CDA Essentials 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 4

I ssues and P eople 26 | 2019 | Issue 4 The dental team overseeing these new undergraduates in clinical rotations has reported, according to Ms. To: “Students are much more respectful [to patients] than they’ve ever been. They’re aware of the issues and can see and appreciate the differences and the challenges [in geriatric care].” Assistant professor Dr. Leeann Donnelly says: “They [students] might go in thinking that someone with a mental illness is crazy and come out wanting to advocate for that individual.” Fourth-year dental hygiene students do clinical work and preventive oral health care education for the elderly in the long-term-care home Broadway Lodge. Dental hygienists at UBC Dentistry have long had a strong focus on geriatric patients, having had geriatric course and clinical care requirements since 2001, says Dr. Donnelly. The aim of the new Geriatrics I is to give dentistry students a clinical, social and psychological view on aging. They learn in small groups, blending both didactic and in-class activities with workshops and guest lectures. The modules are designed around five core competency areas: patient-centred care (holistic understanding of the patient, and appropriate assessment, diagnostic and treatment-planning skills); professionalism (best practices, high ethical standards and a personal commitment to health and well-being); communication and collaboration (e.g., establishing a therapeutic relationship with patients and their families); practice and information management (e.g., evidence-based decision- making); and health promotion (addressing social factors that affect the patient’s health). “This focused curriculum is important for us,” says Dr. Wyatt. “No other dental school in Canada has such a broadly integrated, geriatric-focused curriculum.” He adds: “We think our students should be prepared to treat the geriatric population. It’s where we need to go. It’s something we want to build upon.” Dr. Mario Brondani, UBC Dentistry associate professor who coordinates the geriatrics modules, says that for the first time, students are discussing issues such as palliative care, informed consent and interprofessional care in a geriatrics- specific course. Previously, second- year students received some of the content now in Dentistry 430, but Brondani augmented the material and moved it to third year. By then, he says, students are more mature and have more medical knowledge and clinical experience to apply to what they’re learning. He adds, “By then, it’s not just theoretical. Keen students also get involved in research.” A required text for Geriatrics I is the 2011 book Oral Healthcare for the Frail Elder: A Clinical Perspective , which is edited by Chris Wyatt, Frauke Müller and retired UBC Dentistry professor Michael MacEntee, and includes content written by Mario Brondani and Leeann Donnelly. Reading assigned chapters, students learn about issues from oral pain to dry mouth and medications, and how body image impacts social interactions. “We are still developing content for Dental Geriatrics II,” says Dr. Brondani. Fourth-year students will visit long-term-care facilities and continue with the integrated, multidisciplinary approach of dental geriatrics, as well as discuss more advanced knowledge and clinical practice. Dr. Wyatt says: “We’ve had a really good response from facilities and students. Students are now better prepared to deliver appropriate care to an aging population.” a This focused curriculum is important for us. No other dental school in Canada has such a broadly integrated, geriatric-focused curriculum. – Dr. Chris Wyatt