Rationale:
The rationale for this combination was well described in the recommendation of the Provost and the President. It is reproduced in the next four sections below for the convenience of the reader. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ THE PRESIDENTS RECOMMENDATION, YOU CAN SKIP THE NEXT FOUR SECTIONS.
Research: Both Dentistry and Nursing faculty have steep upward trajectories in externally funded research, and the combination will enhance and accelerate those trajectories and create significant synergies across Nursing and Dentistry. Nursing faculty has among the highest external funding per capita in the University. The Dental faculty, led by a new cadre of active researchers, has quadrupled its federal research support in the
last four years. Because of the common health dimensions in the nature of the expected
research in the new school, and in the rich funding sources in Dentistry and Nursing, the
new schools ability to provide an environment for productive research for both units will
be enhanced, including proposal development, facilities, grants and research administration. Taking these benefits together, the potential for increased research funding will be improved significantly. In addition, the potential for collaboration is substantial. Nursing and Dentistry have already collaborated on a catastrophe preparedness grant, and more collaborations are planned in such areas as sleep apnea, pre-term birth, diabetes, pulmonary infection, cardiovascular disease, geriatrics, and smoking cessation all conditions in which systemic health problems have been linked to oral diseases or problems. In addition, both Dentistry and Nursing have specific research initiatives in areas such as geriatrics, pediatrics, cancer, and health disparities that will benefit from direct collaboration. It is also highly likely that the innovative clinical practices that are discussed below will lead to significant research and evaluation opportunities. Finally, though more subjective, the emphasis on health research and the ability to celebrate and reward excellence in research within the school will be a factor in the improvements within and across the two areas as a result of the combination.
Teaching: Traditionally, nursing, dentistry and virtually all other healthcare disciplines
have little overlap; and, therein resides the opportunity. Many healthcare planners
believe that for too long the health professions have been educated in independent silos
selecting not to interact in meaningful ways during training, which not only increases the
cost of education, but fosters problematic isolationism in clinical practice. The
integration of the education of healthcare professionals is critical to promote better
teaching and research programs, and may help to create more cost-effective health care
overall. A more specific analysis of synergy between the curricula of the NYU Dental
and Nursing programs uncovered a surprisingly high 30 percent overlap in subject matter taught in the two programs. This overlap provides some of the underlying basis for the academic synergy and the economic efficiency in moving the programs together. For
example, although it would be unrealistic to expect that more than one-third to one half of
this overlap can be captured in the short run in joint programming, conjoint competencies
in such areas as ethics, pain control, and medical histories are a natural. Beyond the
specific substance of the courses, the two health care units have the potential to engage in
significant innovation in teaching, using synergistic approaches that draw on simulation,
technology and telecommunications.
Innovations in Clinical Practice: A particularly creative aspect of this new school is the
potential to build entirely new models of preventive and proactive healthcare delivery.
At a time when members of the massive baby boomer generation are about to enter
their healthcare intensive years, new models of healthcare delivery are desperately
needed both because of costs and soaring demand. For example, nurse practitioners, as
reported in the Wall Street Journal of October 11th, are a highly effective resource in
increasing access to healthcare. However, it is often difficult for nurse practitioners to
succeed in small private independent settings because of overhead considerations.
Deployment of nurse practitioners in dental offices, which have different geographical
distribution patterns, visitation patterns and patient pools than physicians, can be very
cost effective. Nurse practitioners in dental offices, working in concert with
collaborating physicians, could improve the prospects for early diagnosis and treatment
of conditions such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Moreover, more
people would have access to knowledgeable health care professionals who can assist in
managing the two greatest threats to the health of the public: obesity and smoking. The
NYU School of Dentistry and Nursing will be uniquely qualified to conduct the research
to assess these innovative opportunities.
The combination of Dentistry and Nursing can also facilitate the development of entirely new types of hybrid healthcare professionals including hygienist/nurses, nurse/dietitians and a new category of nurse practitioners matched to and partnered with specific dental
specialties. For example, a pediatric nurse practitioner could be invaluable in a pediatric
dentistry office.
Service: Both the Nursing and Dental faculties are now involved in a range of service
initiatives, and there are synergies between the two sets of activities. For example, it is
expected that the community clinics and mobile health service programs, now run
independently by Dentistry and Nursing, will be combined in collaboration with the
outreach of the Steinhardt School of Education to better support children in the city,
and in collaboration with the School of Medicine to better support the elderly in
community centers and nursing homes. Other on-going programs, such as the cancer
programs in Dentistry and the geriatric programs in Nursing will likely lead to new and
expanded service projects that also provide important interdisciplinary educational
opportunities for students.