A Novel Interprofessional Faculty Approach for Integrating Oral Health Promotion Competencies into a Physical Therapist Curriculum.

AIMS: Oral health is integral to overall health and wellness. All healthcare providers can contribute to improving health by including an oral health screening (OHS) in the physical examination. The aims of this study were to 1) develop and test a novel oral health curriculum and 2) compare the effectiveness of two distinct methods of instruction, a) simulation with physical therapists (PT) and dental professional co-debriefing and b) video observation with PT faculty- only instruction.

METHODS: PT students (n=202) completed one of two educational experiences to learn how to perform an OHS, evaluate oral health findings, provide oral health education, and make an appropriate dental referral. Four distinct patient-specific cases were tested.

RESULTS: Results indicated multiple teaching strategies, including a simulation with co-debriefing, improved PT student performance in OHS. Between-case analysis indicated that students performed better in making appropriate referrals for pathology-based cases than preventative care-based cases. Conversely students' patient education was better for preventative cases than pathology-based cases. Curricular revisions improved student performance in providing relevant patient education. A comparison of student performance using simulation with co-debriefing vs video observation with PT faculty-only instruction found no statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSIONS: This novel oral health curriculum is a useful approach for teaching PT and other health professions students how to execute an OHS.