International Centre for Oral-Systemic Health, USA.
J Dent Educ. 2011 Sep;75(9):1187-99.
There is increasing evidence that oral health is a critical component of overall health and that poor oral health may lead to initiation or exacerbation of chronic inflammatory diseases/conditions and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Added to this is an increasing awareness that among non-dental health care professions curricula (e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health) there is an apparent lack of information regarding the interrelationships between oral health and overall health or recognition of the significance of oral health in achieving and sustaining general health outcomes. This study explored the amount of information related to oral-systemic science currently being taught in the predoctoral/undergraduate professional curricula of pharmacy, nursing, and medical schools in English-speaking universities around the world. The Oral-Systemic Health Educational Curriculum Survey was circulated online to associate or academic deans at medical, nursing, and pharmacy schools in universities across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The survey found that 53.7 percent of the respondents ranked the inclusion of oral-systemic science as somewhat important, 51.2 percent reported no or limited requirements to incorporate oral health education within their curricula, and 59.6 percent rated their current curricula in oral-systemic health as inadequate. The majority of students in these programs are not being instructed to examine the mouth, nor are they being taught how to perform an oral examination. Despite growing awareness of emerging evidence of oral-systemic relationships and recommendations that all health care providers should contribute to enhancing oral health, this knowledge base appears to be substantially deficient in the curricula of pharmacy, nursing, and medical students in many universities. This study provides the first formal documentation that the curricula of non-dental health care professions, specifically in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, do not contain adequate content related to oral-systemic health.
越来越多的证据表明，口腔健康是整体健康的一个关键组成部分，口腔健康状况不佳可能导致慢性炎症性疾病/病症的发生或恶化，以及不良妊娠结局。此外，人们越来越意识到，在非牙科保健专业（如医学、护理、药学和相关保健）的课程中，明显缺乏关于口腔健康与整体健康之间相互关系的信息，或者认识到口腔健康在实现和维持整体健康结果方面的重要性。本研究探讨了目前在全球英语国家的大学中，药学、护理和医学院的本科专业课程中教授的与口腔-全身科学相关的信息量。口腔-全身健康教育课程调查在线分发给加拿大、美国、欧洲、亚洲、澳大利亚和新西兰的大学医学院、护理学院和药学院的院长或学术院长。调查发现，53.7%的受访者认为将口腔-全身科学纳入课程的重要性为“有些重要”，51.2%的受访者报告在课程中没有或有限的要求纳入口腔健康教育，59.6%的受访者认为他们目前的口腔-全身健康课程不足。这些项目的大多数学生没有被要求检查口腔，也没有被教授如何进行口腔检查。尽管人们越来越意识到口腔-全身关系的新证据，并建议所有医疗保健提供者都应该为改善口腔健康做出贡献，但在许多大学的药学、护理和医学学生的课程中，这一知识库似乎明显不足。本研究首次正式证明，非牙科保健专业（特别是医学、护理和药学）的课程中没有包含足够的与口腔-全身健康相关的内容。
