Journal of dental education
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To address concerns about the growing shortage of dental educators, the UCLA School of Dentistry initiated an elective course to introduce fourth-year students to issues in academic dentistry and to provide an apprentice teaching experience. Participants in the elective (referred to as student teachers) developed a microcourse entitled "Welcome to Dental Anatomy," presented to incoming first-year students during orientation week. ⋯ The positive impact on student teachers and incoming first-year students indicates that this approach has great potential for encouraging more graduates to pursue careers in academic dentistry. In addition, the program has the potential to be expanded by adaptation to other foundational courses in the dental and dental hygiene curricula.
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The objective of this study was to test the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess the status of and factors associated with organizational innovation in schools of dentistry. The questionnaire included thirty-three questions that assessed the following six domains: innovation/environment, innovation/leadership, innovation/personal, feedback/environment, feedback/personal, and feedback/interpersonal. A seventh domain, evidence-based learning, assessed the reaction of dental faculty to a scenario where the scientific evidence found a current treatment to be ineffective in improving the health status of patients. ⋯ The evidence-based learning domain was negatively associated with the innovation/environment domain, indicating that faculty who were willing to abandon teaching of a treatment found to be ineffective felt that their school environment was not highly innovative. In conclusion, this preliminary study found that the questionnaire reliably assessed six domains representing innovation and feedback. This preliminary study also found that an innovative environment in two schools of dentistry is associated with presence of leaders who promote change and innovation, an environment that encourages feedback, and faculty members who value interpersonal feedback.
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As a part of the 2000-01 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute, the Leadership Institute Fellows conducted a faculty development workshop for department chairpersons and program directors during the 2001 ADEA Annual Session. A central premise of the workshop was that successful chairpersons and program directors are both effective leaders and effective managers and that leadership and management involve complementary activities. The workshop was case-based. ⋯ Because of the breadth of possible discussion, group case analyses at the workshop and in the appended case reviews explore only one perspective. This overview article introduces concepts of leadership and management that provide the foundation for analysis of three case studies that follow. These cases address common leadership and management issues in academic dentistry through three typical cases: the frustrated faculty member (case 1), the misdirected faculty member (case 2), and the faculty member stuck in the middle (case 3).
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U. S. and Canadian dental schools were surveyed regarding curriculum issues related to undergraduate dental esthetic restorative courses. A one-page survey instrument was sent to deans of academic affairs (n=59) of dental schools to complete or forward to the most appropriate faculty at their respective schools who would be knowledgeable about the esthetic restorative curriculum. ⋯ The first part of the survey asked if a specific esthetic restorative course was offered at their school, if it was mandatory or elective, and details of the course length and content. The second part of the survey asked whether selected esthetic restorative procedures were included in the curriculum. Respondents to this survey indicated that most types of esthetic restorative procedures are taught whether or not an esthetic course is included in the curriculum.