Utilization of and Dental Students’ Perceived Benefits of an Urgent Care Clinic in a Dental School

The aims of this study were to describe patient utilization of an urgent care clinic (UCC) in a dental school for one year and to assess dental students’ perceptions of the benefits of training in this clinic. Aggregate clinic data from July 3, 2017, through July 6, 2018, were used to determine number of patients, number of new patients, number of new patients who elected to transfer their primary dental care to the university, number who were seen for a follow-up, and service/clinic to which each patient was referred. Student evaluations were used to determine the benefits students perceived in their training in the UCC. Results showed that 1,674 patients were seen in the UCC during the study period. Of these, 67% were new patients, and 53% of these new patients opted to transfer their primary dental care to the university. An average of 7.03 patients were treated per day, and 2.48 new patients per day were generated for the predoctoral student clinic. The most common referrals were to oral surgery (37%), endodontics (30%), and the predoctoral dental clinic (28%). Among these patients, 39% scheduled follow-up appointments, and the attendance rate was 69%. About 80% of eligible students (40/50) completed the questionnaire, and many provided optional comments. Over 80% of the responding students responded favorably regarding the learning experiences and assessments during the UCC rotation. This study found that establishment of the UCC increased the pool of patients and provided students the necessary experiences in triaging and treating dental emergencies.