Dental volunteering – a time for reflection and a time for change

Globalization, along with the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, their risk factors, and poor oral health, demands global approaches to oral health care. Trained health care workers' providing volunteer services abroad is one model used for improving access to dental services for some communities. Currently, little is known about U.S. dental student involvement in international clinical service volunteerism. The aim of this exploratory study was to capture national survey data from predoctoral dental students about their interest in and experience with global health service trips. The survey sought to assess students' past experiences and current and future interest in programs providing dental and/or medical services in order to lay the foundation for further research. A 12-question web-based survey was distributed in May 2017 to 22,930 students enrolled in U.S. dental schools. A total of 1,555 students responded, for a response rate of 7%. Respondents were evenly distributed across the four academic years. Approximately 22% (n=342) of the respondents had already participated in a service trip experience, 83% reported interest in a service trip while in school, and 92% were interested after graduation. Reported motivations for international trips included the desire to care for the underserved and to obtain a more global view of health and disease. Concerns were expressed regarding costs and time constraints. This study provided preliminary, exploratory data on dental student engagement with international service trips. Both interest and participation in international service trips among responding students were high, reflecting current trends in both dentistry and medicine. Dental education may have an opportunity to guide student engagement in more sustainable and ethical volunteering in the U.S. and abroad.

Section: A National Survey Of Us Dental Students' Experiences With mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A National Survey Of Us Dental Students' Experiences With mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivations For Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A National Survey of U.S. Dental Students’ Experiences with International Service Trips

Lambert

Wong

Woodmansey

et al. 2018

“…[19][20][21] Additionally, next steps for consensus-building should involve global community partners who can provide key insights from the community partner perspective on student learning and student impact, both short and long term. As student and faculty interest and demand for engagement in global health increase, a deeper understanding of global health activities in dental schools, including their full scope, aims, and objectives and their impact on students and communities, is required and should be part of a research agenda.…”

Section: Research Learning: University Of California San Francisco Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This approach may allow us to enhance more traditional short-term global health volunteer programs and develop new, sophisticated, sustainable, and better-integrated educational models for global health in dental education. [19][20][21] Additionally, next steps for consensus-building should involve global community partners who can provide key insights from the community partner perspective on student learning and student impact, both short and long term.…”

Section: Research Learning: University Of California San Francisco Gmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going Global: Toward Competency‐Based Best Practices for Global Health in Dental Education

Seymour

Shick²,

Chaffee

et al. 2017

The Global Oral Health Interest Group of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (GOHIG-CUGH) published recommended competencies to support development of competency-based global health education in dental schools. However, there has been no comprehensive, systematically derived, or broadly accepted framework for creating and delivering competency-based global health education to dental students. This article describes the results of a collaborative workshop held at the 2016 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Annual Session & Exhibition designed to build on the GOHIG-CUGH competencies and start to develop systematic approaches for their practical application. Workshop organizers developed a preliminary theoretical framework for guiding the development of global health in dental education, grounded in published research. Collectively, workshop participants developed detailed outcomes for the theoretical framework with a focus on three educational practices: didactic, experiential, and research learning and how each can meet the competencies. Participants discussed learning objectives, keys to implementation, ethical considerations, challenges, and examples of success. Outcomes demonstrated that no educational practice on its own meets all 33 recommended competencies for dental students; however, the three educational practices combined may potentially cover all 33. Participants emphasized the significance of sustainable approaches to student learning for both students and communities, with identified partners in the communities to collaborate on the development, implementation, evaluation, and long-term maintenance of any student global health activity. These findings may represent early steps toward professional consensus and best practices for global health in dental education in the United States.

Voluntourism and Global Health: Preparing Dental Students for Responsible Engagement in International Programs

Seymour

Benzian

Kalenderian

2013

Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) estimates that nearly 25 percent of its predoctoral dental students have expressed an interest in global health, including traveling abroad to conduct research or to volunteer in a project. This article addresses the important differences between "voluntourism" (combined volunteering and tourism) and responsible engagement in global health, reports on a pilot workshop at HSDM to promote responsible volunteering, and provides a recommendation on how to address these issues in the context of a dental curriculum. The pilot Workshop for Ethical Volunteering in Global Health was designed as a discussion-based, interactive program that included lectures, small-group activities, and personal relection. The aim of the workshop was to provide students with a systematic approach to ethical volunteering, critically relecting on their motivation and attitudes related to conventional models of volunteering and facilitating alignment with principles of global health. Students participated in an anonymous written survey at the start and the close of the workshop. After the workshop, survey results demonstrated a signiicant increase in understanding the value of applying principles of global health when volunteering in order to avoid negative and unintended impacts on communities. All of the students reported that the workshop inluenced the way they view volunteering in dentistry.Dr. Seymour is Instructor,