Longitudinal Integration of Oral Health Training Into Physician Assistant Education

Abstract

Purpose 

The purpose of this study was to evaluate physician assistant (PA) student knowledge after integrating an oral health curriculum longitudinally into a PA program and to assess student perceptions of the oral health curriculum.

Methods 

This study was a 2-group longitudinal study comparing differences between the groups at 2 points in time. Cohort I (n = 60) took an oral health pretest and then, after completing oral health training, took a posttest. Cohort II (n = 49), which had not received oral health training, took identical testing on the same time interval. The students in Cohort I assessed the value of the oral health curriculum by answering a standardized perception survey.

Results 

Cohort I had a statistically significant increase (p ≤ .0001) in posttest assessment scores compared to Cohort II (control group). The students who were exposed to the oral health curriculum reported a deeper understanding and appreciation of oral health disease and increased confidence in oral health clinical application.

Conclusions 

A greater awareness of the importance of oral health and chronic disease has evolved within PA education over the past 2 decades. Despite this progress, there is still a need to expand this curriculum and improve PA students' depth of knowledge in oral health. This study presents a novel and effective approach to incorporating an oral health curriculum into a PA program.