STORY

School of Medicine program receives oral health grant

By Staff
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The DentaQuest Foundation has awarded $60,000 to the University of Colorado School of Medicine's child health associate/physician assistant (CHA/PA) program.

The program will use the money to incorporate oral health into the practice and educational program for this profession. Specifically, the grant will help engage four physician assistant professional organizations in an oral health summit to share information about oral health as well as the role of primary care providers in oral health services.

"This grant allows us to further our mission to provide comprehensive physician assistant education in primary care across the lifespan," said Anita Glicken, associate dean for physician assistant studies. "Dental care is a vital part of that mission and the support of DentaQuest allows us to further that goal."

The vision of the program is to be a leading educational program with a national reputation for excellence in innovative curriculum, research and scholarship, community engagement and clinical care.

The DentaQuest Foundation works with statewide, regional and local community leaders to foster solutions that support and promote oral health. Foundation grant partners emphasize community solutions and prevention programs. Funded programs are actively engaged in addressing oral health issues and willing to devise responses to decrease dental disease at the local level. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded more than $17 million in grant funding.