Community–Based Dental Education and Dentists’ Attitudes and Behavior Concerning Patients from Underserved Populations

Abstract

Marita R. Inglehart, Dr. phil. habil.Abstract: The objectives of this study were to explore how dentists with well-structured vs. not well-structured communitybased dental education (CBDE) experiences differ in perceptions of their CBDE and its impact on their professional lives and in their professional attitudes and behavior related to treating patients from underserved populations. The relationships between CBDE evaluations and impact on the dentists' professional lives and professional attitudes and behavior were explored as well. Data were collected from 254 dentists who participated in CBDE before graduating from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry between 1970 and 2011. The results showed that the alumni with well-structured experiences rated the quality of their CBDE more positively and its impact on their professional lives as stronger than those with less well-structured experiences. They also had more positive attitudes concerning treating underserved patients and were more likely to treat underserved patients than their peers with less well-structured experiences. These dentists' perceptions of the quality of CBDE and impact on their professional lives correlated signiicantly with their attitudes and behavior concerning treating underserved patients. Their perceptions of the quality of their CBDE experiences and perceptions of beneits from these experiences were signiicantly related to their professional attitudes and behavior related to providing care for patients from underserved populations.Mr. Rohra is a dental student,

Dental Students' Attitudes About Treating Populations That Are Low‐Income Rural, Non‐White, and with Special Needs: A Survey of Four Classes at a U.S. Dental School

“…Nevertheless, the consistently positive correlations between preparedness and personal value hint that students may find worthwhile what they feel prepared to do. Similarly, Rohra et al found that students' participation in high‐quality, community‐anchored educational activities positively affected their attitudes about treating vulnerable populations 31 . This finding may have more to do with increased confidence than population exposure, especially for patients with special health needs, for whom additional training is particularly warranted.…”

In real life: evaluating primary care-based undergraduate dental education in Northwest England

“…Those who had more positive views about the DEC's location reported that they would be more likely to return and practice there in the future. However, contrary to historical research (18,(27)(28)(29) most students in this study would prefer to return home or close to friends and family.…”

“…In this 'hub and spoke' model, the dental school in Preston acts as a 'hub' and the DECs as 'spokes'. As students treating patients in under-served communities are more likely to treat such populations after graduating (5,17), and are reported to have more positive professional attitudes and behaviours regarding those patients (18), one hope of this model was that students, having had experience of treating patients in these areas of high need, would be more likely to opt to remain in these localities after completing their training (15). However, it was acknowledged that this would be dependent to some extent on student rankings in the DF1 recruitment process, which determine to which region a graduate is allocated (19).…”

Process and outcome evaluation of the Oral Health Improvement through Outreach (OHIO) Project

“…The revised curriculum embraced the themes of community service, academics, and citizenship . Dental students with structured community‐based dental education programs were found to have better overall patient/provider outcomes than dental students with less‐structured community‐based dental education programs . The complementary clinical training enhances students’ confidence in their abilities and time management skills.…”