Journal of dental education
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
Oral health promotion through an online training program for medical students.
The objective of this study was to compare the impact on knowledge and counseling skills of face-to-face and Internet-based oral health training programs on medical students. Participants consisted of 148 (82 percent) of the 180 invited students attending their fifth academic year at the Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brasil, in 2007. The interventions took place during a three-month training period in the clinical Center for Health Promotion, which comprised part of a clerkship in Internal Medicine. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to identify the odds ratios of scoring above Control's medians on the final assessment and the OSCE. In the results, Cy+C performed significantly better than Control on both the final assessment (OR 9.4; 95% CI 2.7-32.8) and the OSCE (OR 5.6; 95% CI 1.9-16.3) and outperformed all the other groups. The Cy+C group showed the most significant increase in knowledge and the best skills in asking and counseling about oral health.
-
Since 2005, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Dentistry has required the VitalSource Technologies, Inc. Bookshelf as the textbook program for all dental students. In a 2008 survey, four classes of dental students expressed dissatisfaction with most features of the bookshelf. ⋯ Although we expected incoming dental students to have had previous experience with e-textbooks, only nine students had used e-books in college courses. Few students indicated preference for e-textbooks, and over half of the group was undecided. After experience with VitalSource for first-year courses, students indicated that they like VitalSource for the ability to search for specific topics across the entire collection of dental books, but not for reading large amounts of text.
-
The purpose of this report is to describe the rationale and subsequent transition of a pharmacology course for dental students from a traditional face-to-face lecture format to online delivery using a course management system (CMS). A dental school faculty member with dental and pharmacology degrees and a Ph. D. was asked to serve as course director and to develop and implement a nontraditional course using the Blackboard CMS technology, which houses asynchronous course content materials, study guides, and online resource materials. ⋯ In a comparison of overall course grades from the previous year, student performance in this course was much stronger. As a result of student feedback seeking more interaction with the course director, it was determined that the next time the course is offered there will be additional opportunities for greater face-to-face time with the instructor. Ongoing evaluation will be important as new teaching technologies emerge and are adopted for teaching and learning.
-
The American Dental Education Association's Admissions Committee Workshop (ADEA ACW) was designed to challenge dental school administrators and admissions committee members to review their current admissions practices and to explore ways to attract a more diverse student body. Presented at the invitation of dental schools, this half-day interactive workshop provides opportunities for a dental school's administrators, staff, and admissions committee members to learn about the value of diversity in the educational environment and how to implement holistic admissions practices that take into consideration the experiences, attributes, and metrics of candidates for admission. This report explores the rationale for the development of the ADEA ACW, discusses lessons learned from presentation of the workshop at more than twenty-seven U. S. dental schools, and tracks enrollment trends of underrepresented minority students in dental schools where the workshop has been presented.