Frequently Asked Questions

Application & Selection Process

How does the application review process work?

All applications are reviewed by program leadership using defined academic, clinical, and professionalism criteria. Review is structured and sequential. Only complete applications are considered for interview selection.

What happens if my application is missing information?

If required components are missing or clarification is needed, applicants may be contacted and given the opportunity to complete the application within a defined timeframe. Applications must be complete by the published deadline to be eligible for interview consideration.

When and how are interviews conducted?

Interviews are conducted in late March  and are by invitation only. Selected applicants will receive direct communication with detailed instructions. Interviews are designed to be substantive and include meetings with program leadership and faculty, as well as an opportunity to tour the facilities.

Will all faculty participate in the interview process?

Program leadership and core faculty participate actively in the interview process. Applicants will have opportunities to meet faculty and discuss clinical expectations, teaching approach, and mentorship structure

Will I be notified if I am not selected for an interview?

Yes. Applicants who are not selected for interview will be notified once the interview cohort is finalized. While individualized feedback is not provided, all applicants will receive a clear status update.

How many applicants are interviewed?

The number of interview invitations is intentionally limited to allow meaningful evaluation and direct interaction. Interviews are not conducted at scale and are designed to support informed decision-making on both sides.

Faculty Structure and Qualifications

Who are the faculty?

We have recruited a highly experienced group of board-certified specialists, many of whom currently hold senior academic or clinical appointments at leading institutions. To respect ongoing professional commitments and transition timelines, faculty identities are not publicly listed at this stage.

Applicants will have the opportunity to meet them directly during interviews,  discuss teaching philosophy, and understand expectations for mentorship and training.

Clinical Environment and Facilities

Is the clinic new, and how does that affect training?

Yes. The facility is newly constructed and purpose-designed for postgraduate education. This allows clinical layouts, technology integration, and patient flow to be optimized for resident training rather than adapted from legacy spaces.

Will patient volume and case complexity be sufficient?

The clinic is purpose-designed to support high-volume, specialty-level care across multiple disciplines and serve a broad and diverse patient population. Extensive partnerships with local communities, coupled with detailed population and needs analyses, inform referral pathways and patient access, to support a consistent and appropriate clinical volume.

The clinical model emphasizes progressive case complexity, interdisciplinary referral, and sustained exposure to medically and dentally complex patients—aligned with the requirements of advanced specialty training.

How is technology incorporated into daily clinical work?

The clinical environment is equipped with a robust set of contemporary specialty technologies integrated into daily patient care. Residents routinely use advanced digital imaging, virtual treatment planning, CAD/CAM design and fabrication, microsurgical instrumentation, and specialty-specific technologies as part of routine care.”

Educational Model and Resident Experience

How is interdisciplinary education actually structured?

Interdisciplinary education is formally built into the curriculum. Case conferences, treatment planning sessions, and clinical coordination across programs are scheduled, faculty-led, and evaluated. Residents are expected to present, defend, and revise treatment plans in collaboration with other specialties as a core educational requirement.

Is there a defined structure for scholarly activity?

Yes. Scholarly activity is curriculum-mapped, supervised, and time-protected. Each resident is assigned a faculty mentor, receives structured guidance in study design and analysis, and follows a defined timeline with deliverables. Projects are developed to a standard appropriate for presentation or peer-reviewed publication.

Is the curriculum clinically driven or lecture heavy?

The curriculum is clinically driven by design. Clinical training is the primary focus and is supported by structured didactics that directly reinforce decision-making, diagnosis, and treatment execution. Clinical responsibility and case complexity increase in a planned, sequential manner rather than ad hoc exposure.

How are residents assessed and held to standards?

Resident performance is evaluated through continuous, documented clinical assessment, scheduled formal reviews, and outcomes-based benchmarks. Evaluation criteria, remediation pathways, and advancement expectations are clearly defined. Each resident is assigned a primary faculty mentor responsible for oversight, feedback, and professional development.

Career Preparation and Professional Outcomes

How does the program address concerns about specialty saturation?

The program emphasizes depth of training, interdisciplinary competence, and professional readiness. Graduates are prepared to manage complex cases and function within team-based care environments.

Is practice management or leadership training included?

Yes. The curriculum includes structured instruction in professional responsibility, leadership development, and practice management to support long-term career sustainability.

What is distinctive about joining the inaugural cohort?

Residents in the inaugural cohort benefit from close faculty engagement, high levels of institutional attention, and the opportunity to help establish academic culture and clinical standards that will define the program moving forward.

Accreditation, Site Visit, and Program Readiness

All of our residency programs have completed the CODA site visit and are awaiting CODA’s review and decision regarding Initial Accreditation. Prior to the site visit, Paris Regional Health with AIDM developed the curriculum, recruited faculty, and completed facility planning and institutional review in preparation for CODA’s evaluation.

What occurs during an accreditation site visit, and why is it significant?

An accreditation site visit is a comprehensive evaluation conducted by external reviewers. It assesses program readiness across all critical domains, including:

  • Institutional governance and financial stability
  • Faculty qualifications and supervision models 
  • Curriculum structure and assessment systems
  • Clinical facilities, equipment, and patient care workflows 
  • Resident evaluation, remediation, and due process policies 
  • Patient safety, quality assurance, and compliance

The site visit determines whether a program is operationally and academically prepared to train residents, not merely whether plans exist on paper.

What were the results of the AIDM site visit?

A comprehensive site visit was completed in September 2025, and no citations or recommendations were identified during the site visit.  CODA will make the final accreditation decision at its Commission meeting.

When will accreditation be formally decided?

CODA is scheduled to consider granting Initial Accreditation in February 2026. In accordance with CODA policy, no residents will be enrolled prior to CODA’s accreditation decision. Any matriculation timeline is contingent upon CODA granting Initial Accreditation; if granted, the inaugural cohort is anticipated to matriculate in July 2026.

How does this process protect residents?

By prohibiting enrollment until Initial Accreditation is granted, the program ensures that residents begin training in a fully reviewed and approved educational environment that meets national standards for advanced dental education

These residency programs are developing programs. Enrollment and start dates are contingent upon CODA granting Initial Accreditation. Program details may be updated as CODA review and institutional planning progress.

Accreditation

The Advanced Education Programs in Prosthodontics, Endodontics, Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD), and Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics sponsored by Paris Regional Health at the Austin Institute of Dental Medicine (AIDM) are developing programs that have applied for accreditation by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) of the American Dental Association.

*A comprehensive CODA site-visit evaluation was completed in September 2025 with no recommendations cited. CODA will consider granting each program “Initial Accreditation” at its 2026 meeting (Feb 2026). No residents will be enrolled until Initial Accreditation is granted, in accordance with CODA policy for developing programs. Pending that decision, the inaugural cohort is anticipated to matriculate in July 2026.

AIDM logo

Why Another Residency Program – Arenʼt There Enough?

The creation of new residency programs in dentistry is not, by itself, a marker of innovation or quality. What matters is how a program is designed, what constraints it operates under, and whether it reflects the realities of contemporary specialty practice.

Across the country, many established programs continue to deliver excellent education—but often within facilities, workflows, and care models that were not designed for today's interdisciplinary, technology-enabled, and system-based clinical environment. As a result, graduates may enter practice highly knowledgeable yet underexposed to the operational and clinical complexity they will immediately face. 

The residency programs sponsored by Paris Regional Health (PRH) at the Austin Institute of Dental Medicine (AIDM) were not created to simply add more residency positions. They were established to build a purpose-designed postgraduate training environment—one in which academic governance, modern clinical infrastructure, interdisciplinary care, and contemporary workflows are integrated from the outset. 

What distinguishes our programs are not that they're new but that they were built without legacy limitations. The programs were designed deliberately around current standards of care, realistic patient complexity, and the expectations placed on specialists in modern healthcare systems.

The aim is to graduate clinicians who are not only technically competent, but prepared to assume responsibility within complex, collaborative, real-world practice environments from their first day after training. In short, these programs are not a departure from academic tradition—they're an effort to apply them rigorously to the present clinical landscape. 

AIDM was established to align advanced dental education with the realities of modern specialty practice.