Our Teeth Are Making Us Sick

Medical-Dental Integration in Action

Harvard and Northeastern launch NPD collaborative care model. Guide and webinar encourage adoption.

June 11, 2018

"Learning about the integration of primary care and dentistry in our dental school setting has been an unparalleled experience. Seeing patients who have previously undiagnosed chronic conditions receive the medical attention they need sheds light on how important it is to increase collaboration between the medical and dental worlds."

~ Yassee E. Pirooz, DMD18

The Nurse Practitioner & Dentist (NPD) model, piloted since 2015 at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in collaboration with Northeastern University, promotes interprofessional practice and education by integrating primary care services provided by a nurse practitioner into an academic dental practice environment.

In this innovative model, nursing and dental students work in interprofessional teams and are jointly responsible for providing primary care and dental services to patients. During supervised clinical rotations, students learn how each profession formulates diagnoses, implements preventive interventions, and makes referrals within their scopes of practice. Students develop interprofessional plans of care under the direct supervision of NP and dental faculty. Older adults (>65 years of age) living with one or more chronic health conditions, particularly diabetes and hypertension, constitute the target population.

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Our Teeth Are Making Us Sick

Initiative Newsletters

Medical-Dental Integration in Action

Harvard and Northeastern launch NPD collaborative care model. Guide and webinar encourage adoption.

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