Cooperative education (Co-op) is a powerful vehicle for helping students develop the set of oral health competencies needed for integrated primary care delivery. This curricular innovation provides students with meaningful, semester-long immersion experiences in real-world employment settings, an arrangement that differs from service-learning in both depth and breadth. During a Co-op semester, students are paid for their labor and receive academic credit. They do not take courses or pay tuition.
Creating a Co-op to equip students with the skills to integrate oral health competencies into primary care practice requires partnering with a primary care provider that is already committed to oral health integration. Students from the health sciences who participate in the Co-op will have an opportunity to develop core oral health competencies while gaining experience in integrated primary care delivery.
Critical elements of a successful Co-op program include:
Note: If you do not have the infrastructure to support a cooperative education initiative at your institution, the information in this unit can be applied in any clinical practice setting wanting to integrate oral health with primary care.
The IOH Oral Health and Primary Care Co-op provides students with a 6-month immersion experience at a federally qualified health center (FQHC) with a Patient-Centered Medical Home (a primary care practice that has adopted a set of processes aimed at coordinating and improving the delivery of patient care). The selected FQHC provides primary care integrated with behavioral and oral health services. Student learning outcomes for the program were adapted from the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice and the Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Domains and Competencies. In the Co-op, students deliver patient-centered, integrated, team-based care to vulnerable and underserved populations. This hands-on experience offers multiple learning and growth opportunities. Among them, students are able to cultivate collaborative skills in an interprofessional setting, contribute to the FQHC’s goals in a meaningful way, and witness some of the challenges involved in addressing health disparities.
For more information about Northeastern University’s cooperative education program visit: http://www.northeastern.edu/coop/.
Once you have identified Co-op partners, faculty from your institution and key personnel at the employer site(s) should collaborate to develop a plan for the Co-op purpose and function that considers the following:
Student Learning Objectives. The needs of the partner site will drive the development of these objectives and shape the Student Job Description(s) for the Co-op Position(s).
Educational Programming. To prepare both students and site employees for the Co-op experience, faculty and site personnel may want to conduct some training in advance. This might include online training, in-person training, or a combination of both. Teaching strategies and workshops provided in this toolkit can be adapted for this purpose.
Evaluation Methods. These should be determined by Co-op partners during the development of the student Co-op position. Methods may draw on student, faculty, and employer observations or additional data.
The Co-op experience should prepare students to do at least some of the following:
Sources
Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). Integration of Oral Health and Primary Care Practice. Rockville, MD: Health Resources and Services Administration.
All of these elements should be addressed in detail to ensure faculty, employers, and students understand the expectations of the position.
Position Title. Oral Health Coordinator
Location. Boston, MA
Type of Industry. Hospital/Clinic
Job Type. Full-Time
Employment Type. Undergraduate Co-op, U.S.A
Term Year. Spring Term 2015
Number of Openings. 1
Wage. $15.00/hour
Company Description. Since its founding in 1985, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) has been driven by a singular, powerful mission: to provide and assure access to the highest quality health care for Boston’s homeless men, women, and children who face daily threats to their health and well-being through increased exposure to illness, injury, and disease. Amid the chaos of homelessness, health care often becomes a distant priority, allowing preventable illnesses to go undetected and minor symptoms to escalate into avoidable health crises. A nationally recognized model of innovative health care for homeless patients, BHCHP provides medical, dental, behavioral health, and supportive services at over 80 clinic sites across greater Boston through the work of its multidisciplinary health care teams.
Major. Health Sciences, Nursing
GPA. 2.00 minimum
Minimum Experience. Sophomore
Qualifications.
Hours. Flexible. Dental clinic hours are M–F, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Hours may change according to site and project. May include occasional evening hours.
Position Description. This is a new, innovative cooperative education position specially designed for students from Bouvé College of Health Sciences to develop oral health core clinical competencies in primary care. The student will be based in the BHCHP Dental Department, which will provide an excellent opportunity for interprofessional collaboration to improve oral health for vulnerable populations. The Oral Health Coordinator will focus on strengthening BHCHP’s medical and dental integration in a patient-centered medical home model. This unique cooperative education role will support current efforts in integrating oral health and primary care. The candidate will also develop and implement new projects. The student will be based at our main location and will also have the opportunity to collaborate with dentists, dental assistants, primary care providers, nurses, case managers, and others at several outreach sites.
The Oral Health Coordinator will be an integral team member in a program-wide effort to improve medical and dental integration. The Oral Health Coordinator will work under the direction of the Associate Dental Director and the Associate Medical Director and will assist with both direct patient care and administrative support.
Clinical and administrative duties:
This toolkit outlines four interprofessional learning opportunities to help students and site personnel begin to develop competency in oral health integration. Even with this training, students should be supervised by a dental professional while receiving hands-on training in oral examination, oral health risk assessment, and fluoride varnish at the Co-op site.
To help you make programming decisions, the table below lists workshop topics, corresponding workshop titles with links, and an overview of relevant learning objectives. Remember to schedule pre- and post-assessments so you can track the effectiveness of your programming.
Workshop Topic | Workshop Materials | Learning Objectives |
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Teamwork and Communication in Health Care | Didactic Session 2, Case-Based Learning |
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The Oral Examination | Workshop 1, Faculty Development |
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Oral Health Risk Assessment and Dental Referral | Workshop 2, Faculty Development |
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Fluoride Varnish Training
Caution: States have laws and regulations governing the application of fluoride varnish. Consult with your state health agency before implementing this training. |
Smiles for Life, third edition, Course 6: Caries Risk Assessment, Fluoride Varnish and Counseling Note: Complete fluoride varnish section only (slides 25–48). These slide numbers match the slides in the third edition of Smiles for Life in their downloadable format and will differ from those numbers on the web interface. |
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This information will help you:
In the following table you’ll find several evaluation methods listed along with their purposes. Links to sample forms and questionnaires are also provided.
Each of these evaluation tools can be adapted for your needs and used as a stand-alone assessment or as a pre- or post-assessment tool.
Evaluation Method | Purpose |
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TeamSTEPPS® Teamwork Attitudes Questionnaire (T-TAQ) | To measure participants’ attitudes toward various components of teamwork, as related to patient care and safety. |
Student Oral Health Survey | To measure participants’ oral health knowledge, skills, and attitudes. |
Reflection Paper Template | To encourage participants to reflect on their experience working within a patient-centered medical home and collaborating with other health care providers. |
Employer Site Data | Data collection points may include the number of:
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