In collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, Harcum College recently developed and completed a pilot program for a "comprehensive care" model of dental medicine training.
The focus of the model is to educate dental hygiene students and dental students together earlier in their professional training, offering dental hygiene students exposure to broader aspects of dentistry. Dental students, in turn, are exposed to a "team approach" to patient care.
Jean Byrnes-Ziegler, an associate professor at Harcum College and director of the dental hygiene program, said, "By bringing these two future dental care providers together earlier on in a restructured clinical practice setting, we're helping them to better understand each other's role, which will in turn help them to better serve patients' needs."
The model allows for dental hygiene students to participate in small "practice groups" in the clinic at the dental school.
Harcum is located in Bryn Mawr, Pa., near the Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania. The pilot program for the model began in 1999. A committee of representiaves from both schools routinely meet to evaluate and modify the model.
Under the model, dental hygiene students are exposed to a variety of patients with more varied dental needs, including complex restorative and periodontal cases, as well as implant and endodontic needs.
Robin Sylvis, the clinic director at Harcum, said, "In this new integrated model, the dental hygiene students are able to see the total dental needs of their patients rather than the segmented dental hygiene care that they provide. They consult with the dental students and formulate comprehesive dental treatment plans that are more streamlined and appreciated by the patient."
Dr. Philip Giarraputo, the director of the dental school's primary care unit program, said, "This program supports us in our goal of emulating the private practice setting in our teaching clinics. It's a model that would be useful for other programs across the country to consider when looking for ways to improve the training of both dental medicine and dental hygiene students."
