Division of Prevention and Public Health Sciences

The Service Learning curriculum presently takes our students on a progression of community based experiences throughout their four years of dental school. The goal is to integrate their didactic education with hands-on experiences outside of the College. We believe that the learning acquired as well as the services provided are equally beneficial to both our dental students and community members. The College has developed partnerships with K-12 schools, community organizations, and community-based dental clinics in order to develop service learning opportunities for the dental students. These experiences take place around Chicago as well as throughout the northern Illinois and beyond. The intent is to better prepare our dental students for future careers in diverse settings, as well as to encourage their interest in working with the underserved populations of Illinois and elsewhere. The current service learning curriculum is comprised of Community-Based Education and Extramural Education.

Over the first three semesters of education, we introduce dental students to the issues that contribute to health disparities in this country, thereby impacting a person's oral health status. For example, we explore such topics as health education, access to health care, social determinants of health, risk factors, literacy, language, and culture. Dental students visit local communities and community organizations in order to learn about such issues first-hand. They also spend time in local elementary schools to provide oral health education to young children. For more information on Community-Based Education, please contact Ms. Khatija Noorullah at (312) 355-4549.

One of the goals of the College of Dentistry (COD) is to prepare an oral health care workforce that is competent and committed to addressing the oral health needs of vulnerable and underserved populations and to play its part in eliminating health disparities. The COD engages all fourth year students in service-learning experiences in community-based clinics in Chicago and other areas of Illinois including Aurora, Rockford and Lake County. These experiences are part of the DADM 325 course, through which students provide care to the underserved urban, rural, and special needs populations including children, developmentally disabled, HIV positive and geriatrics patients. As a product of the College's curriculum restructuring, each senior student will be engaged in community-based education and service-learning experiences for at least 50 days. For information on these clinic partner sites, please click on the "Partnership" tab. For more information on Extramural Education, please contact Dr. Al Bolden at (312) 996-0406.