Establishing Excellence at Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine
July 23, 2024
How the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences School of Dental Medicine team used One45 and Analytics to develop a fair and effective assessment strategy and prepare for their new school’s first accreditation.
Key Information
Program: Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) School of Dental Medicine
Location: Yakima, Washington
Challenges: Ensuring comprehensive assessment of dentistry students in an interprofessional clinical setting, tracking student progress and outcomes of a competency-based curriculum
Solutions/Modules: One45, Analytics
Benefits: Satisfying accreditation standards, enhanced faculty and student experience, data-driven decision-making
Rural and medically underserved communities throughout the State of Washington face a shortage of healthcare providers, and the team at Pacific Northwest University (PNWU) wants to help.
Founded in 2005 by dedicated healthcare providers and community leaders, the university’s mission was clear: recruit students from rural and medically underserved areas in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, train them in community-based settings, and encourage them to return to their communities as healthcare professionals, prepared to provide informed and compassionate care.
In 2022 – having achieved nation-leading success in mission fulfillment – the non-profit health sciences university announced the creation of a new School of Dental Medicine and appointed Dr. Fotinos Panagakos as the founding dean. Within a year, the school hired two associate deans, started the construction of its on-campus facilities, established partnerships with three Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and initiated the several years-long accreditation process.
The school’s mission is to educate and train primary care dentists in a humanistic environment, emphasizing service among rural and medically underserved communities throughout the Northwest. And to do so, they needed to ensure their new school would be using an established and reliable system to manage its curriculum and outcomes effectively.
With the first dental class set to begin in August 2025, PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine had to ensure that it could provide education and training that met CODA’s (Commission on Dental Accreditation) standards and document the program’s outcomes.
The challenge?
Ensuring comprehensive assessment of students in an integrated healthcare setting, where both dental medicine students and other health professionals are using a common electronic health record (EHR) system that lacks the ability to record student performance. To overcome these challenges, the dental school adopted One45 and Analytics from Acuity Insights.
Implementing One45 and Analytics
Integration and customization
The initiative has been led by Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, Dean of the School of Dental Medicine, Dr. Gary Pape, Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Robin Reinke, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, and Jonie Kerns, PNWU Director of Student Assessment
The community clinics in which PNWU dental students will train use an integrated electronic health records system (EHR) that lacks educational evaluation capabilities. Because of this integrated healthcare model, where dental professionals are working alongside other health professions, the solutions that dental schools have historically used are too siloed. As a result, dental schools require a system that can ensure they track student progress and competence from a qualitative perspective.
One45 and Analytics filled this gap by offering a configurable, comprehensive suite for dental medicine education, allowing the school to tailor the system to their specific needs.
According to Dr. Panagakos, “the ability to incorporate evaluation rubrics and track student competency assessment in real-time is crucial for meeting accreditation standards and ensuring quality education.”
Streamlined assessment and curriculum mapping
The combination of One45 and Analytics is exactly what the PNWU team required.
One45’s platform facilitates the tracking of procedures and captures qualitative assessments of the numerous clinical competencies required to graduate from CODA-accredited programs, and provides powerful curriculum management capabilities. This allows seamless management of student progress, from pre-clinical simulations to real-world clinical settings.
Additionally, Analytics offers deep insights into student and overall program performance, using pre-built dashboards and powerful filtering to track and measure outcomes for each course, cohort, and clinical site and address any gaps and opportunities.
Jonie Kerns, Director of Student Assessment at PNWU, highlights the importance of having a system that can map the curriculum and generate reports to document student learning and achievement.
According to Kerns, One45 was their top choice due to its ability to handle these tasks effectively. The platform’s flexibility and comprehensive features made it an ideal choice for the new dental school.
Comprehensive training and support
Getting the team up to speed with One45 and Analytics required training, which has been covered in the thorough implementation process as their new team grows.
According to Kerns, “It was a lengthy process, but the phased approach taken to train our team ensured all users learned how to use the system effectively.”
Results
The implementation of One45 and Analytics delivered three key results:
The integration of clinical, didactic, and simulation course data ensures a comprehensive view of student performance. Plus, by providing robust outcomes assessment and detailed tracking of student progress, the school can confidently demonstrate its commitment to high-quality education and continuous improvement.
Enhanced faculty and student experience
One45 and Analytics have made preparations for the upcoming academic year simple and efficient.
One45 is user-friendly, and having a complete system designed to optimize education outcomes will make it easy for faculty to focus on teaching and supporting students as the first class enters in 2025 rather than dealing with complicated software. Integrating evaluation rubrics and tracking clinical competencies smoothly is especially helpful.
Additionally, the ability to use One45 to manage multi-step procedures and provide comprehensive reporting is a significant advantage. According to Dr. Robin Reinke, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, One45 will allow the school to accurately monitor student procedures and competencies, ensuring they meet the required benchmarks throughout their dental education.
Data-driven decision making
Analytics provides valuable data insights, enabling the university to make informed decisions about curriculum improvements and student support.
By identifying areas of opportunity across the program and throughout its clinical sites, the dental school can optimize its teaching methods and ensure students receive a comprehensive education.
What’s next?
With the successful implementation of One45 and Analytics, Pacific Northwest University School of Dental Medicine is well-positioned to achieve accreditation and move forward with its mission of training oral health professionals for underserved communities.
Looking ahead, the university plans to expand its use of Analytics to further enhance its educational offerings. By continually refining its curriculum and assessment methods, the school aims to provide an exceptional educational experience for its students, ultimately benefiting the broader community.
“One45 has transformed our approach to student assessments and curriculum management. The insights from Analytics are invaluable in ensuring we meet our educational goals and accreditation standards,” said Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, Dean of the School of Dental Medicine.
Facts
- 36: Initial number of students per year of program
- 2025: Entry of first class of the dental program
- Clinical Education Model: Partnership with 3 FQHCs to provide clinical training sites in underserved areas