The Center for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Health (CIPCOH) is releasing a paper in the Journal of Dental Education on oral health training in pediatric residency programs titled, “Oral Health Training in Pediatric Residency Programs: Pediatric Program Directors' Perspectives.”
A 2011 study evaluating oral health training in pediatric medical residency programs highlighted opportunities to improve residents' oral health competence. The aim of this follow-up study, done in 2017, was to assess progress since 2011 in promoting development of pediatric residents' oral health competence.
CIPCOH has found that oral health training and awareness among pediatric programs has increased over time with a majority of programs now providing at least one hour of oral health training and clinical integration of fluoride varnish training and application. Existing deficiencies in program structure and graduating resident’s oral health competencies provide opportunities to improve pediatric residency oral health curricula.
“Dental care continues to be a significant unmet need in children, and educating pediatric trainees on preventative oral health is an important step in improving access to care,” says Michelle Dalal, MD, FAAP, an associate professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “Some strides have been made, but we can improve pediatric oral health training and enhance competency by advocating for well-defined oral health educational objectives, formal oral health evaluation metrics, oral health champions in each residency program, and ongoing medical-dental interprofessional collaborative opportunities in the educational and clinical setting.”
CIPCOH was established in July of 2016 through a cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). CIPCOH serves as a national resource to consolidate the evidence base for systems-level oral health integration into primary care training.
The paper is set to be published in May.
For more information, please contact Dr. Michelle Dalal (mdalal@mcaap.org) or Dr. Hugh Silk (Hugh.Silk@umassmed.edu)
 | cipcoh_pediatrics_news_release.pdf | 96 KB |