
Dentistry Residency
One-Year General Practice Residency
Advanced training in general dentistry practice
Diverse and complex patient population
Multidisciplinary faculty
Team-oriented approach
Creative curriculum
CODA-accredited
Program Overview
Founded in 1976, the general practice Dentistry Residency Program provides residents with advanced clinical training in a multidisciplinary environment. Residents gain broad experience in hospital, clinic, and community health settings. Residents learn the latest materials and techniques and build on both clinical and practice management skills.
Our program is designed to ensure individual mentoring and staff support while promoting the development of advanced clinical judgment and proficiency. Multidisciplinary faculty, available onsite, provide a comprehensive, team-oriented, and patient-focused approach to oral healthcare. Residents interact directly with specialists in oral surgery, pediatric dentistry, prosthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, and temporal mandibular disorders and craniofacial pain. Our integration within the Hennepin Healthcare healthcare system gives residents a unique opportunity to collaborate with medical professionals who share a commitment to excellence in patient care.
About Our Curriculum
The one-year dentistry residency program trains residents to practice as a patient’s primary provider and to be part of an interdisciplinary team. Residents take an early and active role in patient care while working side-by-side with experienced specialists.
The program includes an optional second year to learn more leadership and focused skills.
PGY-1 Rotations
3 weeks: Anesthesia
1 week: Emergency Medicine
Ongoing: General Dentistry
2 weeks: Medicine
13 weeks: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Dentistry Rotation Descriptions
The Dentistry program includes clinic and hospital rotations. Residents provide on-call services approximately five nights per month. Rotations are integrated with general dentistry so that residents can provide comprehensive care to their own patients throughout the year.
Anesthesia
During this three-week rotation, residents gain experience in all phases of anesthesia care, including patient evaluation and risk assessment, airway management, intubation, induction of general anesthesia, IV sedation, patient monitoring, and extubation and post-anesthesia care. Residents work one-on-one with certified registered nurse anesthetists in Hennepin's main operating rooms.
Emergency Medicine
Our residents spend a week in Hennepin Healthcare's emergency department, observing and assisting with the management of medical emergencies. Each resident spends one evening riding with the ambulance crew. Residents gain experience and insight into the medical emergencies that could occur in the dental office.
General Dentistry
General Dentistry is the core of Hennepin Healthcare's program, supplemented by rotations in specialty areas. Residents spend the majority of their year at our dental clinic, located at Hennepin Healthcare's downtown Minneapolis campus. Here, residents provide comprehensive dental care to patients with complex medical and dental conditions and special needs. Residents gain advanced clinical experience in all aspects of dentistry and work with experienced general dentists and specialists who are dedicated to clinical excellence and teaching.
The General Dentistry rotation includes:
- Comprehensive dental care for medically complex patients and those with special needs
- Consultative services for inpatients and outpatients
- Pediatric dentistry (clinic and operating room)
- Periodontics
- Endodontics
- Management of patients with temporal mandibular disorder (TMD) and craniofacial pain
- Removable and fixed prosthodontics and implants
- Evaluation and treatment of pediatric and special needs adults in the operating room
Medicine
General Practice residents join the internal medicine team for two weeks and observe the physical manifestations of various diseases. Residents gain experience taking medical histories and doing physical examinations.
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
This rotation is equivalent to 13 weeks. Residents gain experience with routine and surgical extractions, third molar removal, pre-prosthetic surgery, evaluation and treatment of dental alveolar trauma, and managing odontogenic infections. Residents assist in the operating room with the treatment of maxillofacial trauma, odontogenic infections, and orthognathic surgery.
About Our Educational Experience
Hennepin Healthcare offers numerous formal courses, seminars and literature review to supplement our clinical experience and provide residents with exposure to all aspects of dentistry. Staff specialists and outside consultants lead these valuable conferences.
Didactic Opportunities
Required Conference topics include:
- Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS)
- Anesthesiology
- Dental traumatology
- Endodontics
- Fixed prosthodontics and implants
- History and physical course
- Hospital dentistry and management of medically complex and special needs patients
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery
- Oral medicine
- Oral pathology
- Medical emergencies
- Pediatric dentistry
- Periodontics
- Pharmacology
- Removable prosthodontics
- Sleep medicine
- Temporal mandibular disorders (TMD) and craniofacial pain
- Treatment planning
About Our Faculty
A core team of tenured Hennepin Healthcare staff leads the General Practice Residency.
Program leadership
- Dr. Mary Seieroe, DDS, Chief of Dentistry, Hennepin Healthcare
- Dr. Erin Gunselman, DDS, Program Director, General Practice Residency, Hennepin Healthcare
Areas of Expertise
Every day our faculty share their dedication and expertise in a variety of key disciplines.
Endodontics
Dr. Cale Strait, DDS
General Dentistry
Dr. Erin Gunselman, DDS
Dr. Richard Markowski, DDS
Dr. Mary Seieroe, DDS
Dr. Cynthia Strand, DDS
Dr. Anne Kent, DDS
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Dr. Lance Svoboda, DDS
Dr. Marcus Urza, DMD
Pediatric Dentistry
Dr. Elisabeth Fulling, DDS
Dr. Andrea Leyland, DDS
Dr. Melanie Yuen, DDS
Periodontics
Dr. Roger Ettel, DDS
Prosthodontics
Dr. Brandon DeWitt, DDS, MSD
TMD and Orofacial Pain
Dr. Dennis Haley, DDS
What Sets Us Apart?
Advanced clinical training.
At Hennepin Healthcare, residents build on their primary dental education by providing comprehensive general dentistry to their own slate of patients, many with complex dental and medical conditions.
Collaboration and teamwork.
With 15 residency and fellowship programs, the Hennepin Healthcare system is a collegial, academic environment focused on teaching and quality care.
Patient diversity.
Hennepin Healthcare serves as the region’s primary provider for urban and underserved individuals, giving residents experience treating patients from a variety of cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds
Integrated hospital experience.
Through outpatient and inpatient settings, our residency prepares dental graduates to quickly identify and treat a full range of conditions, including those that can arise in emergency situations.
Applications Due December 1
Application Requirements
- Application through PASS. Hennepin Healthcare accepts the standard PASS Application format, which includes a Dental School transcript, a personal statement, three Personal Potential Index reports, and one Professional Evaluation from the Dean. There is no application fee.
- U.S. or Canadian citizenship or permanent resident status.
- DDS or DMD from a CODA-accredited Dental School, with graduation prior to residency start date.
- Eligibility for a resident license in Minnesota (regional board exams are not required).
Process
- Submission: Submit your application through the American Dental Education Association’s Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS). We do not accept applications through the mail. Hennepin Healthcare participates in the Postdoctoral Dental Matching Program.
- Scoring: Each applicant will be considered based on these attributes:
- Pass on Board scores
- Academic achievements, such as GPA, class rank, or other evidence of achievement
- Community service involvement
- Leadership roles
- Honors and accomplishments
- Content of letters of recommendation (three Personal Potential Index reports and one Professional Evaluation form from the Dean)
- Content of personal statement
- Commitment to dentistry
- Research
- Overall impression at the personal interview
- Interviews: Applicants with a completed PASS application who demonstrate a strong candidacy through their selected attributes, may be invited to interviews. Interviews are held in November and December. The interview process will entail a brief program overview, lunch with the current residents, tours of the facility, and personal interviews with faculty. Potential applicants are welcome to schedule a day to come to observe at our clinic prior to the interview cycle to see if the program is a good fit for their professional goals.
About Our Facility
Hennepin Healthcare is a Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, with a campus spanning five city blocks in downtown Minneapolis. It is home to the busiest Emergency Department in the region, as well as a brand new ambulatory building for all outpatient surgeries and procedures. The dental clinic moved along with all the other outpatient services and enjoys serving their diverse patient population in an expanded, 31-chair state-of-the-art space.