Tabrizi Maryam, Lee Wei-Chen
School of Dental Medicine, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, United States.
Department of Family Medicine, John Sealy School of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States.
Front Oral Health. 2023 Oct 9;4:1232489. doi: 10.3389/froh.2023.1232489. eCollection 2023.
This study aimed to recognize the gaps in dental education by studying the current level of geriatric oral health training of recent graduated dentists who have been admitted into an Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program.
The AEGD program was developed along with the Age-Friendly 4Ms model to enhance current dental education. We adopted the Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement model to test the effectiveness of the training for AEGD residents from 2019 to 2022. A total of 18 residents participated (6 residents each year). A 5-question survey was administered before and after the rotation and Wilcoxon signed-rank with Fisher Exact tests were conducted to compare pre- and post- rotation results.
All 18 residents have completed pre- and post-program surveys. They self-reported minimal to no training in preparation to provide care to older adults with multiple chronic conditions. After the rotation, residents' confidence in treating older adults was significantly increased ( = 0.011). Meanwhile, residents gained knowledge to apply the 4Ms framework (what matters, medication, mentation, and mobility) to their practices ( = 0.015) and provide age-friendly care for older adults.
The study identified and addressed the missing link in dental education to gerontological and geriatrics education. More clinical rotations and didactic training to equip residents with competences of providing geriatric oral health are strongly recommended.
本研究旨在通过研究近期毕业并已进入综合牙科高级教育（AEGD）项目的牙医的老年口腔健康培训现状，找出牙科教育中的差距。
AEGD项目是与老年友好型4M模型一起开发的，以加强当前的牙科教育。我们采用快速循环质量改进模型来测试2019年至2022年对AEGD住院医师培训的有效性。共有18名住院医师参与（每年6名）。在轮转前后进行了一项包含5个问题的调查，并进行了Wilcoxon符号秩和检验与Fisher精确检验，以比较轮转前后的结果。
所有18名住院医师都完成了项目前后的调查。他们自我报告在为患有多种慢性病的老年人提供护理方面的培训很少或没有。轮转后，住院医师治疗老年人的信心显著增强（P = 0.011）。同时，住院医师获得了将4M框架（重要事项、药物治疗、心理状态和行动能力）应用于实践的知识（P = 0.015），并为老年人提供老年友好型护理。
该研究确定并解决了牙科教育与老年病学及老年医学教育之间缺失的环节。强烈建议增加临床轮转和理论培训，以使住院医师具备提供老年口腔健康护理的能力。
