Ethics & Professionalism

ETHICS & PROFESSIONALISM

Course Description
Through a combination of classroom discussion and activities, this course introduces residents to cultural and ethical issues relevant to dental school clinics and private practice. In a small group environment, residents have the opportunity to discuss school culture and intercultural relationships, preparing them for experiences with a diverse school culture and patient pool. Ethics, along with state and federal regulations, are introduced as they apply to dentistry practiced in dental school clinics and private practice.

Course Competencies
Demonstrate the ability to incorporate ethical reasoning and actions that promote culturally competent oral health care to individuals and populations.

Course Objectives
On successful completion of this course, residents will be able to:

Describe common ethical and biomedical principles based on the Code of Ethics
Utilize common ethical principles to respond to common ethical issues as it relates to practicing pediatric dentistry.

Pediatric Pain Management and the Judicious use of Opioids:

Understand how pain is perceived.
Use pharmacologic methods to reduce or eliminate the pain perceived.
Understand the pharmacologic impact of the medications used to reduce pain.
Practice applying pain management in practical cases
Understand how opioid/substance misuse in families affects the social and emotional development and cognitive skills of babies and young children
Understand how opioid/substance use disorders in families affect the attachment relationship
between caregiver and infant
List effective risk mitigation strategies to minimize opioid abuse/misuse including utilizing prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP: a prescription drug monitoring program is an electronic database that tracks controlled substance prescriptions in a state. PDMPs can provide health authorities timely information about prescribing and patient behaviors that contribute to the
epidemic and facilitate a nimble and targeted response. **New 2019 rules and regulations for PDMP usage and prescription guidelines!
List evidence-based alternatives for pediatric patient pain management
Identify and utilize community strategies and develop appropriate referrals systems for affected families