Development of a hypothetical baccalaureate program in dental hygiene emphasizing the community.

The task of developing a curriculum model for baccalaureate education in community dental hygiene proved to be an assignment far more difficult than first anticipated. Hopefully, the product which resulted from those efforts will stimulate discussion here that is, after all, its primary purpose. The curriculum model proposed is essentially a dental hygiene “major” and a minor within another academic discipline preferably one of the social or behavioral sciences. Rather than examine only that final product, it seems reasonable to describe the processes by which it was created. Like a true “public healther,”my initial response to the problem of developing a curriculum was to conduct a survey. Actually, several surveys were carried out of dental hygienists, dental hygiene educators, potential employers of these “community dental hygienists,” nurses, public health workers, and, of course, books of all kinds. 5~fi~7.8~13~t5,16 Those surveying activities did not provide instant answers and, in fact, they created some new questions. The issue of training versus education was resolved by choosing to emphasize the higher cognitive process implied by the word “education” rather than the development of specific technical skills usually associated with “training.” Still, that decision could hardly be called a breakthrough, given the title of this conference.