dental school curriculum C D A J O U R N A L , V O L 5 0 , Nº 6
Predoctoral Curriculum Modifications in Caring for Patients With Special Health Care Needs Allen Wong, DDS, EdD, and Paul Subar, DDS, EdD
abstract Recent changes to educational competency standards have been implemented by the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) in preparing dental students to care for patients with special health care needs. A major emphasis includes those patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This article offers some broad suggestions to consider when implementing curriculum changes in dental schools.
AUTHORS Allen Wong, DDS, EdD, has taught postdoctoral general dentistry for over 35 years in AEGD programs in the Bay Area and is the director of the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry’s hospital dentistry program and was the director of the Highland Hospital restorative implant program. He has lectured nationally and internationally in the areas of special care dentistry, rotary endodontics, implant restorations and minimally invasive dentistry. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
Paul Subar, DDS, EdD, is a professor at the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry and the director of the school's special care clinic/hospital dentistry program. He specializes in access to oral health for patients with special needs, including those with severe medical, developmental and/or psychosocial conditions. Dr. Subar's clinical responsibilities include delivery of dental services to patients requiring hospital dentistry as well as responding to consultation requests from the transplant and medicine services at California Pacific Medical Center. Conflict of Interest Disclosure: None reported.
T
he U.S. Department of Education grants authority to the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) for dental school accreditation. CODA issues a series of standards that define dental school requirements for numerous topics such as administrative support, program length, faculty requirements and educational content. Dental schools must meet minimal competencies, as described in Standards for Accreditation, to maintain their accreditation. There are standards in various topics of education from administrative support to educational standards, program length and faculty. The process of modifying a CODA Standard requires a deliberate process of gathering “communities of interest” opinions and expert testimonies. Dental institutions have broad definitions for patients with special health care needs that in many cases
do not emphasize those individuals with developmental disabilities. Some dental schools are adequate in their teaching of topics in special health care needs whereas some schools do poorly in this area, particularly in content on developmental/intellectual disabilities. There was great variation in curriculum between training institutions. Some dental schools addressed providing dental care to patients with developmental/ intellectual disabilities and others did not. The American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) brought this ethical dilemma – the omission of dental care standards related to people with disabilities – to the National Council on Disabilities. These efforts led to the 2020 revision of CODA Standard for Accreditation 2-25 with regard to dental education and training for people with special health care needs. Standard 2-25 now specifies JUNE 2 0 2 2
325
