Mini-Residency

About the Mini-Residency

A program to enhance the dental safety net

People who rely on safety net clinics for oral health services have traditionally lacked access to more complex oral surgery procedures. NCOHC and the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) have partnered to offer a mini-residency for safety net dental teams to address this access barrier.

This program is designed to help “train up” safety net dental teams, giving providers the confidence to offer more complex surgeries in-house rather than referring patients out. Over the course of four weekends, dentists will receive hands-on training in many forms of oral surgeries commonly required for people with more complex needs.

CE training already exists to help providers become more competent and confident when it comes to more complex surgical treatments, but these programs are not typically located in North Carolina and they tend to be more expensive. This partnership between NCOHC and MAHEC aims to offer a local, more affordable, option accessible to safety-net providers.

Apply for the 2023 Mini-Residency

THE 2023 APPLICATION PERIOD HAS CLOSED

Application Details:

• Who can apply? Dentists (DMD or DDS) who treat Medicaid patients and want to grow their more complex oral surgery skillset.
• In addition to other application questions, be prepared to provide:
  • Practice type and a few additional details about your place of work
  • Staff size
  • Current payer mix (Medicaid, uninsured, private payer)
  • Number of referrals you/your practice had, and how many you/your practice completed, during the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 for:
    • D7140
    • D7210
    • D7220, 7230, or 7240
  • The number of oral and maxillofacial surgeons within 25 miles of your practice location, and how many you are able to refer to (including referrals for patients with Medicaid insurance)

Mini-Residency Details

4 safety-net dentists will be accepted into the 2023 mini residency class.

The residency itself will consist of four weekends of hands-on clinical training. All participating dentists will be required to attend each session in person at the MAHEC Dental Health Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

The mini-residency will launch in spring 2023. More details to come soon.

The North Carolina Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) are an ADA CERP Recognized Provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. This continuing education activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the standards of the ADA Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP) through joint efforts of MAHEC (part of NCAHEC) and NCOHC.

In accordance with the ADA CERP Standard V., everyone involved in planning or presenting this educational activity will be required to disclose any relevant financial relationships with commercial interests and this information will be made available to participants at the start of the activity. As a continuing education provider, MAHEC, as part of the North Carolina Health Education Centers, is responsible for ensuring the content, quality and scientific integrity of all continuing dental education activities for which credit is provided. MAHEC is also responsible for taking steps to protect against and/or disclose any conflict of interest of the faculty/instructors presenting those courses.