A New Integrated Oral Health and Primary Care Education Program in the Dental Student Clinic.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to describe the implementation of a new program incorporating primary care education into a predoctoral dental curriculum in the StudentTeaching Clinic at Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) using the primary care rotations for students in a dental setting as a platform for change in our approach to patient care.

Methods: A survey of perspectives on the need for primary care medicine in dental education was distributed to all the deans of Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-accredited dental schools in the continental United States for a total of 65 eligible schools.

Results: Of the 27 responses from the dental school deans, a majority of dental schools already had interprofessional collaborative practices at their schools, with collaborations with physicians and nurse practitioners being most common. Ninety-six percent of responders were supportive of integrating oral health and primary care to improve patient care and regarded primary care training for dental students as a potential method of improving patient care in dental education.

Conclusion: As patient care involves multidisciplinary and interprofessional environments with a wide array of health care providers, curricular directions for dental school should explore an education model that incorporates the concepts of primary care medicine.