Medical emergencies in a dental school clinic - A 12-year review and lessons learned.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to estimate the type and frequency of different medical emergencies that occurred over the study period (twelve years) and discuss the lessons learned and the modifications made in the curriculum to better equip dental students and faculty in their management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate all medical emergencies that needed activation of the response team at our school from 2008 to 2020. RESULTS: The emergency response system was activated 250 times during the 12-year period. There were 132 medical emergencies in the pre-doctoral clinic and 105 events in the post-doctoral clinic (p 0.0680). Most of the emergencies occurred in patients between 45 and 64 years of age. Syncope occurs most often followed by adverse cardiovascular, respiratory, anxiety, and hypoglycemic events. CONCLUSIONS: Medical emergencies occurring in a dental school provide a unique opportunity for students to gain experience in their management. The key lies in preparing the students and faculty to prevent them from occurring, but should these occur, then they should be able to promptly recognize symptoms and institute prompt intervention.

Same day access: a viable alternative for outpatient clinical care.

OBJECTIVE: To present our experience with a novel, same-day access (SDA) scheduling model for outpatient clinical care in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS). STUDY DESIGN: The primary outcome variable was OMS patient scheduling in a hospital-based outpatient clinic. Patients were given a specific appointment time to be seen the same day they contacted the clinic. This SDA clinic was compared to previous patient scheduling models for patient satisfaction, appointment wait times, annual clinic volume, no-show rates, and access to care. RESULTS: Patient satisfaction increased to 80% with SDA scheduling compared with 20% to 40% with prior models. The average wait time for patients improved to 19 minutes compared with 330 minutes with the walk-in model. Forty patients were scheduled on the same day, and 96% of all patients who called the clinic were seen within 14 days with the SDA approach. Same-day access was the only model that met its volume and budgetary goals. CONCLUSIONS: The incorporation of SDA scheduling improves patient satisfaction and is a viable alternative to more traditional scheduling protocols for clinics suffering from volume, revenue, and access to care issues.