Establishing a PNP faculty practice clinic for Medicaid EPSDT screening

Faculty practice added a new dimension to teaching clinical skills in a Pediatric Advanced Practice Nursing program. It offered the student immediate feedback concerning didactic knowledge and clinical skills and added consistency to learning obtained in the classroom setting. Inclusion of the Medicaid EPSDT program further enhanced student learning by offering a framework of comprehensive services that the student could offer to the patient in providing holistic well-child care. Research opportunities for faculty and students are also prevalent with the large quantity of data available from administration of the EPSDT program. In addition, many children from indigent settings who would not otherwise receive routine well-child care have been given the opportunity because of this program. The use of a faculty practice model that provides the Medicaid EPSDT screening seems to meet the well-child needs of faculty, students, and patients alike and provides an education/service model congruent with the preventative goals of health care reform today.