A survey of extramural experiences for dental students.

A survey was conducted of the chairmen of the departments of community dentistry (or an equivalent department) within all full-curriculum dental schools in the United States as of September 1973, to obtain information on the rane of extramural experiences, the departmental responsibilities for these experiences, the times and the distributions of the experiences, and on feedback related to the experiences. Thirty-six respondents reported a wide variety of experiences with most activities under the auspices of departments of community dentistry. A trend toward concentration of the extramural experiences in the latter years of the curriculum was noted. Feedback from both the participating dental students and the patients was mostly positive to strongly positive. Most responding chairmen agreed that the extramural experiences may be helping to create a more socially conscious graduate, although few had conducted formal evaluations of the programs which could support this impression.