The present proposal is designed to a) infuse in undergraduate dental students an appreciation of science and the results of scientific research, and b) provide students with an appreciation for research so they may be more likely to pursue advanced degrees, research training and academic careers. Currently, undergraduate students at the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine (SDM) are provided basic science research experiences through training), and clinical research experiences through the UConn Dental Clinical Research Center (DCRC) component of a General Clinical Research center award. Despite these opportunities in basic and clinical research, training experiences in translational research are only partially offered through these awards, and education in entrepreneurship, management and technology transfer are not specifically provided. To address this deficiency, we have developed a curriculum to provide courses and research experiences in these areas. This curriculum emerged from combining and expanding upon 1) a Workshop funded by the NIDCR (R25 DE014686) on entrepreneurship and 2) a new course designed to integrate biotechnology with clinical dentistry. The results of both efforts support the conclusion that there is a need to develop and implement courses to accelerate the transfer, translation and integration of basic and clinical research findings into the dental curriculum such that """"""""clinically relevant education"""""""" is provided in the basic sciences and """"""""scientifically based education"""""""" is offered in clinical care. Accordingly, our proposal aims to include developing educational experiences distinct from those offered in the current T-32 and DCRC awards. Current SDM awards provide students with traditional biologic laboratory experiences. To complement these activities, our curriculum includes a course with lectures, practicum and case studies in the entrepreneurial sciences, in the integration of biotechnology with clinical dentistry, and in integrating the behavioral sciences with translational research. In addition, our program includes an externship with """"""""real-world"""""""" dental companies, federal agencies, or professional associations and a formal presentation of the externship experience to an audience of peers, University of Connecticut faculty and industry representatives. Our proposed dental student curriculum will be distributed over the 4 years of undergraduate dental school. Students will self-select and the program for recruitment of women and minority students previously used for our Workshop program will be used to recruit for the present program as well. Students will be recruited during their first academic year and offered an opportunity to participate in additional courses presented throughout their remaining 3 years. We propose to enroll interested students as each new class enters the dental school. To evaluate the efficacy of the curriculum in promoting an interest in academic careers, pre- and post-graduation surveys were developed. Additionally, we intend to track attitudinal changes as the student's progress through the 4-year program, and monitor the student's career choices and progress after graduation from dental school.
