Students from Wayne State University and the University of Detroit Mercy teamed up in Washington, D.C., to design an oral health project that will promote an interprofessional learning environment at both institutions and provide free oral health screenings to underserved residents.
"Our initiative is ultimately about social justice and reducing disparities in oral health by educating physician assistant and medical students on oral exam skills while simultaneously providing a unique interprofessional learning environment for medical, physician assistant and dental students alike," WSU medical student Theresa Gattari said.
The Class of 2018's Gattari, WSU Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences student Kendall Gjetaj and University of Detroit Mercy dental student Rami Nazarian, with physician assistant student Sylvie Hang and physician assistant program director Amy Dereczyk, M.S., PA-C, attended the Physician Assistant Education Association's Interprofessional Leadership Program on Oral Health Aug. 30-Sept. 1 on a fellowship grant from the organization. There, they designed Students in Michigan for Interprofessional Leadership Education, or SMILE Detroit.
"The goal of our project is to bridge the gap between systemic and oral health by bringing dental, dental hygiene, physician assistant and medical students together to educate one another and improve oral health in Detroit by providing free oral screenings and referrals to underinsured patients," Gattari said. "The overall conference was phenomenal. Not only were we able to design this exciting project, we also gained general knowledge and skills in leadership and project design, preparing us to be impactful future clinicians."
The project is expected to launch in early spring 2016 with two phases: an oral health "boot camp," Gattari said, at which dental and dental hygiene students will train medical and physician assistant students how to perform an oral exam; and an oral health "huddle," at which the groups will work through case studies to learn more about systemic diseases, oral diseases and prevention. Students who complete both phases will be awarded a certificate to provide free oral health screenings in the community.
"We will utilize our current partnerships with local free clinics and offer free oral health screenings and make referrals to local dental clinics accessible to our patient population," Gattari said.