FOUNDATION TO CLINICAL DENTISTRY

Catalog description

The teaching of patient -centered comprehensive management and care begins in the first year of the UAGM SDM curricular program with emphasis on student learning of the foundational knowledge and skills needed for effective patient interviewing, examination , behavioral management, and on the basic skills required to work safely in the clinical environment. This Foundation to Clinical Dentistry course transitions dental students from leveraging primarily theoretical - and preclinical-based learning experiences in support of their development as general dentists to having their first direct patient management a nd care experiences. In this first direct clinical approach to patients, students apply all previously acquired skills and knowledge to follow proper protocols in the care of patients of low complexity oral care needs. The student’s primary focus is on activities that result in adequate diagnoses and in the development of treatment plans that promote the prevention of oral disease and the promotion of health. This includes the ordering of appropriate diagnostic tests and images, the conduct of intraoral and extraoral examinations, multidisciplinary consultations, patient education, risk assessments, and oral hygiene instructions. The first portion of this course serves to introduce students to SDM’s clinical operations and focuses on reviewing and reinforcing concepts necessary for the delivery of patient -centered care that meets all standards and expectations set forth by UAGM SDM protocols, policies, and procedures. For the second portion of the course students are assigned their first four (4) adult patients for commencing patient -centered comprehensive patient management and care, from patient interview and composition of medic al history to the acquisition of patient consent and execution of initial care. This course marks the start of student participation in the UAGM Comprehensive Patient Management and Care Program as member of one of three Comprehensive Patient Management and Care Teams. Students are assigned to a CPMC Team from where, for the remainder of their DMD program, they must meet all the comprehensive care needs of their patients through examination, evaluation, treatment planning and delivery of care to the extent of their training, including recognition of patient complexity, self-limitations and execution of referrals when indicated. The CPMC Team faculty thus supervise a combination of junior and senior dental students who also draw educational benefit from direct interactions with their peers, dental assistants, and other supporting perso nnel, as well as from opportunities for interdisciplinary and interprofessional consultation and collaboration.