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Volume2 Issue3
N
ews and
E
vents
UNIVERSITYOFMANITOBA
RECOGNIZED
for its Oral-Systemic HealthCurriculum
TheOral-SystemicHealthEducation
forNon-Dental HealthcareProviders
curriculum launchedby theuniversity’s
International Centre forOral-Systemic
Health (ICOSH) is thefirst of its kind—
comprehensive, evidence-based, peer-
reviewed, and interprofessionally-vetted.
“Wearecreatinganew, effectivehealth
caredeliverymodel that is focusedon
collaborative, interprofessional, patient-
centredcare,” explainsCaseyHein, ICOSH
director of education.
Theobjectiveof thecurriculum is to
provideabridgebetweendifferent
healthcareprofessions, andultimately to
improvepatients’ oral health. “Asmore
non-dental healthcareproviders are
exposed to thecurriculum,
wewouldexpect patients
to seeapositivechange in
theway their oral-systemic
healthconcerns aremanaged,” explains
Dr. AnthonyM. Iacopino, deanof the
Collegeof dentistry. “For populations
with limitedaccess tooral health
care servicesdue to socioeconomicor
geographicbarriers, thismeans individuals
will soonbeable to receiveaneffectiveoral
health screeningand referral from their family
doctor or other primarycareprovider.”
This vision seems to resonatewithmany, as
several NorthAmericanuniversitieshave
expressed interest in implementing the
curriculumwithin their schools, andmostly
theirmedical schools. Thecurriculumwill
beavailableonline in the springof 2015at
oralhealthed.com
for practisingprofessionals
and students touse, saysMs. Hein. “Each
coursecomes inhardcopyand inan
electronic format.Wearealsoaiming toput
out 5morecourses in2015.”
Dr. Iacopino is thrilledwith theproject’s
success: “Receiving this award is thebest
validation that oral healthandoral care
shouldbe front andcentre inprimaryhealth
care. Thecurriculumhasbeen supplemented
withcontinuingdevelopment programming
that includes informalmeetingswith
physicians innorthernandunderserved
communities all theway to formal full-day
interprofessional symposiawithactive
participationandhands-onexperiences—it
all validates thatwithin this cultureand
healthcare system, peopleare interested to
incorporatenewconcepts to improvepublic
health.”
TheAmericanDental Education
Association’sADEAGies
Foundationshonours “individuals
andorganizations that exemplify
thehighest standards inoral
healthanddental education, researchand
leadership.” The2015awardswerepresented
inMarch2015 inconjunctionwith the
association’s annual session.
a
The University of Manitoba was awarded the 2015
William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Innovation by
anAcademicDental Institution—a first for aCanadian
dentalschool—inrecognitionofitsoralhealthcurriculum
fornon-dentalhealthcareprofessionals.
To learnmore
about the
curriculum, visit
Watchan interviewwith
Dr. IacopinoandProfessor
CaseyHeinat
We are creatinganew, effective health care deliverymodel that is
focused on collaborative, interprofessional, patient-centred care
.
