Undergraduate geriatric education through community service learning

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Dentistry
• Dental Education

Background:

• Growing elderly population necessitates specialized geriatric care.
• Geriatric education is underrepresented in dental school curricula.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the geriatric community service learning (CSL) component of the professionalism and community service (PACS) module.
• To examine a CSL project involving first-year dental students in a long-term care facility.

Main Methods:

• A literature review informed the description of the PACS module's CSL component.
• Student reflections provided insights into the long-term care facility experience.

Main Results:

• The PACS module integrates CSL with long-term care experiences.
• Students created and evaluated health promotion activities for long-term care residents.

Conclusions:

• The PACS module fostered comprehensive understanding of long-term care needs among students.
• The authors advocate for integrating community-based geriatric education into dental curricula.