Lutheran Medical Center Department of Dental Medicine

Lutheran Medical Center (LMC) is a 478-bed acute care hospital and Level 1 Trauma Center. It is the home of the Lutheran Family Health Care Network (LFHCN), one of the largest, oldest, and most successful Federally Qualified Health Centers in the nation. The LFHCN accounts for over 600,000 medical and 70,000 dental visits annually. In addition a large school health program serves over 17,000 students in the metropolitan area.

The Department of Dental Medicine is recognized nationally for its post doctoral residency training programs and its mission of increasing access to oral health services for the underserved and most vulnerable. Five American Dental Association, Commission on Dental Accreditation accredited programs in General Practice Residency, Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency, Pediatric Dentistry Residency, Endodontic Residency and Anesthesiology Residency are sponsored by LMC. With over 130 residents in a service learning milieu, the programs have forged partnerships with extramural training sites in 12 states, the Caribbean and internationally in Trinidad, providing over 130,000 visits annually to those most in need. These innovative programs are unique in their organization and mission. Residents are placed full time in extramural settings that are located in health professions shortage areas including FQHCs, Indian Health Service, VA, Health Departments, Free Clinics and other ambulatory care settings. LMC has pioneered over the past decade in the use of distance learning strategies and on line evaluation methodologies to assure equity in the educational and curricular process. The Department has been successful in obtaining multiple public and private grants and will continue to do the same in the future. These include manpower training and Ryan White grants from HRSA.