Dental Public Health Resident Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Disclosure(s):
Lauren Gritzer, DDS, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To create optimal oral and overall health for the community, Dental Public Health (DPH) specialists must be equipped with state-of-the-art qualities and appropriate skills to deal with contemporary and incipient DPH issues. This study aimed to assess 1) contemporary job market demands pertaining to the DPH profession, 2) residents' needs, and areas of insufficiencies in the residency program to meet these demands. METHODS: A mixed methods study was conducted. Interviews of stakeholders from different job market domains were qualitatively analyzed. A quantitative analysis was conducted on a web-based survey distributed to recent DPH graduates, and on DPH job listings' qualifications and skills. RESULTS: Health informatics, leadership, teledentistry, cost-effective analysis and health economics, and professional and grant writing skills were the most identified contemporary skills that need to be included in the DPH curriculum. DPH graduates identified a lack of clinical experience to be a significant barrier to position acquisition. There was also an assumption of a preexisting clinical component by most job market interviewees, which was viewed as essential. CONCLUSIONS: DPH residency programs must identify residents’ needs, areas of insufficiency, and job market demands. Based on the findings, we propose a set of skills and qualities including technological, clinical, and leadership components to be integrated into the curriculum to meet current job market demands and progress the DPH field. These components will equip DPH practitioners to be innovative, progressive, and have the ability to deal with current and emergent DPH issues and make significant changes in the DPH field.
