Community-Based Clinical Training

The service mission of the School of Dentistry is directed at improving the health and well-being of the people living in urban and rural locations throughout the region. The School's outreach programs are especially attentive to the oral health needs of disadvantaged and underserved populations. Various community-based dental clinics throughout Washington State and the surrounding region are "partners" with the School of Dentistry, having dental students provide oral health care under the supervision of their staff dentists. Besides the technical experience of providing comprehensive patient care to underserved children and adults from urban and rural communities, institutionalized (nursing homes) geriatric adults, hospital-based children and adults, and people with disabilities, these off-site rotations also provide the students with an opportunity to develop the behavioral skills that are required to meet the oral health care needs of an ever-changing regional population. These community- and hospital-based training experiences are of varied duration (0.5-10 days), and take place primarily in the 3rd and 4th years of the curriculum.

By including in the curriculum these off-site training opportunities for delivering oral health care to vulnerable populations, the School also hopes that positive attitudes about working with underserved populations will continue well after graduation, thus helping the region reduce the oral health disparities that exist. The UW School of Dentistry shares this philosophy toward reducing oral health disparities with 14 other US dental schools participating in the "Pipeline, Profession & Practice: Community-Based Dental Education" grant that is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the California Endowment.