Journal of dental education
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The purpose of this report is to describe the general use of clickers as an active learning tool and how they were used in teaching a combined periodontology course for second-year dental and junior dental hygiene students. A survey was used to capture student perceptions following completion of the course. Specific domains were active learning, improved performance, and expectations. ⋯ In addition, faculty members appreciated the greater participation afforded through the use of clickers to obtain a better understanding of the students' grasp of course content. Learning theory suggests that students must actively engage in the learning process in order for meaningful learning in the form of critical thinking and problem-solving to take place. In this study, students confirmed that the use of clicker technology encouraged their active participation in a periodontology course.
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Dental education has undergone significant curriculum reform in response to the 1995 Institute of Medicine report Dental Education at the Crossroads and the series of white papers from the American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) first published in the Journal of Dental Education and subsequently collected in a volume titled Beyond the Crossroads: Change and Innovation in Dental Education. An important element of this reform has been the introduction into academic dentistry of active learning strategies such as problem-based and case-based learning. As an aide to broadening understanding of these approaches in order to support their expansion in dental education, this article reviews the major characteristics of each approach, situates each in adult learning theory, and discusses the advantages of case-based learning in the development of a multidisciplinary, integrated predoctoral dental curriculum.
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The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that dental students' early ability to demonstrate a humanistic approach with patients is associated with later clinical performance. A first-year humanistic medicine course, Patient Doctor I (PDI), at Harvard School of Dental Medicine combines training in conducting the medical interview with human values, placing a high value on strengthening relationships with patients and emphasizing empowerment, respect, and strong communication skills. Retrospective data were collected in the following domains: PDI course evaluations, admissions information, National Board Dental Examination Parts I and II scores, and Promotions Committee and faculty evaluation scores for hand skills and humanistic and interactive patient-student skills. ⋯ Tests to support the a priori hypothesis of linear relationships between PDI evaluation ratings and clinical performance, defined as hand skills and humanistic and interactive patient-student skills scores, were significant, both at p=0.03. This study demonstrated the feasibility of measuring dental students' humanistic qualities during the first year. Humanistic qualities (PDI performance) during the first year were found to be associated with clinical performance in the third year of dental school.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Communication skills course in an Indian undergraduate dental curriculum: a randomized controlled trial.
This study assessed the impact of a course on communication skills for third-year undergraduate dental students at a dental institute in India. A randomized pretest, posttest controlled trial was conducted with all the students from four cohorts of third-year dental undergraduate students, divided into an intervention group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). The course was developed using Kern's six-step approach to curriculum development. ⋯ In contrast, the implementation of a course on communication skills did improve the students' dentist-patient interactions. Integrating the teaching and development of a relevant, outcome-based course on communication skills provided clear evidence of communication skills acquisition among these dental students. The course could be introduced in other Indian dental schools.
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As part of the Basic Science Survey Series (BSSS) for Dentistry, members of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Physiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics Section surveyed course directors of basic pharmacology courses in North American dental schools. The survey was designed to assess, among other things, faculty affiliation and experience of course directors, teaching methods, general course content and emphasis, extent of interdisciplinary (shared) instruction, and impact of recent curricular changes. ⋯ The findings suggest the following: 1) substantial variation exists in instructional hours, faculty affiliation, placement within curriculum, class size, and interdisciplinary nature of pharmacology courses; 2) pharmacology course content emphasis is similar among schools; 3) the number of contact hours in pharmacology has remained stable over the past three decades; 4) recent curricular changes were often directed towards enhancing the integrative and clinically relevant aspects of pharmacology instruction; and 5) a trend toward innovative content delivery, such as use of computer-assisted instruction applications, is evident. Data, derived from this study, may be useful to pharmacology course directors, curriculum committees, and other dental educators with an interest in integrative and interprofessional education.