Dental Student Perceived Preparedness to Work With Diverse Patients

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The US patient population has become increasingly diverse with complex needs and lived experiences. To address existing gaps in dental education, this study explored dental students' self-reported preparedness to provide care to patients with diverse needs and suggestions to enhance the curriculum. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey developed by an interdisciplinary team was administered to D1-D4 dental students to assess perceived preparedness to work with patients across diverse social, cultural, and clinical contexts. Open-ended items solicited recommendations for curricular improvement. Descriptive statistics summarized preparedness ratings. Independent-samples t-tests compared pre-clinical (D1-D2) and clinical (D3-D4) students. Open-text responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Of 394 eligible students, 187 completed the survey (47.5% response rate), with 113 included in the final analytic sample. On 1-10 scale, students reported moderate preparedness across all diverse identities and experiences, with the lowest preparedness in caring for survivors of sexual violence (M = 4.51), intimate partner violence (M = 4.62), trauma (M = 4.83), and patients with special healthcare needs (M = 4.54), and the highest for patients differing by sexual orientation (M = 7.30), race (M = 7.18), and culture (M = 6.91). Clinical students reported significantly higher preparedness than pre-clinical students across most diverse identities and experiences. Qualitative responses (N = 40) identified recommendations to enhance the curriculum, including opportunities for: (1) Experiential learning, (2) cultural humility, (3) structured communication training, and (4) mentorship/interprofessional education. CONCLUSIONS: Findings demonstrate that dental students reported feeling least prepared to work with patients who have trauma-related experiences and special health care needs, indicating a gap in the areas of greatest complexity and need. Integrating relational, reflective, and equity-oriented competencies into dental training may improve readiness and capacity to provide compassionate, person-centered oral health care.