Journal of dental education
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Multicenter Study
A cross-sectional multicenter survey on the future of dental education in the era of COVID-19: Alternatives and implications.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly challenged dental education. This study investigated the procedures outlined by dental faculty members to maintain quality dental education in a safe bioenvironment and adequately control the risk of cross-infection METHOD: Dental educators from dental schools around the world were invited to join an online survey considering different demographic factors. The survey consisted of 31 questions that were classified into separate sections, including academic characteristics, college size and facilities, action taken after announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic, perception of the pandemic, opinion regarding teaching, patient flow, possible facilities to implement for short- and long-term plans, and actions suggested to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic RESULTS: Two hundred-twelve responses were received. ⋯ Special attention was raised by the majority of respondents regarding dental aerosolizing procedures, preferring to postpone their training to a postpandemic/later phase. Coinciding opinions suggested adopting a future dynamic hybrid strategy analysis that combines online distant learning, virtual simulation, and haptic labs together with traditional direct clinical training on real patients CONCLUSION: The future of dental education will have far-reaching changes in strategies and tools to cope with COVID-19 pandemic and the postpandemic requirements of an effective, yet safe, dental learning environment. Dental colleges need to invest in infection precautions and in modern virtual education and training facilities.
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The United States has a history of systemic racism and violence toward minority communities. Unfortunately, the last year has demonstrated that systemic racism, and its consequences, persist. The dental profession has also failed to adequately resolve known issues of racial inequity and systemic racism, with persistent disparities in oral health outcomes for Black Americans compared to all other Americans, underrepresentation of minorities in the profession, and barriers to entry. ⋯ Very little progress has been accomplished in growing the enrollment of BAA applicants to dental school in 20 years. As a profession, we also fail to grow interest among our graduates in careers that may support historically underrepresented and marginalized racial groups-public health, rural practice, population research, academia, and health policy. This may be a contributing factor to the oral health disparities faced by Black Americans and have implications for dental education.
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The onset of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) impacted all facets of global communities. As such, dental organizations must reconsider the traditional format of conferences in order to abide by public health guidelines. Such an adjustment is required in an effort to limit the footprint and ensure the safety of its participants. ⋯ Recommendations are made pertaining to the structure of organizational committees, the intricacies of digital platforms, any associated costs, and adjustments to advertising and sponsorships. The authors also provide direction regarding changes in scheduling, and suggestions in order to replicate the social aspect of academic conferences. Careful consideration of the existing format can help design an efficient virtual platform that will continue to yield professional growth and drive the frontier of research in dentistry during this pandemic.
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A new disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) virus, was discovered in the city of Wuhan in China in December 2019, and has reached, quickly and progressively, several countries on different continents. Even before the World Health Organization recognized the COVID-19 epidemic as a pandemic, the Brazilian Ministry of Health had already declared COVID-19 a national public health emergency due to the confirmation of cases in Brazil. In this scenario, the educational sector was one of the first to suffer the effects of the pandemic soon after the announcement of social distancing as a way to prevent the collapse of the Unified Health System. The aim of this paper is to report how Brazilians dental schools are leading with the new coronavirus pandemic.
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There is a continuous challenge in academic health education to retain early career faculty members and staff. Attrition rates in the field can be as high as 42% in the first five years of an individual's career and are principally due to a sense that academic careers do not progress at a satisfactory rate. In response to this ongoing issue, the American Dental Education Association launched the Summer Program for Emerging Academic Leaders (ADEA EL) in 2012. ⋯ The outcomes of this mixed-methods study describe an assessment of the curriculum (including changes that have occurred over the tenure of the program), the fit of the intended learning outcomes, reasons why a program such as the ADEA EL is needed, and what can be done to provide additional leadership resources and support for faculty members in dental education. This study represents the first time a longitudinal report of a professional development program designed exclusively for early-career faculty and staff has been described in the literature. Its outcomes are intended to be supportive of institutions and other programs focused on support and retention of early faculty and staff.