ABOUT DEPARTMENTAL STANDARDS OF CARE
From the Clinic Manual
Departmental Standards of Patient Care:
The Departmental Standards of Care have been developed by the constituent clinical departments of the School of Dental Medicine and reviewed and adopted by the Standing Committee on Clinical Affairs. The departmental faculty evaluate students’ clinical performance daily to ensure adherence to these standards. The standards outline an acceptable level of quality. The criteria that are used to assess quality are presented to the students in didactic sessions and the simulated clinical experiences.
These Departmental Standards of Patient Care define the activity, list the scope of care, the procedures, and the criteria for performance appraisal that must be met by the predoctoral clinician. These guidelines for clinical care are not all inclusive and are not intended to be inflexible legal tenets. The standards are intended to direct the evaluation, the quality of oral health care provided through the third year skill testing examinations, the fourth year competency evaluations, as well as the day to day performance appraisal. It must be noted that the Departmental Standards of Patient Care represent the clinical procedures performed by the specialty departments, some of which are not in the skill level of a predoctoral student. The attending faculty are responsible for the training and direction of their students in concert with their didactic experience and the levels of competency to be attained. These standards are revised periodically to meet patient needs, changes in disease patterns, and changes in the profession.
All treatment procedures performed should be of such a level of quality of care that predictable results will routinely occur. Patients are advised that any treatment modality, however acceptable, may not be successful in every case. Extrinsic and intrinsic factors, both biological and psychological, may preclude success for a particular treatment. The major risks and complication must be addressed with the patient and documented in the patient’s record at the time of patient consultation. The patient, the student, and the attending faculty member are signators to all accepted treatment plans. In understanding the Departmental Standards of Patient Care, the provider and the evaluator must appreciate the differences of standards, objective, procedure, and criteria.
Standard-An agreed upon level of excellence. Meeting the standard for an aspect of care ensures acceptable, quality care.
Objective–That which is intended to be achieved.
Procedure – Defined method(s) of accomplishing the objective.
Criterion – An aspect of care on which evaluation is based.
The following is a listing of the Departmental Standards of Patient Care by department along with the skill tests and competency examination protocols.
