Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Tamara Cannon, CCHP |
Improving Access to Dental Care for Vulnerable Populations is Major Goal of New Web Site Directed Toward Dental Educators
New York, NY, July 19, 2004- A new Web site targeting dental educators was launched today by the National Program Office of the Pipeline, Profession & Practice: Community-Based Dental Education (Dental Pipeline) program. The new Web site will serve as the primary source for dental schools seeking to improve oral health care access to vulnerable populations and increase access to dental education for underrepresented minority and low-income (URM/LI) students.
Located at www.dentalpipeline.org, the Web site features the activities of 15 U.S. dental schools that are part of the Dental Pipeline program. Since 2003, each of the Dental Pipeline schools have been developing community-based dental education programs, revising their dental school curriculum to include cultural competency classes, and designing initiatives to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority and low-income (URM/LI) students.
The Web site has easy-to-read sections with information detailing how dental schools can train senior dental students and residents to provide care in community-based clinics and practices caring for underserved populations, how to prepare dental students for their community experiences by integrating cultural competency and related courses into dental schools’ curriculum, and how to increase student body diversity. At the end of each section is a listing of academic texts and journal articles allowing users to further their study of various topics.
Users may also browse a section dedicated to a part of the Dental Pipeline known as the Dental Pipeline: California Initiative. Under the California Initiative, all five of California’s dental schools will develop cooperative recruitment strategies to increase the applicant pool and enrollment of underrepresented minority and low-income students and develop a policy agenda to sustain long-term efforts of the Dental Pipeline program.
Highlights of the site include actual examples of dental students reflecting on their community-based experiences and honing their communication skills. It also allows users to view a video clip of a dental student interviewing a patient and then to read a self-analysis from the dental student on the pros and cons of the interview. As the Dental Pipeline program progresses, the site will have added examples from the 15 Dental Pipeline schools as well as other dental schools engaged in similar activities.
The Pipeline, Profession & Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program is a national program supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment. Management and technical support is provided by the Center for Community Health Partnerships at Columbia University Medical Center.
###
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates grant making in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at a reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social, and economic harm caused by substance abuse - tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
The California Endowment was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. For more information visit its web site at www.calendow.org.
The Center for Community Health Partnerships is located at Columbia University Medical Center. It is dedicated to supporting academic-community partnerships focused on improving equitable health care. It achieves its objectives by addressing health care problems of the uninsured and underinsured. The National Program Office of the Dental Pipeline program is located within the Center for Community Health Partnerships.
