Integrated Oral Health Research Education and Training Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A major weakness in dentistry and oral health research is the paucity of well trained clinical and basic scientists. The overall goal of this proposal is to develop oral health researchers through a comprehensive, integrated research training program that provides students - especially underrepresented minority students - a continuum of research training experiences spanning the entire spectrum of their professional education from the pre-dental to the postdoctoral levels. The proposed program will build on the strengths of the University of Washington, School of Dentistry in research and strong existing research training programs and will insure continuity of research training from the undergraduate through the post-DDS years, including programs for clinical dental faculty. The specific aims of this program are: 1. Establish a Division of Research Training and Education in the Office of Research at the University of Washington, School of Dentistry. The goals of this division will be to: a) collect and disseminate information about specific research training opportunities and about the entire continuum of opportunities in the program; b) develop a database for tracking interested candidates and aid in the recruitment of trainees for all levels of training in oral health research; c) enhance existing opportunities with new curricular initiatives; and d) evaluate the integrated program. 2. Building on the foundation of existing pipeline programs in the University of Washington Schools of Dentistry and Medicine that prepare underrepresented minority and disadvantaged undergraduate students for careers in the health professions, provide structured research training experiences in the area of oral health. 3. Building on the initial research training of entering and 1st year dental students, provide structured opportunities for continued and expanded research participation and research training during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of the dental curriculum. These structured opportunities will encompass both clinical and basic research. 4. Provide support for faculty to coordinate and enhance the research curriculum. Specifically, support will be provided for faculty to develop and teach new research elective courses to dental students in the later years of dental school, for faculty to provide consultation in support of graduate student research and for research faculty to teach biostatistics and data analysis to clinical faculty in the Summer Institute in Clinical Dental Research Methods. The program will be evaluated using existing instruments as well as tools developed specifically for this program. All evaluation materials and educational materials developed through the program will be made available to the scientific community. The proposed program will greatly enhance the culture of research at the University of Washington, School of Dentistry, transforming a number of disjointed activities into a coordinated training and education program that will ultimately increase the number of students choosing oral health research careers.