Incorporating Standardized Patients Into an Interprofessional Oral-Systemic Health Practicum

Poor oral health and dental disease are major public health problems that are, in many cases, directly or indirectly linked with chronic conditions. Interprofessional collaborative teams are a way to address this problem. In this study we describe the development of an interprofessional education and interprofessional collaborative practice endeavor utilizing standardized patients to teach and evaluate clinical competencies in oral-systemic health and interprofessional collaborative practice settings. This pilot project paired family nurse practitioner students with student dentists to enhance the education of both groups. Standardized patients provided a safe and supervised environment to provide performance feedback and formatively evaluate student performance.