Dental students’ clinical experience caring for very young children continues to be limited, and most new graduates are unprepared to care for our youngest patients. Student rotations to community sites provide rich clinical opportunities, but student care of very young children is often ignored when on rotation. This educational session will provide an overview and discuss lessons learned from a program designed to improve dental student experience with very young children through community-based care. Participants will learn simple, low-cost, and actionable steps to leverage existing relationships and prepare a win/win oriented “ask” of existing partners to meet this need.
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the consequences of limited dental student clinical experience with very young children.
Identify opportunities, barriers and potential solutions to increasing dental student clinical experience with very young children at external rotation sites.
Explai how to prepare a brief win/win-oriented proposal to community sites to increase dental student clinical experience with very young children.
