental informatics and on-line searches; evidence-based dentistry; evaluation of patient outcomes; and critical evaluation of the literature. A more in-depth course in methods and materials for research is attended by the pediatric and endodontic dental residents and all second-year general dentistry residents. These classes cover epidemiology and research methods; statistics; data analysis and practical research design; writing a biomedical paper; writing a research proposal; presenting papers at scientific meetings; submitting a paper for publication; and troubleshooting research problems. These residents together with medical residents complete a research project under the continuing guidance of the Office of Clinical Research and present their findings at Lutheran’s Annual Research Fair. Interested first-year general dentistry residents may voluntarily participate in a research project.

Residents at Lutheran conduct journal clubs to keep abreast of current research and learn to use an evidence-based approach to critical reviews of the dental literature. Residents learn to integrate research into daily practice and lay the foundation for a lifetime dedicated to providing scientifically based oral health care.