Bridging the Gap for Better Patient Care

Professor of Oral Medicine Mahnaz Fatahzadeh saw many cases of advanced oral cancer that arrived too late. Aware of barriers to accessing oral health care, she wondered what she could do to facilitate early diagnosis and reduce her patients’ pain. She found the answer in collaboration.

“I felt part of the reason patients are falling through the cracks is because there is a knowledge gap,” she said. “Even though oral health screening is simple and takes little time to perform, it is often not a priority in primary care. This missed opportunity, in part, reflects minimal oral health content and insufficient emphasis on mouth-body connection in the non-dental health profession curricula. And this gap is even more relevant for patients burdened with oral disease who don’t have dental insurance.”

She rolled up her sleeves to bridge this knowledge gap and contribute to oral health equity. Her mentor and former faculty member Arnie Rosenheck, who was an avid proponent of oral cancer screening, encouraged her to participate in this endeavor. Being a stomatologist, she developed oral health modules tailored to the needs of various health profession programs within Rutgers. She aimed to provide future healthcare providers with foundational knowledge about oral health and disease. Fatahzadeh’s efforts over the past two decades have not gone unnoticed. She just received the 2025 Rutgers Health Distinguished Interprofessional Clinical Educator Award, nominated by colleagues from multiple health professions schools.

“I feel honored and grateful,” said Fatahzadeh. Her colleagues share a similar perspective. “It is through collaboration that the best health care can be provided to our patients,” said Claire O’Connell, associate professor and director of didactic education at Rutgers School of Health Professions’ Physician Assistant Program. “Oral care is vital to overall health. The Physician Assistant Program embraces a humanistic, patient-centered model of care. Dr. Fatahzadeh exemplifies this in her teaching and practice. She is an excellent clinician and an exceptional role model.”

Rutgers’ Physician Assistant Program was the first place Fatahzadeh approached to offer her oral health module back in 2004. “They were highly receptive to this idea,” she said. She taught their students how to perform oral health screening, what signs to look for, how oral and systemic health intersect and who refer the patients to. From there on, other schools came on board to have Fatahzadeh offer her modules to their students, including Rutgers’ medical and nursing schools.

“We must work together. We cannot have a piecemeal approach to patient care, and the relationship between medical and dental providers should be bidirectional,” she said. Therefore, she also trains her students at Rutgers School of Medicine (RSDM) with the same understanding. “I tell my dental students: ‘You are an oral physician. Yes, you restore the dentition, but your responsibility goes far beyond that.’” She teaches them to screen for undiagnosed or poorly controlled medical conditions, make appropriate referrals, and contribute to better health outcomes. She expects her students to recognize oral manifestations of diabetes, celiac, Chron’s, and other systemic diseases and to engage in health promotion activities.

Fatahzadeh has also been a supporter of RSDM’s SPICE program, launched by Vice Dean Kim Fenesy, to provide interprofessional education projects spanning five schools of health profession and the school of social work within Rutgers as well as Essex County College Dental hygiene program. SPICE weekly collaborative care conferences are based on clinical vignettes developed by Fatahzadeh and culminated in a recent article in the Journal of Dental Education.

Fatahzadeh hopes to broaden her reach and her modules to include clinical exposure for a more impactful learning experience. “There has to be more communication, collaboration, and interaction,” she said, “between healthcare professionals in the interest of patient care.”