Schools receive grant funding for projects
important to Colorado – and beyond
Office of Public Relations
May 2005

Colorado Trust
Increasing Access to Dental Education and Dental Care for Immigrant Populations
School of Dentistry, Office of the Dean
$122,000 (each year for three years)

The goal of the International Dental Student Program is to increase access to quality oral health care for immigrant and under-represented minority populations by increasing the number of providers to provide care and by addressing some of the barriers that exist.

In the state of Colorado, dental graduates of institutions outside the U.S. must earn a DDS from an accredited U.S. institution in order to be eligible for licensure. In January 2005, the School of Dentistry started an international student program (ISP) to offer qualified graduates of foreign dental programs the opportunity to graduate with the Doctor of dental Surgery degree from the CU School of Dentistry.

Students currently enrolled in the ISP program are from Lithuania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romamia, El Salvador, Colombia, India, Iraq and Turkey.

The $122,000/year grant will provide funding for personnel to include a dentist to supervise the dental procedures performed by the ISP students and staff members to coordinate the appointments within the School of Dentistry’s main clinic for this new patient group, and to develop educational materials for use by non-English speaking patients.

“The School of Dentistry is delighted to partner with The Colorado Trust to address shortages in the dental workforce and to increase access to care for immigrant populations.”

Denise Kassebaum, DDS, interim dean
School of Dentistry

Caring for Colorado Foundation
Curriculum Innovation Project
School of Medicine, Office of the Dean
$100,000 (each year for two years)

Faculty, students and alumni of the CU School of Medicine have worked to develop a system-based curriculum that pairs basic sciences with clinical practice materials through all four years of medical school to ensure information is relevant and applicable.

This approach is innovative, particularly because it tackles all four years of the curriculum, rather than focusing on the first half of the medical education process as has been the approach at other medical schools.

The curriculum is viewed as an integrated four-year process and not as separate components. For each 2- to 11-week component of the new curriculum, experts in the basic sciences are paired with clinicians to serve as co-directors. This helps to ensure integration and clinical relevance of the material.

The $100,000 grant each year for two years, totaling $200,000, will provide 10 percent of the curriculum development cost.

“We know that students, the primary “target population,” need to be active partners in the educational process and faculty educators need to find new ways to energize the continual learning process for future physicians.”

Regina Kilkenny, assistant dean
School of Medicine

The Colorado Trust
Health Profession Initiative
School of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy
$124,529 (each year for three years)

The Health Profession Initiative program of the School of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy is designed to advance accessible and affordable health care in Colorado by addressing the shortage of health care professionals across the state.

The $124,529/year, three year grant will be used to promote pharmacy careers to program grade school and college students from rural and under-served communities directly and through the education of high school career counselors; provide retention programs to enhance graduation rates for students from rural and under-served communities admitted in to the School of Pharmacy; and work with partners and local healthcare communities to develop programs to improve health care outcomes for patients with diabetes.


“This Colorado trust grant will improve health outcomes for the citizens of Colorado.”

Chris Turner, PhD, associate professor and director of Experiential Programs
School of Pharmacy

Caring for Colorado Foundation
Pharmacy Health Care Services for an Underserved Denver Community
School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences
$49,286

The Stout Street Clinic serves a homeless population that faces obstacles in obtaining optimal health care, due to limited financial resources, lack of health insurance and language and/or cultural barriers.

In the past, the Stout Street Clinic has struggled to keep a full-time pharmacist on staff.
Furthermore, the lack of a full-time pharmacist prevented the clinic from serving as a clinical training site for pharmacy students. Combining resources of the clinic and the School of Pharmacy provided for a full-time pharmacist position and a unique opportunity to bring advanced pharmacy practice in to the clinic.

The $49,286 grant will cover half of the pharmacist position at the Stout Street Clinic for one year, including costs association with professional development programs.

The Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, and Pharmacy recently received funding from the Caring for Colorado Foundation and The Colorado Trust.

The Caring for Colorado Foundation awarded grants for the following programs:
• The Curriculum Innovation Project ($100,000/year for two years) – School of Medicine, Office of the Dean;
• Pharmacy Health Care Services for An Underserved Denver Community ($49,286) – School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences;
• The Learning Landscape Program ($4,400) and The Happy Feets and Healthy Eats Program ($75,000) – School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics;
• The Refugee Mental Health Program of Colorado ($55,572) – School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry;
• An Initiative by a Pharmacy and a Community Health Center to Improve Patient Health Outcomes in Rural Colorado ($19,404) and an Initiative to Improve Health Outcomes through the Establishment of a Diabetes Clinic in Rural Colorado ($46,893) – School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice

The Colorado Trust awarded grants for the following programs:
• Increasing Access to Dental Education and Dental Care for Immigrant Populations ($122,000/year for three years) – School of Dentistry, Office of the Dean
• Health Profession Initiative ($124,529/year for three years) – School of Pharmacy, Department of Clinical Pharmacy
• Evaluation of Colorado Trust Quality Initiative ($300,000) – Colorado Health Outcomes Program
• Home Visitation 2000 Initiative, Age 6 Test of HV2000 ($699,748) – School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Caring for Colorado Foundation is a statewide, health organization that funds non-profits and governmental agencies that are working to promote and enhance the health of the people of Colorado.

The Colorado Trust is a grant making foundation dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of the people of Colorado.


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