Responding to emerging oral healthcare needs with CARE: Design of the CARE curriculum model

The release of the National Institutes of Health report, Oral Health in America: Advances and Challenges, in 2022 identified a pressing concern about oral healthcare and that the job is far from finished. The High Point University Workman School of Dental Medicine utilized this report as inspiration to facilitate the design of the Clinician-Advocate-Researcher-Entrepreneur Curriculum. The aspiration was to create a novel curriculum and experiential model to prepare learners for the future of dental medicine, including addressing these public oral healthcare needs. This article describes how we conducted this process in three steps: defining the curriculum philosophy, outcomes, and structure. We present this example for those interested in curriculum design and modifications. Our goal is to encourage educators to explore opportunities to enhance dental education as a critical component of the complex system that impacts oral healthcare broadly.

Automated summary

This article outlines the process of defining the philosophy, outcomes, and structure of a curriculum designed for the future of dental medicine, encouraging educators to enhance dental education as a critical component of the complex system impacting oral healthcare broadly.