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Post-doctoral Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry

FY2011 Abstract

AlabamaNew YorkOhioPuerto RicoWashington
 

Alabama

Grant Number: D88HP22653
Project Director: Dr. Janice G. Jackson
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
1919 7th Avenue South, SDB 311
Birmingham, AL 35294-0007
Phone: 205 934-7016
Fax: 205-934-7013

The purpose of this proposal is to maintain and increase our program exposure to Alabama’s children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special needs. Our outreach over the last 10 years has expanded dramatically and we are taking part in narrowing the gap in disparities in oral health care to some of our neediest children. Alabama has one of the lowest family mean incomes in the US and among one of the top states with predominately rural areas. Data acquired from Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), 2004 showed that 50 to 60% of the 3rd graders had tooth decay. Five to 15% of children screened by ADPH were found to have urgent dental needs. Also, over 60% of low family income children in Alabama did not visit the dentist in 2004. Through the funds from Title VII, we plan to maintain our current increase in residents’ stipends, cover a portion of the ever growing tuition costs, and attract highly qualified residents, especially minorities to our program. We have had an excellent track record so far and plan to continue to move forward. Our proposal will open more doors of opportunity to minorities, especially our plans to reach a large Hispanic population in Birmingham and, with our new partnership with United Way of Central Alabama, provide us with greater access to children in Head Start programs and agencies focused on children with special needs. Through the proposed sealant and statewide oral health surveillance programs in partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), we will insure a decrease in caries experience to disadvantaged children in Alabama and identify dental homes for those without dental care. Linking with 2 predominately African American Dental Schools, Meharry and Howard to offer externship to seniors from those schools to observe our pediatric dentistry residency program will help us in our recruitment of minorities to UAB. Alabama is above the national average in unemployment (est. 7-20%), which is increasing the number of children on Medicaid. We think that our program’s activities will lead to less caries experience through prevention (i.e., dental screenings and education, sealant program, etc) and intervention with families at schools, health fairs, and other outreach sites. There will be less caries, better access, and better life-span health in those children who we are reaching out to.

 

New York

Grant Number: D88HP22655
Project Director: Yanfang Ren, DDS, PhD, MPH
University of Rochester, Eastman Institute for Oral Health
625 Elmwood Ave
Rochester, NY 14620
Phone: 585 273-5588
Fax: 585 2731235

The Pediatric Dentistry Preceptorship for General Dentistry residents (PDPGD) is a collaborative training project between the general dentistry and pediatric dentistry residency programs of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health (EIOH) to address the shortage of workforce providing dental care to children living in impoverished communities and to reduce children's oral health disparities stemmed from lack of access to dental care for families living in poverty. PDPGD will provide didactic courses and practical experiences in behavioral and clinical managements of pediatric dental patients to residents in an expanded two-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program. As children with complex dental needs most likely reside in areas with limited access to dental services, the proposed collaborative training initiative that involves both the AEGD and pediatric dentistry residence programs in a community dental clinic setting can best serve the training needs of the residents and, in addition, provide essential services to the children in these underserved communities. The overall goal of PDPGD is to improve access to comprehensive dental care for children living in underserved communities, through enhanced training of general dentistry residents competent in treating young children with unmet oral health needs. The attainment of this goal can be assessed with the following measurable objectives:

  1.  Expand the existing AEGD program by 10 new resident positions;
  2.  Enhance the access to oral health care for children in impoverished communities in the city of Rochester;
  3.  Develop a clinical care model that facilitates the reduction of dental caries in children with limited access to oral health by general dentist;
  4. Design an educational curriculum for the PDPDG program that meets CODA standards for AEGD programs;
  5. Recruit 50% of the PDPGD program enrollees from under-represented race/ethnic minority groups;
  6. Enhance the sensitivity of the residents to factors affecting access to dental care for children living in poverty in under-served communities; and
  7. Establish a 2-year Pediatric dentistry intensive AEGD program as a national educational model.
 

Ohio

Grant Number: D88HP22652
Project Director: Sena Narendran
Northeastern Ohio Postdoctoral Training in Dental Public Health (NEOPOSTDPH)
Case School of Dental Medicine, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
Case Western Reserve University
10900 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44106-4905
Phone: 216 368-1311
Fax: 216 368-5888

The purpose of this grant proposal is to develop and implement a dental public health residency program at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) by August 2011. The need to increase the dental public health workforce at local, state, and national level is well documented. In the State of Ohio, a substantial proportion of the population has untreated caries, dental care is the most common unmet need, and more than 60 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) exist. The primary objective of the program is to improve access to dental care in numerous underserved communities in Ohio as well as in the country by training competent dental public health practitioners. The first year (2010-11) will be devoted to planning the program as well as securing accreditation status from the Commission on Dental Accreditation. The residency program will be implemented during the second year and will be structured in three modules: 1) one-year fulltime, 2) two-year part-time, or 3) two-year fulltime. CWRU offers adequate resources for the successful implementation of the program, being well equipped to provide didactic and clinical instruction as well as distance learning; the proposed program also includes a competent group of faculty. The project director has an excellent record of developing dental public health residency programs as well as training underrepresented minorities; he developed the residency programs in San Antonio (1992) and Houston (1995). The primary training site will be the School of Dental Medicine at CWRU, with extramural sites in Ohio and Michigan. The training sites have been carefully chosen to increase residents’ cultural sensitivity and understanding, particularly about two underrepresented minority groups: African-Americans and Hispanics; the program will make a concerted effort to recruit trainees from the aforementioned minority groups. Trainees will be working with the homeless and migrant farm workers. Training will also include various aspects of dental public health: program development and evaluation, community oriented primary care, research, administration, etc. The didactic instruction will encompass competencies of the American Board for Dental Public Health. Training will also include: 1) utilization of technology, 2) instruction in population health, cultural competency and health literacy, geriatric and pediatric dentistry, 3) dental care to underserved populations, 4) involvement of residents in the Healthy Smiles sealant program, 5) teaching experience, and 6) field experiences/public health practicum. Efforts will be made to retain the existing under-represented minority faculty members in the program. Appropriate quantitative and qualitative evaluation will ensure the success of the proposed dental public health residency program; the methodology will be disseminated by a judicious choice of existing technological and other applicable resources.

 

Puerto Rico

Grant Number: D88HP22654
Project Director: Yolanda Heredia, DMD
University of Puerto Rico School of Dentistry
Medical Sciences Campus, General Practice Residency Program
P.O. Box 365067
San Juan, PR 00936-5067
Phone: 787 757-1800 ext 1191
Fax: 787 641-1181

The GPR Training Program at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus encompasses the education necessary for general dentists to provide a broad range of dental services to patients with special needs or who are medically and socially compromised. General dentists who participate in the Program are expected to receive knowledge and skills that will enable them to respond to the primary and advanced services needs of the underserved and high risk patients.

The Smile for the Mountain Project will be possible through a collaborative agreement with the municipality of Carolina. Each one of our trainees will be participating in a rotation at rural site with the medical team that is currently giving medical care to this community in a self contained medical van. Community research, outreach and health promotion are important goals of this rural experience. Oral health education, poster contests, family caregiver training and participation in health fairs are typical of the activities available to school systems, senior centers, nursing homes and community events. The residents will actively participate as members of a total health care team in treating patients and in the development and implementation of the community health policy.

The Goals of this project are:
Goal # 1: Expand the access to oral health care services in medically underserved areas and improve the health status of medically underserved populations with the training of general dentists according to the oral health needs of Puerto Rico.
Goal # 2: Enhance the academic and clinical experience of the General Practice Program by establishing a rural community rotation for oral health promotion and primary dental services, in the project “Smile for the mountain”.

 

Washington

Grant Number: D88HP23213
Project Director: Ana Lucia Seminario, DDS, Ph.D.
University of Washington School of Dentistry
Department of Pediatric Dentistry
Box 357136
1959 NE Pacific Street
Seattle, WA 98195
Phone: 206 543-4885
Fax: 206 616-7470

Purpose: The main purpose of this application is to increase access to children’s quality oral health care of underserved populations by developing a new sustainable, institution-based pediatric dentistry residency track – the Pediatric Rural Educational Program (PREP) - that aims to increase the number of pediatric dentists who practice in Health Professional Short Areas (HPSA).

Needs/Rationale: Oral health care is the most common unmet health care need among children and adolescents with special health care needs, which comprise an estimated 12.8% of children. This vulnerable population is almost twice as likely to have unmet oral health care needs as children without SHCN with similar income levels. A 2005 Washington State Smile Survey showed that 45% of 3-5 years old low-income children had experienced dental caries and 27% had untreated decay. In the last five years, dental decay has increased to 59% in elementary school children with minorities being the most affected by this epidemic disease. Many dentists do not have the specialized knowledge required to adequately manage the care of children and adolescents with special health care needs, contributing to poor access to care for this population.

Objectives: 1) Develop and modify curricula of an accredited University-based pediatric dental residency program for a new track which includes new modules in cultural competency, community leadership, and public health all in an interdisciplinary environment; 2) build and strengthen interdisciplinary community linkages with regional HPSAs; (3) expand current activities to recruit and retain underrepresented minority trainees and faculty; and (4) assist program graduates in finding employment in pediatric dental HPSAs.

Methodology: In Year 1, University of Washington faculty and Seattle Children’s Hospital partners will develop a curriculum for PREP residents consistent with CODA requirements. New curricula in cultural competency, community leadership, and public health will be developed in an interdisciplinary environment and implemented using innovative case-based methodologies. Additional dental equipment will be purchased for clinical training of residents. Community linkages include but are not limited to the Indian Health Service, UW Regional Initiatives in Dental Education (RIDE) program, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Head Start Dental Home Initiative, Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) program, and Central Washington Family Medicine. With this application we will maximize efforts to recruit and train minority students and faculty and/or help graduates find employment in HPSA.

Evaluation: It will include quantitative and qualitative methods to track implementation of the training program and outcomes (e.g., numbers of residents trained in the PREP, receiving new curricula, and/or participating in interdisciplinary experiences; residents’ experiences in community-based settings, attitudes and practice preferences; success of activities to recruit and retain minority students and faculty, and graduates working in HPSAs.)

Feasibility: This application builds on the already successful models for sustainable institution-based (in Seattle) and community-based (in Yakima) pediatric dentistry programs at the UW Department of Pediatric Dentistry.