(PO-195) Three R's of Community Dental Education: Responsive, Resilient, and Repeatable

Author: Cynthia Jetter, D.M.D. – Assistant Professor, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Dental Medicine
Author: Jill A. York, D.D.S., M.A.S. – Professor, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Dental Medicine
Submitter: Cynthia Jetter, D.M.D. – Assistant Professor, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Dental Medicine

Objectives: COVID-19 presents challenges that impact the dental education of students as well as the dental care of patients. This requires Rutgers School of Dental Medicine (RSDM) to respond to our students’ and patients’ needs, implement operational changes to meet their needs, and evaluate the program’s outcomes to apply to future challenges. This project’s purpose is to assess data from the dental educational experiences of fourth year dental students in community-based dental health centers of RSDM during an academic year unlike any previous to it.

Methods: RSDM has three Community Oriented Dental Education (CODE) sites which provide fourth year dental students with an alternative to the traditional dental school model of patient treatment centers. The central mission of RSDM’s CODE program is to expand the knowledge, skills, and abilities of dental students while delivering care to the underserved. Education, patient care, and community service work together to accomplish the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) standards of 2-23, 2-24, 2-25, and 2-26. Data from patients’ electronic health records, patient satisfaction surveys, students’ surveys including results of clinical rotation evaluations, and exit interviews were used to assess how well the program met the CODA standards.

Results: In academic year 2020-2021 a total of 127 students participated in 19,084 hours in the community providing dental care to patients from all life-stages, including patients with CODA defined special needs of developmental disabilities, cognitive impairment, and complex medical problems. The care provided included all disciplines of dentistry including formative and summative assessments.

Conclusion: RSDM was responsive and changed the manner in which education and patient care was delivered in the community. RSDM was resilient as the program’s goal and objectives were accomplished during a difficult time. RSDM ensured repeatability through the development of a framework which could be applied to future challenges.