Community and Social Responsibility - Tufts University School of ...

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Tufts University School of Dental Medicine 2020 Vision!
Strategic Issue Synopsis: Community and Social Responsibility
How can we ensure that the TUSDM community provides time and effort to address
access to care issues
The Context. Millions of Americans lack access to basic oral health care, and oral health
disparities in the United States continue to grow. In its 2011 report, Improving Access to Oral
Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations, the Institutes of Medicine Committee
on Oral Health in America noted that a successful, evidenced-based oral health system must: 1)
eliminate barriers that contribute to oral health disparities; 2) prioritize disease prevention and
health promotion; 3) provide oral health services in a variety of settings; 4) rely on a diverse and
expanded array of providers who are competent, compensated, and authorized to provide
evidence-based care; 5) include collaborative and multidisciplinary teams working across the
health care system; and 6) foster continuous improvement and innovation.
The IOM Committee also noted that an improved and more responsive dental education system
is needed to ensure that current and future generations of dental professionals can deliver
quality care to diverse populations, and in diverse settings. The report found that providing
students with clinical experiences in community-based settings and with patients with complex
oral health care needs, improves the students’ comfort level in caring for vulnerable and
underserved populations and increases the likelihood that students will care for such
populations in their future careers. The report further recommended that “Dental professional
education programs should increase recruitment and support for students from underrepresented
minority, lower–income, and rural populations; require student experiences in community
based rotations; and recruit and retain faculty with expertise in caring for vulnerable and
underserved populations.”
TUSDM has a strong commitment to social responsibility – the idea that the each member of the
TUSDM community, and the institution as a whole – has an obligation to act to benefit society at
large. Developing a strong sense of professionalism, including a sense of obligation to
contribute to the common good, is a desired outcome of a TUSDM education. Despite this
institutional commitment, recent surveys have shown that TUSDM alumni report infrequent
participation in civic engagement activities: with an average score of 1.17 for politically-based
activities, 1.46 for issue-oriented activities, and 1.89 for community-based activities (Scale:
1=Never, 2=Occasionally, 3=Often, 4=Very Often). TUSDM is not alone in dealing with this
challenge. Most dental schools are facing challenges in their efforts to graduate culturally
competent, socially responsible practitioners.
Community service, service-learning and other outreach programs provide an opportunity to
make dental education more meaningful to students by placing it into a larger and broader realworld
context, thereby increasing student learning, civic engagement of future dental
professionals, and the health of society.
The Proposed Solutions. Building on its long history of international, national, statewide and
local initiatives promoting oral health, and its extensive work in providing oral health outreach
programs for children, the elderly, people with disabilities, the homeless, victims of domestic
violence and other underserved populations, TUSDM should maximize public health and
community service activities in order to prepare socially responsible dental graduates to

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recognize and approach oral health care issues for populations with variety of social, economic,
medical, and dental profiles and resources.
Community Service Learning combines learning initiatives and service outcomes, which
complement one another to enhance the development of the community partnership. The
model uses meaningful community service along with instruction and reflection to teach
students civic responsibility, identify their future role as a dentist in their local community, and
actively engage in development and sustainability of the partnerships between TUSDM and
community. Outreach programs and service-learning opportunities can help to inculcate in
students the sense of ethics and professionalism needed by socially responsible practitioners.
For those students who already have humanitarian ideals, these programs can reinforce and
build needed skills; for those who do not, it can expose them to new experiences, possibilities,
and attitudes.
To achieve this, TUSDM should:
• Create a more cohesive framework and approach for community service activities.
• Establish an integrated and holistic approach to exposing and engaging students in a
broad range of health systems, underserved communities, and related health issues,
and provide opportunities for students and faculty to serve vulnerable populations
domestically and globally (while integrating into the TUSDM community volunteer efforts
many students and faculty seek out independently)
• Develop written competencies for community experiences, enhance didactic elements
addressing community service and social responsibility within the curriculum, and
undertake outcome assessments for community activity to measure the TUSDM
community impact.
• Undertake efforts to measure the impact of community service on graduates’ long-term
competence, critical thinking abilities, management abilities, career choices, and
community service involvement.
Undertaking a more comprehensive approach to students’ community service activities will help
TUSDM meet CODA Standard 2-25 and 14 related standards associated with community
service learning and CODA Standard 2-16, which requires that graduates be competent in
managing a diverse patient population and have the interpersonal and communications skills to
function successfully in a multicultural work environment. This can be achieved by educating
students in basic principles of culturally competent health care, which involves: recognition of
health care disparities and the development of solutions, the importance of meeting the health
care needs of dentally underserved populations, and the development of core professional
attributes, such as altruism, empathy, and social accountability, needed to provide effective
care in a diverse society.
Key Questions:
1. Do you agree that a focus on community service and social responsibility should be a core
component of a TUSDM education
2. If so, do you feel that a more integrated approach to community service activities is needed
What ideas do you have for strengthening TUSDM’s community service efforts

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3. How would you measure the outcomes of TUSDM’s community service activities
This strategic issue brief has been developed by the TUSDM Strategic Planning Steering
Committee (SPSC). The issue, along with proposed solutions, are presented to the TUSDM
community for the purpose of fostering discussion. The SPSC anticipates that engaging the
TUSDM community will result in further clarifying and expanding both the issue and the
solutions.