NACHC VP Appointed to Serve on Leadership Panel to Recruit Minorities in Dentistry

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02-20-2009

Tom Curtin, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Senior Vice President, NACHC, has been appointed to serve as a member of the Liaison Leadership Group for the National Dental Pipeline Evaluation Report: Evaluating the Dental Pipeline Program: Recruiting Minorities and Encouraging Community-Based Dental Education. The Pipeline Program is jointly supported by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and The California Endowment. The evaluation concerns the experience of the 15 dental schools funded in the first round of the program; with an additional 8 dental schools implementing the program as well.

This appointment opportunity comes at strategic time with the nation’s critical shortage of dentists practicing in disadvantaged, underserved communities. The evaluation study of the Pipeline, Profession and Practice Program offers insights about gaining diversity in the dental profession; ways to increase access to dental care in underserved areas and develop a model for comprehensive evaluation of an education program in the health professions. Most evaluations study only a few aspects of the overall program experience. In contrast, the Pipeline Evaluation is fairly comprehensive in scope, with major evaluation questions being: Recruitment of Underrepresented Groups, Curriculum Revisions, Clinical Services to the Underserved, Decision to Practice in Settings Serving Disadvantaged Populations, Sustainability, Health Policy.

With his 25-year history in the Community Health Center movement that includes National Health Service Corp (NHSC) scholar; serviing as a health center clinician and medical director; and, currently, as Community Health Center Board Chair, Dr. Curtin brings a unique and strategic perspective toward addressing the dental care access crisis in America.

You can learn more information at http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/2/239 .