Pediatric Oral Health Interprofessional Clerkship

Purpose: The goal of a College of Nursing Teaching Oral-Systemic Health (TOSH) Program Pediatric Oral Health Interprofessional Clerkship is to promote acquisition of the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC, 2011) and the Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies (HRSA, 2014) among future primary care providers by engaging family nurse practitioner (FNP), dental (DDS), and medical (MD) students in an interprofessional oral-systemic health clinical experience. The objectives of the clerkship are for students to (1) apply pediatric oral health assessment (health history, exam, risk assessment, prevention, education and referral), (2) identify the pediatric oral-systemic connection, and (3) practice a team-based approach to improve oral-systemic health outcomes.

Methods : During this interprofessional education experience at Bellevue Pediatric Dental Clinic, teams of FNP, DDS, and MD students, worked together with a pediatric dental resident. Team members collaborate in reviewing the patient chart, taking the patient’s medical and dental history, performing an oral assessment, applying fluoride varnish, and providing education and anticipatory guidance.  The pediatric dental resident then conducts a debriefing session where the team discusses the importance of interprofessional teamwork and communication skills in providing patient centered care. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS)was selected to evaluate the degree to which students, using a pre-test/post-test approach, report a change in attitude about IP competencies following the IP learning experiences. 

Results:  Descriptive data for the pilot phase reveal that the clerkship is associated with perceived positive change from pre-test to post-test for each of the six interprofessional competency domains measured by the ICCAS.  There was also an increase in ICCAS mean scores for all three student types. The magnitude of change and statistical significance of this data and the data from the second phase of the Clerkship will be finalized by December 2014.   

Conclusions & Implications: These findings suggest that the Pediatric Oral Health IP Clerkship was similarly effective among all three student types in increasing the students’ perception of their own interprofessional competencies.  Interprofessional oral health clinical experiences are an excellent exemplar to increase communication, collaboration, roles and responsibilities and team functioning  in developing students’  interprofessional competencies.