Immediate impact of bringing a school to the community with a new community-based clinical education program.

Abstract

To examine the implementation of a community-based clinical education (CBCE) program at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry (SOD) and the preliminary outcomes on dental students and affiliated clinics. A retrospective review was carried out of SOD CBCE program implementation and program data between March 2018 and June 2019 related to patient encounters, pre- and post-rotation student self-assessments, student exit surveys and surveys administered to faculty within affiliate clinics. In five academic quarters, 133 students delivered care for 7556 patients and completed 12,467 procedures in underserved communities. Students reported increased confidence across 14 areas of self-assessment. The percentage of students reporting future plans of working in public health clinics upon graduation increased from 6% to 19%. Affiliate clinic faculty indicated increased care delivery for underserved patients, appointment availability, and job satisfaction. The newly implemented UCLA SOD CBCE program preliminarily yielded immediate positive outcomes for SOD students and affiliate community clinics.