Two primary teaching facilities are used to provide educational and patient care experiences:

• University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
• University of Iowa College of Dentistry

Both facilities are in close physical proximity and are undeniably among the very best and well-equipped in the country. To assure training and exposure in the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery, outside rotations are provided at the expense of the department. Rotations are further outlined under curriculum.

Seven full-time faculty members cover UI Hospitals & Clinics and the UI College of Dentistry. Other adjunct faculty participate in undergraduate and graduate education. The faculty is diverse, offering training and experience from multiple locations throughout the country. The oral and maxillofacial surgery program is supplemented by a strong, surgically oriented orthodontic program at the UI College of Dentistry. A prosthodontist enhances training at UI Hospitals & Clinics, and all disciplines participate in a comprehensive cleft lip and palate team.

The UI College of Dentistry offers interdisciplinary relationships with all graduate and undergraduate departments, providing considerable experience in dentoalveolar surgery, sedations, outpatient general anesthetics, and implants. Staff members include a strong compliment of full-time registered nurses, dental assistants, and clerical support. The College of Dentistry offers a state-of-the art audiovisual and graphics department, frequently utilized for case documentation and for presentations given locally, nationally, and internationally.

The Dows Institute of Research is an integral part of the College of Dentistry offering complete research facilities and equipment, animal operatories, and associated faculty, staff and research assistance; such assistance includes a full-time statistician.

The Hospital Dentistry Institute at UI Hospitals & Clinics is a modern, up-to-date facility featuring clinical areas for:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Prosthodontics
• General Dentistry

The Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department provides each resident with a work station within the resident's room. Conferences are held in a large, modern conference room.  The operating suites at UI Hospitals & Clinics are large, modern, and rival any throughout the country, private or otherwise.

The residency is organized to provide an advancing educational experience with increasing responsibility over a four-year period in order to develop medical judgment, surgical skills, and demonstrated competence. The training program consists of formal teaching and clinical experiences on assigned rotations, patient care, didactic programs, and conferences.

We expect the residents to take responsibility for enhancing their learning environment, and we encourage outside reading. The graduate program director reviews the curriculum yearly with input from all faculty and staff members to ensure an evolving experience and improvements in specific rotations and didactic experiences.

The didactic program is enhanced with teaching patient rounds, grand rounds, and journal club. Presentations and participation at national meetings and forums are highly encouraged and financially supported.

First-year

Basic Science Review and Anatomy	4 weeks
Anesthesia (16 weeks adult, 4 weeks pediatrics)	20 weeks
Medicine	8 weeks
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	20 weeks

The first-year resident completes the 12 months of rotations as outlined above. Graduated levels of responsibility are given as knowledge and surgical skills develop.

Second-year

General Surgery	4 weeks
Trauma Surgery	4 weeks
Pediatric General Surgery	4 weeks
Surgical Oncology	4 weeks
Plastic Surgery	4 weeks
Neurosurgery	4 weeks
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery	30 weeks

During this period, the resident is engaged in progressive, graduated comprehensive training in all clinical and hospital phases of the specialty practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery. Full-time rotations of 18 weeks on the General Surgery Service and 4 weeks on the Neurosurgery Service are completed.

The remainder of this time period is spent in clinical oral and maxillofacial surgery at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and the UI College of Dentistry performing oral surgical procedures that gradually increase in difficulty to develop the resident's surgical skills and judgment as rapidly as the aptitude of the individual resident permits.

Instruction, training, and experience encompass procedures for admission of patients, accomplishment of preoperative histories, system reviews, physical examinations, ward orders, indicated laboratory procedures, preoperative care, surgical procedures, postoperative care and ward management, inter-service consultation, and completion of clinical records.

Daily ward rounds are conducted. The resident attends all department didactic conferences in addition to those of visiting lecturers. Elective courses are encouraged as time permits. A research project is required and is typically begun during the second year.

Third-year

Surgical Intensive Care Unit	4 weeks
Otolaryngology	4 weeks
Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery	44 weeks

The third-year resident continues with the program as described for the second year.

Fourth-year

The fourth-year residents spend all twelve months in OMFS. Greater responsibilities are given for patient care, administration, and teaching as granted by the staff on an individual basis. Increasing responsibility for planning and management of complex surgical cases occurs.

Clinical instruction and supervision of the junior graduate residents and rotating dental students assigned to the oral and maxillofacial surgery service is expected. Comprehensive mock board examinations are given yearly encompassing the full scope of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

All residents are expected to undertake a significant research project leading to a national presentation. Faculty mentors are readily available to assist and direct research projects as needed.

Departmental funds are available to ensure project viability. Research projects span the entire scope from clinical investigations to animal and basic science endeavors.

The residents have ready access to a number of fine medical and dental libraries. The Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery maintains an up-to-date compilation of textbooks and journals directly related to the specialty.

The Hardin Library for the Health Sciences has more than 220,000 bound volumes and 3,500 serials and journals. Multiple journals are now available on-line through Hardin Library.

It is our philosophy to provide close and careful supervision in a graded fashion to all residents. Faculty input is ever present in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Upper-level residents also provide supervision in a structured setting allowing them to increase their own clinical, surgical, and teaching skills. Residents actively participate in all phases of patient care, ensuring continuity of training from the presurgical phase to the postoperative phase of treatment.

The process of evaluation includes a semiannual evaluation with feedback from faculty, off-service rotations, and staff. Such evaluations occur formally with the graduate program director emphasizing strengths, weaknesses, and guidelines to promote the resident's professional development. Yearly in-service training exams and mock board examinations further identify strong and weak areas and ensure competency.