Student productivity under requirement and comprehensive care systems

This retrospective study reviews the educational and patient care effects of changing from a numerical requirements-driven clinical curriculum to aa comprehensive care model driven by patient needs and led by faculty group leaders. In September 1994, the Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery implemented a program in which all patient care shifted to a patient care completion model. Core assumptions included creating an educational setting where students were assigned to groups with continuously assigned faculty as group leaders, with intensive case discussion and monitoring of students' progress. All patient care took lace under the direction of the group leaders with involvement of other attending interdisciplinary faculty and auxiliary staff. Data suggest that, over the period of this study (1994-97), a significant increase occurred in the number of treatment plans completed by students with no compromise in the number of specific procedures completed by individual students. We concluded that a carefully structured and monitored comprehensive care/group leader-driven model is beneficial for both student education and patient care.