Ensuring and improving the quality of health care services, including dental services, is built into the IHS mission of raising “the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of American Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level,” according to CAPT Timothy Ricks, Deputy Director of the IHS Division of Oral Health (DOH).

Dr. Ricks notes that IHS dentists maintain the standards of a high-quality dental program through a robust continuing dental education program that awarded more than $7.2 million worth of training last year through 245 different courses.

Many IHS dentists have learned basic quality improvement principles through IHS’ Improving Patient Care (IPC) program, which teaches a quality improvement methodology called the Model for Improvement, developed by the Associates in Process Improvement. In this model, three basic questions are asked:

1. What are we trying to accomplish?
2. How will we know whether a change is an improvement?
3. What changes can we make that will result in improvement?

Dr. Ricks says this model is used on a daily basis in many of the 404 IHS, Tribal and Urban Indian dental programs to improve the delivery of care to patients and test changes using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle.

Examples of PDSAs performed routinely by dentists include testing proposed ways to improve sealant retention, broken appointment rate reduction procedures, patient compliance with dental instructions, endodontic therapy success, post-surgical complication reduction and others.

On its own, DOH has established numerical standards for quality of care issues that can be measured, says Dr. Ricks. These include evaluation of measures such as services per patient visit, the proportion of patients receiving dental exams, the proportion of patients completing planned treatment, broken appointment rates and other measures.

Regional dental leadership, called Area Dental Officers, in conjunction with DOH, conduct comprehensive program reviews routinely in IHS, Tribal and Urban dental programs to evaluate quality issues such as credentialing and privileging, chart documentation, infection control, hazard communications, radiology safety, local clinic policies and protocols, the local dental quality improvement program, employee development, prevention projects and clinical efficiency and productivity.

When you join DOH as a dental professional, you can be assured that you’re part of an organization that provides the best care for our patients — and sustained, continuous quality improvement is one of the ways we accomplish our mission!

Browse our list of current openings!

If you’re a third-year dental student in search of a rewarding and unique training opportunity, the IHS Division of Oral Health (DOH) Dental Externship Program can provide you with the perfect opportunity to:

• Gain valuable clinical experience working in an Indian health facility!
• Develop your clinical skills under expert supervision!
• Contribute to an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals!

DOH dental externships take place during the summer before your final year of dental school. As a dental extern, a hands-on experience in public health dentistry will enable you to make an informed career choice in the months before graduation. Externships also provide you with an opportunity to establish relationships with mentors and dental health professionals who could open doors for your career.

You'll also have an opportunity to decide whether your calling is working in a non-typical clinical setting and providing much-needed care to a medically underserved patient population. Work alongside dedicated, culturally competent dental teams in state-of-the-art facilities while learning about IHS’ excellent pay and benefits, as well as eligibility for financial freedom through the IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP).

The application cycle reopens January 2019 — but we suggest you start preparing your application materials now! Here are some tips:

You can complete the following steps now to help minimize the time it takes to complete the application process:

1. Read the Dental Externship Program Quick Reference Guide (QRG) prior to starting the application. The application contains a quiz covering all travel information.
2. Compose your answer to the following question in a Word document using no more than 2,500 characters: Please tell us why you are interested in an IHS Dental Externship. (You will copy and paste your answer from the Word document into question No. 10 of the application.)
3. If you have completed items 1 and 2 above, the application will take 30 to 45 minutes to complete. Please ensure you have set aside that amount of time prior to beginning the application.

Did you know that a staff member of the IHS Division of Oral Health (DOH) can come to your school to speak to dental students about Indian health career opportunities? We often speak at official dental school functions, student organization meetings and other events, as well as participate in webinars or conference calls.

We can discuss topics including:

• How a public health career with IHS differs from a private dental practice.
• Descriptions of the 12 IHS Areas and some of the spectacular locations and state-of-the-art facilities in which you can choose to practice.
• Compensation, benefits and special recruiting incentives.
• The three career paths available in Indian health: Federal Civil Service, Tribal or Urban Indian Program hire or as an officer with the US Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps.
• The IHS Dental Externship Program (see above).
• The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) and other financial and student opportunities.

Please reach out to Dr. Timothy Lozon for more information.