Jacques Paul F, Snow Caroline, Dowdle Morrow, Riley Natalie, Mao Karen, Gonsalves Wanda C
Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Health Professions, Division of Physician Assistant Studies, SC 29425-9620, USA.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2010;21(2):22-30. doi: 10.1097/01367895-201021020-00004.
a review of the medical literature indicates that physician assistants (PAs) are not educationally prepared for oral health issues. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of oral health curricula and the knowledge and skills taught within PA curricula.
a survey examining oral health curricula in PA education was distributed electronically to the directors of all 142 accredited PA programs in the United States. The survey focused on aspects of oral health that programs currently teach and aspects that merit future inclusion. The survey data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.
eighty-three of the 142 PA program directors (58.4%) responded to the survey. Over 74% believed that dental disease prevention should be addressed in PA education, yet only 21% of programs actually did so. Most respondents (94.7%) also agreed that PAs should routinely assess and screen for early signs of dental disease and counsel patients on preventing dental problems. Currently, over half of PA programs teach examination of children's teeth for cavities (55.6%), dedicating on average 3.6 hours toward oral health education. Most respondents (more than 90%) expressed a desire to implement an oral health module in their programs. On average, program directors felt that 5.3 hours should be dedicated to oral health.
many PA program directors believe that PA programs are responsible for educating students about oral health; however, most PA program directors report a lack of oral health education within their curricula.
医学文献综述表明，医师助理（PA）在口腔健康问题方面未接受过相关教育。本研究的目的是评估口腔健康课程的现状以及PA课程中所教授的知识和技能。
一项关于PA教育中口腔健康课程的调查以电子方式分发给美国所有142个经认可的PA项目的主任。该调查聚焦于各项目当前所教授的口腔健康方面以及未来值得纳入的方面。使用SPSS 17版对调查数据进行分析。
142名PA项目主任中有83名（58.4%）回复了调查。超过74%的人认为PA教育应涉及牙科疾病预防，但实际上只有21%的项目这样做了。大多数受访者（94.7%）也同意PA应常规评估和筛查牙科疾病的早期迹象，并就预防牙科问题向患者提供咨询。目前，超过一半的PA项目教授儿童牙齿龋洞检查（55.6%），平均投入3.6小时进行口腔健康教育。大多数受访者（超过90%）表示希望在其项目中实施口腔健康模块。项目主任平均认为应投入5.3小时用于口腔健康。
许多PA项目主任认为PA项目有责任对学生进行口腔健康教育；然而，大多数PA项目主任报告称其课程中缺乏口腔健康教育。
