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What is Service Learning
Service-learning is an educational methodology that combines community service, formal preparation, and planned reflection and feedback.
- The service a student provides meets a need defined by a particular community and broadly relates to the student's area of study.
- Formal preparation involves the student, the student's instructor, and pertinent community members jointly specifying both the student's service objectives and learning objectives and how these will be balanced and achieved.
- Planned reflection by the student and guided feedback by both the student's instructor and involved community members on the service being provided facilitates the connection between the student's service and their academic coursework and their roles as citizens.
In the following three modules, we have used a modified version of service-learning to help prepare you for a professional career which includes ongoing professional development and active civic involvement. In module 1, we introduce the concept of Professional Lifelong Learning and guide you through the process of developing your own personal learning plan. Module 2 focuses on identifying important dental related resources and needs in a community that can facilitate or hinder you in achieving your current, and future, professional goals. For the community defined need, we use the example of improved access to primary oral health services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Harlem throughout the three modules. In module 3, we describe the importance of oral health providers working in multidisciplinary teams, especially in providing comprehensive care to clients with complex, chronic health problems. By becoming a valued team member, you will be given the opportunity to reflect on the service you provide and to receive constructive feedback from other team members and clients themselves.
An important part of your residency training is creating a portfolio of your best work and educational achievements. Our previous residents have found that a portfolio documenting completed patient cases is very helpful when applying for a clinical appointment and it serves as a educational record for you and the program faculty. The portfolio used in our program is web-based and contains your best examples of clinical case presentations and the multidisciplinary care case, demonstrations of community service and outreach, seminar presentations you gave during the residency, evidence-based medicine topics and research, as well as other evidence of training such as HIPAA, CPR, and continuing education courses. The portfolio will demonstrate achievement of proficiency in the required program areas and your personal educational goals described in the Professional Life-Long Learning Plan.
In working through the 3 modules, it is important for you to recognize that the example we used could just as easily have been any other chronic disease with significant oral health manifestations affecting people in any other community.