Immediate impact of bringing a school to the community with a new community-based clinical education program.

Objectives: To examine the implementation of a community-based clinical education (CBCE) program at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry (SOD) and the preliminary outcomes on dental students and affiliated clinics.

Methods: A retrospective review was carried out of SOD CBCE program implementation and program data between March 2018 and June 2019 related to patient encounters, pre- and post-rotation student self-assessments, student exit surveys and surveys administered to faculty within affiliate clinics.

Results: In five academic quarters, 133 students delivered care for 7556 patients and completed 12,467 procedures in underserved communities. Students reported increased confidence across 14 areas of self-assessment. The percentage of students reporting future plans of working in public health clinics upon graduation increased from 6% to 19%. Affiliate clinic faculty indicated increased care delivery for underserved patients, appointment availability, and job satisfaction.

Conclusions: The newly implemented UCLA SOD CBCE program preliminarily yielded immediate positive outcomes for SOD students and affiliate community clinics.