Journal of dental education
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The professional dental literature is lacking in information concerning the use of technology in evaluation procedures utilized in postgraduate dental education. The purpose of this study was to identify the methods of evaluation of U. S. postgraduate specialty residents currently in place. ⋯ Those reporting a need for improvement were less likely to be using an electronic format. There was no statistical significance between faculty responsiveness and the mode of evaluation used. With many program directors reporting room for improvement in their current evaluation system, innovation in the evaluation systems of postgraduate dental education is needed.
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It is well known that there is a large disparity between the proportions of African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians in the general U. S. population and in the nation's dental profession. While these underrepresented minorities (URMs) together make up almost 30 percent of the population, they comprise only about 6 percent of U. ⋯ The cumulative impact of this program is that the college enrolled greater numbers and proportions of URM students than any other non-minority U. S. dental school from 2006 to 2009. This article describes the program that led to these successes.
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Online learning communities are entering the realm of web-based learning as a means of reflective collaborative learning. The purpose of this article is to describe the formation of an online learning community using a community of inquiry (COI) conceptual framework. Operative clinical simulation dental students at the University of British Columbia in Canada have been involved in an online COI for the past five years. This descriptive article presents an overview of the experiences involved in developing this COI and provides a conceptual framework for an online COI.
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In two previous studies of dental students' attitudes about the VitalSource Bookshelf, a digital library of dental textbooks, students expressed negative opinions about owning and reading electronic textbooks. With the assumption that dentists would find the digital textbooks useful for patient care, the authors surveyed recent graduates to determine if their attitude toward the VitalSource Bookshelf had changed. A brief survey was sent to 119 alumni from the classes of 2009 and 2010 of one U. ⋯ Twenty-two said they have had technical problems with the Bookshelf, including fifteen who have not been able to install it on a new computer. Many of them said they have not followed up with either the dental school or VitalSource support services to overcome this problem. Our study suggests that dentists, similar to dental students, dislike reading electronic textbooks, even with the advantage of searching a topic across more than sixty dental titles.
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Social responsibility refers to one's sense of duty to the society in which he or she lives. The Professionalism and Community Service (PACS) dental module at the University of British Columbia is based upon community service-learning and helps dental students to understand the challenges faced by vulnerable segments of the population as they actively reflect on experiences gathered from didactic and experiential activities. This article aims to illustrate the extent to which PACS has fostered awareness of social responsibility through the British Columbia Ministry of Education's Performance Standards Framework for Social Responsibility. ⋯ D. program and were analyzed thematically in three categories of the framework: Contribution to the Classroom and Community, Value of Diversity in the Community, and Exercise of Responsibilities. The constant comparison analysis of the reflective qualitative data revealed that the students directly or indirectly addressed these three categories in their reflections as they synthesized their understanding of community issues and their collaborative roles as socially responsible members of the dental profession. Follow-up studies are needed to explore the impact of community-based dental education upon students' perceptions and understanding of social responsibility and professionalism regarding underserved communities.