The
University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine has received the Outstanding
Innovation Award by an Academic Dental Institution as a part of the 2013
William J. Gies Awards for Vision, Innovation, and Achievement (Gies Awards). Only one dental school is selected per year
for this honor.
The
CU School of Dental Medicine was recognized for the development of an
innovative interprofessional (IPE) curriculum that prepares graduates for
future team-based practice, and provides a model for other dental institutions
embracing IPE.
“The William J. Gies Awards are truly a high
honor in the field of dental education,” says Richard W. Valachovic, D.M.D.,
M.P.H., President of the ADEAGies Foundation and Executive Director of ADEA.
“By shining a light on the extraordinary work of dental educators, academic
institutions, and our partners—the best and the brightest in academic
dentistry—the ADEAGies Foundation recognizes those who blaze a path for a new
generation of leaders in dental education.”
“As
the dental dean on the Anschutz Medical Campus, I have been privileged to
witness the ‘creation, evolution and application of contemporary ideas’ about
interprofessional education develop into a comprehensive interprofessional
education program designed to prepare our students to practice
collaboratively and improve patient safety and health outcomes,” said Dean Denise Kassebaum, DDS, MS. “I sincerely appreciate the efforts of Dr.
Mark Earnest and his IPE leadership team, along with the IPE Faculty Advisory
Committee’s efforts to create unique IPE experiences that the dental students
can participate with the other campus schools.”
The School
of Dental Medicine partners with the CU
Schools of Medicine (Medicine, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant
programs), Pharmacy and Nursing to bring the IPE curriculum to life. The University of Colorado program is unique
because it is the first interprofessional team training program of this type
that has been designed to incorporate dental students and dental faculty into
all aspects of the program. The first case that all students consider together
is a dental case.
“The
CU Anschutz Medical Campus was intentionally designed to foster
interprofessional collaboration, but it has been the efforts of dedicated
faculty champions and students who have been willing to put in the effort to
develop the unique programs that we have today,” said Vice Chancellor for
Health Affairs Richard Krugman. “This award identifies the CU School of
Dental Medicine as a model for dental schools and other health professional
schools throughout the country.”
There are two distinct program
elements of the School of Dental Medicine’s IPE activities. First, the dental students participate in the
Anschutz Medical Campus interprofessional education program through REACH (Realizing
Educational Advancement for Collaborative Health). The program’s curricular threads focus on team dynamics and communication in both
preclinical training and clinical practice are shared across all AMC health
schools, and begin the first day that the 700 students come to campus, and
continue until graduation. REACH has
been mandatory for all incoming health professions students on the AMC
beginning in the Fall 2011 semester.
Secondarily, the School of Dental Medicine’s Frontier Center Project, funded
by Delta Dental of Colorado’s Foundation, focuses
on collaborative education and practice around oral health and preventive
practices in primary care. Dental
students learn more about diagnostic tests for chronic diseases from Dr. Mark
Deutchman and other MD faculty and students, while medical and physician
assistant students receive training from dental students and faculty about how
to perform an oral exam and recognize oral disease.
The University of
Colorado School of Dental Medicine is a comprehensive, research-intensive
dental school that increases access to innovative education programs,
life-improving research and excellent clinical care programs that enhance oral
and systemic health. Founded in 1973, the
school is home to a DDS program, an international student dental program (ISP),
a general practice residency program, an orthodontics residency program, a
graduate periodontics residency program and an affiliated pediatric dentistry
residency program (located at Children’s Hospital Colorado).