Eastman Institute for Oral Health Assessment Plan

Mission

EIOH’s mission is to provide graduate students with a strong foundation in dental sciences and oral health care essential to become dental educators, researchers, and patient care providers.

Program Goals

1. Educate dental academic leaders with translational research strengths.
2. Educate outstanding clinical dental specialists within the chosen dental program.
3. Develop and strengthen basic and translational research in periodontal diseases, dental caries and biofilms, pain and arthritis, developmental and system biology, genomics and proteomics, salivary physiology and microbiology, and health services research.
4. Develop a comprehensive research and treatment center for pain and arthritis.
5. Strengthen and improve the integration of basic, translational, and clinical research into dental health care.

Assessment and Data Collection Strategies

The US Department of Education has granted the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) the responsibility of approving and monitoring (auditing) educational programs in dentistry and allied clinical areas. The standards for dental educational programs established by the Commission include specific language for assessment of the programs and individual students and using the assessment information to improve the program and the education of the students. Besides, AEFIS course evaluation by EIOH student happens at the end of every semester with a more than 90% turnout for didactic course. Moreover, clinical training within each program is evaluated by the EIOH programs on a routine basis. Such assessment activities,that are carried out routinely on a semester basis, include Resident Clinical Evaluation through Med Hub and Resident Evaluation of the Program. In future, we could potentially also benefit from the databases where National Board of Dental Examiner (NBDE) results and American Board Of specialty dental training (ABO) results are stored.

Institutional Programs to be Assessed

The Eastman Institute for Oral Health has CODA accredited postdoctoral programs in the dental specialties of Periodontics, Prosthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orthodontics, Oral-Facial Pain, Advanced Education in General Dentistry and General Practice Residency. Besides, we have MS program in dental sciences and Core Courses which are common requirements for the different specialty programs mentioned above. All these programs are evaluated routinely by the assessment strategies as mentioned including CODA, AEFIS course evolution, Resident Clinical Evaluation through Med Hub, and Resident Evaluation of the Program.

Use of Assessment Results

Data is continually collected at the institutional-level, departmental-level, program-level, and course-level and analyzed, and reported every semester to the Curriculum Committee. Results are discussed with program leadership and with the assistant director of education to inform course and curriculum improvements. The Committee reviews major findings and determines actions to be taken to further develop and improve student achievement of course outcomes. The Committee also reviews evidence that students are achieving program outcomes. These findings are used in a variety of ways to support course and curriculum analysis. On the other hand, at departmental and program level, CODA feedback is used to bring continuous improvements. Besides, at program level Resident Clinical Evaluation through Med Hub, and Resident Evaluation of the Program results are used every semester to inform the clinical training part of the programs. Students should have access to such results on demand and are able hold their program accountable based on the criteria developed from such evolutions.