Chapter 7. Service-Learning

Service-learning links academic instruction to real-world practice. This innovative teaching method allows students to acquire hands-on experience in their profession while also providing a service to the community.

To initiate a service-learning program for oral health integration, faculty must build partnerships with community health care sites where students can perform service as part of a course assignment, volunteer opportunity, course elective, or otherwise. A variety of practice settings can be targeted for service-learning experiences. These include patient-centered medical homes, community health centers, pharmacies, schools, nursing homes, and other settings where care might be provided.

In this chapter you will learn to create tailored educational experiences that ask students to apply information acquired in an interprofessional classroom to oral health practice that is integrated into primary care.

Elements of a successful service-learning program include:

The information in this chapter has been adapted from materials provided by Northeastern University’s Center of Community Service. Another excellent resource is Principles of Good Practice for Service-Learning Pedagogy, created by Jeffrey Howard for the Michigan Journal of Community Service in 2001.