20 Years Beyond the Crossroads: The Path to Interprofessional Education at U.S. Dental Schools

Abstract

In 2003, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called for interprofessional education (IPE) to be adopted by the health professions education community as the pedagogical approach to educating future practitioners for practice in multidisciplinary teams. In dentistry, this call built on points made in the key 1995 IOM report Dental Education at the Crossroads. Currently, IPE and collaborative practice are among the most signiicant changes to health care education and delivery in the 21 st century. This report describes the path that dental education has taken regarding IPE since the irst national report on the subject was released in 1995. It also reports the results of a 2014 survey of U.S. dental schools to ascertain their progress in adopting and implementing IPE, as well as perceived obstacles that persist. Of the 63 dental schools, 62 participated, for a response rate of 98%. While over 90% of the respondents reported that their schools offer IPE experiences, only 58.1% had formal university-led and -promoted IPE programs. Formal IPE experiences were more prevalent at public institutions (67.6%, compared with 44% of private institutions). In 2012, a previous study reported that 66% of the IPE experiences offered to dental students were voluntary; today, 69.1% of these activities are required. Interprofessional core competencies occupy four of the top ive content areas of IPE programming, providing a framework for schools to implement IPE activities. However, inding the bandwidth within the dental curriculum to accommodate IPE competencies, identifying adequate time in the schedule, providing faculty training, and assessing IPE activities were the most frequently reported challenges. The results of this survey lead to recommendations for academic dental institutions moving through this transitional phase in adopting IPE.Dr.

Integrating student feedback during “Dental Curriculum Hack-A-thon”

“…Although inter-professional education (IPE) has struggled to gain momentum in dental education, students and faculty members in our project recognize and value the relationship between dentistry and a variety of other fields of study even if they have yet to experience it [ 22 , 23 ]. IPE involving disciplines and professional students from nursing, medicine, and pharmacy, among others, was viewed as an integral way to prepare for a career as a member of a team of healthcare providers.…”

The Evolution of the Dental Assisting Profession

“…In 2040, more degree programs at colleges and universities will be needed. Necessary changes in dental assisting curricula may include augmented content in new and better targeted diagnostic and care technologies to prevent disease (e.g., genetic testing, risk assessment, and salivary diagnostic testing for caries and periodontal risk) and didactic and experiential learning related to interprofessional care models that integrate medicine and dentistry with prevention and early detection of diseases 24 , 25 …”

Dental and Nurse Practitioner Student Attitudes About Collaboration Before and After Interprofessional Clinical Experiences

“…Most U.S. dental schools have successfully incorporated some form of IPE into their predoctoral dental curricula, enabling collaboration across health care disciplines 12 – 14 . IPE is often integrated in classroom or simulation student activities 11 – 15 .…”