Journal of dental education
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There is increasing evidence that oral health is a critical component of overall health and that poor oral health may lead to initiation or exacerbation of chronic inflammatory diseases/conditions and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Added to this is an increasing awareness that among non-dental health care professions curricula (e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health) there is an apparent lack of information regarding the interrelationships between oral health and overall health or recognition of the significance of oral health in achieving and sustaining general health outcomes. This study explored the amount of information related to oral-systemic science currently being taught in the predoctoral/undergraduate professional curricula of pharmacy, nursing, and medical schools in English-speaking universities around the world. ⋯ The majority of students in these programs are not being instructed to examine the mouth, nor are they being taught how to perform an oral examination. Despite growing awareness of emerging evidence of oral-systemic relationships and recommendations that all health care providers should contribute to enhancing oral health, this knowledge base appears to be substantially deficient in the curricula of pharmacy, nursing, and medical students in many universities. This study provides the first formal documentation that the curricula of non-dental health care professions, specifically in medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, do not contain adequate content related to oral-systemic health.
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Comparative Study
Graduates' perceived preparedness for dental practice from PBL and traditional curricula.
The objective of this study was to compare dental graduates' perceived preparedness for practice after being educated in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum with those who graduated from a traditional undergraduate curriculum, both at the University of Hong Kong. A cohort of graduates from the traditional dental curriculum (1997-2001) and a cohort of graduates from the PBL curriculum (2004-08) rated their self-perceived preparedness for dental practice in fifty-nine aspects of dentistry across nine domains. Perceived preparedness for dental practice was compared at domain and item levels (accounting for multiple comparisons) using chi-square statistics. ⋯ There was no significant difference between PBL and traditional graduates' self-perceived preparedness in eight of the nine domains of dental practice (P>0.05). However, in the area of orthodontics, both cohorts felt ill-prepared for practice and more so among the PBL cohort (P<0.01). For the most part, regardless of curriculum design, these dental graduates perceived themselves to be well prepared for dental practice.
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The student-to-student local anesthesia administration model has been an accepted part of the formal curriculum in dental schools for teaching this clinical skill. However, there is very little published literature that explores the validity of this model or examines students' attitudes toward it. The ethics of this educational model and the value of consent also need to be explored. ⋯ A total of 152 individuals responded to this survey: 123 (80.9 percent) dental students and twenty-nine (19.1 percent) faculty members. The respondents consistently identified the perceived strengths of this model, while a number also identified the need for consent and raised ethical concerns. These findings highlight the complex nature of the respondents' opinions and raise the question of whether modification of this mode of instruction may be needed.