Interprofessional Partnership: FNP and Dental Hygiene Students Reinforcing the Oral and Systemic Health Link

The link between oral health and systemic chronic conditions has been established: patients with suboptimal control of their chronic medical conditions are disproportionately affected by poor oral health. This is especially true with vulnerable populations who lack timely access to appropriate medical and dental services for prevention, screening and management of their health needs (Institute of Medicine, 2011).

In response to this disparity and challenges associated with seamless care of those most at risk, HRSA developed the Integration of Oral Health and Primary Care Practice (IOHPCP) (Health Services Resource Administration, 2014). The recommendations include competencies for primary care providers, strategies for implementation and recommendations for systems level adaptations to facilitate translation into practice through collaboration between oral health providers and primary care providers. The IOHPCP competencies are in alignment with those developed for Family Nurse Practitioners through the NTF guidelines and are congruent with dental hygiene scope of practice.

The university campus presents an opportunity to develop and evaluate integrative models of interdisciplinary education because it is the home of many health profession schools and future providers that will treat many of the same patients after graduation.  

 This project is among the first on campus to pilot IPE in both clinical and didactic courses, over multiple semesters. Faculty from the School of Nursing and the School of Dentistry collaborated to thread evidence based practice and clinical competencies specific to oral and systemic health into didactic and clinical practicum courses, and used faculty practice sites for IPE learning activities.  Student outcomes evaluation included knowledge base, clinical and diagnostic reasoning skills, and communication skills.