Dental professionals for a new century: Transforming dentistry through interprofessional education and collaborative practice

Over the last decade or so, there has been a major global shift toward strengthening interprofessional education and collaborative practice in health. The 59th World Health Assembly (Resolution: 59.23) recognized the health worker crisis and a global shortage of almost 4.3 million health professionals, calling for various strategies to meet the unmet needs of the population. “Innovative approaches to teaching” in both industrialized and developing countries was promulgated by the WHO as one such strategy. In 2010, the WHO released its “framework for action” report providing policy-makers, health leaders, and professional bodies with a set of ideas/designs on how to implement interprofessional education and collaborative practice within their local contexts. The FDI World Dental Federation, in its lead up to Vision 2020, has also stressed the importance of interprofessional education and collaborative practice for maintaining optimal oral health and the necessity for a dentist to have a leadership role in all aspects of oral health. illustrates the key considerations for interprofessional education and collaborative practice, which is further explained below...