Special Healthcare Needs Clinic rotation introduces DDS students to accessible care

DDS students are gaining experience and expertise in caring for patients with unique healthcare needs thanks to a new specialty rotation.

The Special Healthcare Needs Clinic provides comprehensive dental care for patients with complex medical conditions, developmental disabilities and physical disabilities, as well as older adult patients.

The work is crucial, and varied. “Our clinic isn’t limited to ‘special care’ patients,” explained Natalie Jones, DDS, director of the clinic. “We also see a lot of patients in the hospital before major medical procedures, and we see geriatric patients whose physical or mental status adds to the case complexity. In general, we see patients who need additional emotional, developmental or medical support.” That includes everything from head and neck radiation patients who need clearance for surgery, autistic patients who require additional support for oral health care and patients with physical disabilities that prevent them from receiving care in a traditional dental setting.

Because of the high demand in the community for this kind of care, the clinic’s need for providers remains quite high. The clinic team determined that this need provided a perfect opportunity to introduce DDS students to the realities of care for patients in this population. They began inviting fourth-year DDS students to a volunteer-based rotation in the clinic. Then, when this increase of providers called for additional assistants, the clinic team partnered with Teresa Fong, DDS, director of the predoctoral pediatrics clinic to invite third-year students in their predoctoral pediatrics rotation to spend time assisting in the clinic as well.

The inclusion of DDS students, especially in the third year, has done wonders for their awareness and understanding of the clinic—and their desire to return as fourth-year students. “Having students come through as third-years really accomplished what we hoped for,” she reflected. “They break down barriers; it’s intimidating to come into a new space with different types of patients, but by the end of their fourth-year rotations, these students have so much more confidence.”

That confidence, plus word spreading from third- and fourth-year students about the value of the experience, led to a boom in student rotations through the clinic. In 2024, 35 fourth-year students completed a three-week rotation. In 2025, 48 third-year students completed an introductory rotation, and 44 fourth-year students signed up for a full rotation. In total, 131 students rotated through the clinic between 2024 and 2025, and that number seems to continue to rise.

In addition to feeling more confident, Jones knows that participating in the rotation is essential for dentists—whether they plan to specialize or not. “Sometimes, I’ll get a referral from an outside practice, and it seems like the provider was more afraid or unwilling to change their plan for a patient who needed something different,” she said. “We are training students to understand what these patients are needing, ask the right questions and talk with a variety of patients with more confidence and empathy.”

The experience has been impactful, both for students who hope to specialize and those who don’t. Zachary Schepers, DDS ’26, knew of the importance of dental and general health care for medically complex patients thanks to his previous experience as a CNA at a nursing home. He decided to rotate through the clinic to “help provide access to care for a group of people who struggle to find a dental home.”

Schepers loved the experience—and calls it his favorite rotation. “I received valuable training on how to manage medically complex patients,” he said. “Students get a chance to do a little bit of everything: restorations, crowns, dentures and extractions.”

He plans to be a general dentist and own his own practice—and that makes this experience all the more valuable for Schepers. “I don’t want to be forced to turn a patient away because they have a complicated medical condition that I am not prepared to manage,” he reflected. “This rotation gave me the tools and knowledge I need to provide dental care to patients with movement impairments and other complexities.”

Ella Welsh, DDS ’26, volunteered for the rotation to “learn techniques to make dentistry more accessible for patients who may have different limitations when it comes to mobility, anxiety or other health issues that make dental appointments difficult.”

It’s safe to say Welsh learned those techniques and more. “My experience at the clinic showed me the importance of having dentists who can provide care to patients who need to be seen in an alternate setting,” she reflected. “The rotation gave me an appreciation for how to care for patients with special health care needs.”

Welsh loved the experience so much that it inspired her to pursue hospital-based dental care. She’ll take the first step toward that journey with a General Practice Residency at the Hennepin County Medical Center after her graduation.

“I was inspired to continue providing care in the hospital setting based on the passion I saw from the doctors who run the Special Healthcare Needs Clinic,” she said. But in Welsh’s mind, this rotation is valuable for anyone—whether a student has plans to specialize or not.

“This experience provides a unique opportunity to increase your scope of practice, to be able to provide accessible dental care to patients who are a part of our community.”