Leadership in Interprofessional Community Service Learning

Faculty/Staff Leader Summary

This co-curricular clinical rotation promotes leadership regarding social accountability among an interprofessional team of dental, medical and nursing students through the integration of meaningful clinical experience, service learning and local/global oral health. This activity enables interprofessional students to learn with, from and about each other and each other’s roles on a healthcare team. They examine social determinants of health and address social equity and justice while delivering culturally sensitive primary health care to local refugee patients.

The student-led, faculty-guided clinical interaction focuses on all aspects of health-related needs of a refugee population by collaborating with the community refugee partner agencies. Additionally, dental students put into practice their existing knowledge with a particular focus on tobacco use/cessation, oral health risk assessment, oral health screenings including complete head and neck soft tissue exam and address oral health literacy while engaging with medical and nursing students. This unique opportunity provides leadership training and bridges the gap between theoretical application of healthcare education and the practical aspects of working within a community setting. This training emphasizes leadership skills, clinic management, conflict resolution and interprofessional communication.

IPEC Competency Domain(s)
Communication
Roles & Responsibilities
Teams & Teamwork
Values & Ethics

IPEC Sub-Competencies Targeted
TT2: Appreciate team members’ diverse experiences, expertise, cultures, positions, power, and roles towards improving team function.
TT6: Reflect on self and team performance to inform and improve team effectiveness.
VE2: Advocate for social justice and health equity of persons and populations across the life span.
VE5: Value the expertise of health professionals and its impacts on team functions and health outcomes.
RR3: Incorporate complementary expertise to meet health needs including the determinants of health.
RR5: Practice cultural humility in interprofessional teamwork.
C3: Communicate clearly with authenticity and cultural humility, avoiding discipline-specific terminology.
C4: Promote common understanding of shared goals.