Medicaid patients in dental school clinics: do personal and professional experiences matter?

The purpose of this study was to explore dental and dental hygiene students' and faculty members' personal experiences with Medicaid prior to coming to dental school as well as their professional/educational experiences with patients on Medicaid during their dental/dental hygiene education and how these experiences relate to their professional attitudes and behavior concerning treating patients on Medicaid. Survey data were collected from 317 dental students, fifty-five dental hygiene students, and fifty-seven clinical faculty members at the University of Michigan. The results showed that while responding students' confidence concerning treating Medicaid patients increased over the course of their education, their intention to treat these patients actually decreased. The more personal experiences with Medicaid these students had before dental school, the more they enjoyed treating Medicaid patients, the more confident they were when treating these patients, and the more likely they were to treat these patients in the future. The more professional experiences these students had during dental school, the more they enjoyed treating Medicaid patients, and the more confident they were when treating these patients, but the less likely they were to treat them in the future. In conclusion, experiences with Medicaid before dental school as well as professional experiences during dental education correlated with later professional attitudes and behaviors. The implications of these findings for dental education are explored.