Postdoctoral Training in General, Pediatric and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene - Seven Funding Priorities requested: Collaborative Project, Student Background, Formal Relationships, Vulnerable Populations, Cultural Competency and Oral Health Literacy, Placement in Practice Settings, and Special Populations. The “Jacobi General Practice Dentistry and Dental Public Health Postdoctoral Training Project,” hereafter referred to as ‘SHARP-E,’ is a collaborative proposal which focuses on enhancing the 12-month training program for general practice dental residents (GPRs) and dental public health (DPH) residents. The overall goal of this proposal is to improve oral health care access and delivery by increasing the number of primary care dentists working in rural and underserved communities. Located in a HRSA-designated dental health professional shortage area in the Bronx, New York --- the county within New York State consistently ranked lowest in health outcomes --- our community-based organization (CBO) operates a primary care dentistry training program which provides patient care to some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations in the entire country. This innovative multidisciplinary postdoctoral dental residency program addresses the gap in the post-doctoral training of general practice and dental public health dentists in the following three focus areas: (1) rural tribal communities; (2) underserved populations, including individuals with HIV/AIDS, individuals with substance use disorders (SUD), and high-risk pregnant women; and (3) dental public health skills, assessment, and evaluation. Population health training for residents, with a focus on the social determinants of health, cultural competency, and health literacy, will be integrated into the program to effectively reduce oral diseases and strengthen overall health and health-promoting behaviors. In addition, the non-academic barriers to the trainees’ education and success in the program, including physical and mental well-being, will be addressed by providing access to both psychological support and wellness activities. The program will prioritize the recruitment of trainees from disadvantaged backgrounds (i.e. environmental, economic, and educational). The ‘SHARP-E’ proposal addresses the three focus areas with six specific objectives: (1) Screening: Incorporate population health strategies including chairside diabetes (HbA1c) screening for high-risk individuals in the dental clinic, (2) HIV: Train residents in the care and management of individuals living with HIV/AIDS with complex dental conditions in an interprofessional care setting, (3) Addiction: Assess and manage the oral health of individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) including alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids, in an interprofessional care setting, (4) Rural: Provide training rotations for dental residents in a tribal health clinic site (Seneca Nation Health System) in rural upstate New York, (5) Pregnancy: Increase access to dental care for vulnerable high-risk pregnant individuals with an embedded dental operatory in the Women’s Health medical clinic, (6) Evaluation: Utilize the skills and training of dental public health residents to continually monitor, measure, and evaluate the implementation and impact of all the community-based organization’s oral health programs, systems of care, and surveillance activities. Given the ongoing shortage of primary care dental providers in safety-net community-based organizations, we believe that exposure to this enhanced year-long community-based training and education, with emphasis on population health strategies, social determinants of health, and health literacy, will encourage new dentists to establish their careers in underserved and/or rural communities where they can continue to serve the complex dental needs of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
