Journal of dental education
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Multisource assessment (MSA) uses multiple assessors to provide feedback. Little is known about the validity of using MSA feedback for improving students' ability to self-assess in a preclinical environment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to measure the validity of using a defined reflective process involving an MSA tool for building skill in dental students' self-evaluation of caries excavation on extracted teeth. ⋯ The results showed that interrater agreement between the self- and expert assessors increased significantly: from a 28% agreement in formative assessment to a 60% agreement in summative assessment. Significance in percentage shifts between assessments was demonstrated with a McNemar score of 0.26 (p<0.001). These results suggest that the described MSA tool and reflective process in an SGSP may be valid methods for improving skill in student self-evaluation of competence in caries excavation on extracted teeth.
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Prior studies have identified many benefits of peer mentoring in higher education, but the subject has not been widely examined in dental clinical education. Students at Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine-Arizona are paired with a partner for the duration of the clinical phase of education. The initial vision behind pairing was to train students in a realistic four-handed, efficient general practice model. ⋯ The benefits of pairing were found to go far beyond the initial vision of promoting a general practice model. The majority (70.1%) of responding students perceived that it added to the educational experience, and 68.5% frequently/always agreed that the mentor-mentee relationship motivated them to learn. Although the students expressed many benefits of pairing, 29.3% identified a need for more focused training prior to entering into the mentor-mentee relationship.