Education

Welcome to the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Training Program at Boston University Medical Center (BUMC). We are delighted that you have shown interest in our educational program.

The rich heritage of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Training at the BUMC campus dates back over 100 years to the early 1900s at Boston City Hospital (BCH). Many graduates of the program at BCH hold prestigious academic and professional society leadership positions all over the world, and are considered pioneers in the field of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. In 1996, BCH merged with the private Boston University Hospital to form Boston Medical Center (BMC). This “public-private” merger was widely acclaimed as perhaps the most successful merger of its kind in the country, and led to the formation of BMC as one of the model urban academic medical centers in the US. The hospital has state-of-the-art facilities throughout.

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Training at the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) has a long-standing tradition of excellence. The OMS department and its residency program at Boston University has one of the largest faculty in the country with 13 full-time OMS faculty, and over 25 part-time OMS attending staff participating in the integrated didactic and clinical education of our residents. Additionally, the hospital-based section of the OMS department has two Prosthodontists and one non-surgical TMJ and Facial Pain Specialist. The dental school section of the OMS department has two board-certified Oral Pathologists with varying areas of expertise, all of whom interact daily with our residents, thereby adding a unique in-house, interdisciplinary flavor to their comprehensive surgical training experience.

The strength of our medical center is reflected in the high quality and the diverse nature of the surgical training our residents receive in the residency program. As the only “expanded-scope” training program in New England, our trainees gain extensive experience in the entire spectrum of contemporary OMS surgical care including microneurosurgery, oncological surgery, microvascular reconstruction, and facial cosmetic surgery. The primary teaching institutions of our program include Boston Medical Center (BMC), Veteran’s Administration Medical Center (VAMC), and the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM). Additionally, residents participate in the surgical care of patients at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Franciscan Children’s Hospital (FCH) and Lemuel Shattuck Hospital (LSH). Structured and carefully planned rotations to the affiliated institutions ensures that our residents gain experience in the full scope of clinical surgery in a varied environment, thereby providing them with a diverse and unique training experience.

We consider ourselves to be amongst the strongest and most well rounded OMS training programs in the USA. Graduation from the program provides solid training in all areas of oral and maxillofacial surgery. We are extremely pleased to inform you that our residency program is accredited without any reporting requirements; we have received numerous commendations including scope and volume of practice, and faculty retention. The didactic program is very comprehensive and consists lectures, conferences, and seminars. Besides departmental faculty and multiple local guest lecturers, the didactic program also includes external physicians, dentists, and surgeons of national and international repute. Additionally, the program gives its residents a yearly book allowance, and monetary reimbursement for professional meetings including conferences and select review courses. The department alumni and faculty are extremely proud of our current and past residents. Despite very hectic clinical and didactic schedules, and busy personal lives, these exceptional individuals have managed to publish hallmark articles in journals, co-authored book chapters, and participated in groundbreaking and award-winning clinical and laboratory research.

We welcome your interest in our residency program and hope that you will enjoy browsing through our website. You will notice the strength of our program as evidenced by the exceptional quality of our faculty, their individual areas of clinical expertise and specialization and their strong academic and/or research inclinations. We can assure prospective applicants that our faculty and staff will endeavor to make your surgical education exciting and enjoyable.

Pushkar Mehra, BDS, DMD, MS, FACS
Professor and Chair

Richard John Tannyhill, DDS, MD, FACS
Clinical Professor and Director of Residency Training