Cultural competency training in dental education and implications for the elimination of oral health disparities: Results from a quantitative and qualitative investigation.

As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, the oral health disparities impacting minority and disadvantaged populations will be an escalating burden. Enhancing cultural competency training within dental education, and thus creating a culturally competent oral health workforce, is an important goal in this context. The current study sought to assess incoming dental students' knowledge, skills and attitudes with respect to cultural competency, and to determine if these students value cultural competency as part of their dental education. Lastly, this study provides preliminary data on the utility of a new cultural competency assessment tool for dental education. Participants included dental students from Columbia University and New York University, the only dental schools in the five boroughs of New York City and the only private dental schools in New York State. These schools serve as safety net providers for their surrounding underserved communities and, therefore, have a vested interest in enhancing their students' cultural competency training. The Pre-Dental Education Student Survey of Cross-Cultural Training Issues (PRE-DESS-CCTI), developed via modification of a tool created for medical students (Marzan, 2008), was used to measure students' self-ratings and importance ratings with respect to cultural competency. The Pre-DESS-CCTI subscales demonstrated fair to excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = .61 to .95). Overall, students rated their cultural competency and views on cultural competency as average/moderate. They reported limited vocational experience, limited cultural competency training, and low proficiency with cultural competency concepts, although younger and foreign-born students rated their proficiency more highly than their counterparts. Students valued the inclusion of cultural competency within their dental education, although females consistently rated cultural competency content as more important than their male counterparts. Focus group results indicated that faculty and students value cultural competency training as an important part of dental education, and that the Pre-DESS-CCTI provides a solid foundation for the development of a comprehensive assessment approach. These results lay the groundwork for future studies, which might employ a longitudinal design, include a larger sample, and extend the investigation to other dental schools. These results may also inform the evidence-based development, modification, and evaluation of cultural competency curricula within dental education.