Journal of dental education
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This project was conducted to identify student preferences for e-teaching and learning. An online Student Preferences for Learning with E-Technology Survey was developed to assess computer experiences, the use and effectiveness of e-resources, preferences for various environments, need for standardization, and preferred modes of communication. The survey was administered in May 2008 to all dental and dental hygiene students at Baylor College of Dentistry. ⋯ Some infrastructure problems have been corrected. Planning has begun for standardization and expansion of e-resources. These improvements should enhance learning and increase the options for individualizing instruction, study strategies, and course remediation.
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To assist the ADEA Council of Allied Dental Program Directors in focusing future goals and actions, an online survey was developed and administered to the directors of the 300 Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)-accredited U. S. dental hygiene programs in November 2008. The survey solicited directors' opinions about certain contemporary dental hygiene issues such as entry-level education, the use of articulation agreements, the advanced dental hygiene practitioner (ADHP) model proposed by the American Dental Hygienists' Association, and accreditation. ⋯ Seventy percent of all respondents felt it was important to support advancing the ADHP model. Over 60 percent of respondents noted the importance of developing competencies for degree completion and graduate programs, and 42 percent of respondents indicated that it was important to have a separate accreditation process for graduate-level programs. Conclusions suggest advancing entry-level education for dental hygiene is desired if it can maintain a role for both four-year and two-year institutions.
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A mail survey of 2003-07 dental school graduates was undertaken by the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the predoctoral curriculum in anesthesia and to determine the preparedness of practicing dentists to provide anesthesia services for their dental patients. Subsets of the survey responses were created to specifically evaluate the effectiveness of an advanced selective program in sedation offered to approximately twenty third- and fourth-year predoctoral students. This fourteen-month Anesthesia Selective Program provides advanced didactic instruction and clinical experiences needed to establish competence in minimal to moderate sedation. ⋯ Respondents' written comments indicated a desire for a greater number of clinical experiences involving sedation procedures within the predoctoral curriculum. This outcome assessment indicated that a greater emphasis should be placed on instruction and training experiences for enteral sedation within the predoctoral dental curriculum. Advanced training and increased clinical experiences in anesthesia may also be an effective means to better prepare graduates to assess medical histories, to manage medical emergencies, and to be willing to treat medically complex patients as well as patients with special health care needs.
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As dental schools incorporate training in evidence-based dentistry (EBD) into their curricula, students must learn how to critically evaluate systematic reviews and meta-analyses. It is important that dental education in the United States support the American Dental Association's position statement on EBD, which defines "best evidence" as data obtained from all study designs. Given that much evidence is missing when EBD is derived from Cochrane Systematic Reviews' randomized clinical trials, we propose the creation of a dental practice network of U. ⋯ As a free, public use software, Epi-Info provides the foundation for the development of clinical research databases that can increase the research capacity through multisite studies designed to generate outcomes data on the effectiveness of dental treatment. The creation of a dental practice network of dental schools with their large number of patients would expand the research capacity for EBD practice and advance the EBD science regarding the effectiveness of dental treatment. The next step is to link clinical dental researchers/educators at multiple dental schools through a collaborative clinical research network, so that the findings can be applied to the EBD component of problem-based learning curricula of dental education.
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Dental students at the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry (LSUSD) have participated in the VitalSource Bookshelf digital textbook program for the last four years. The Bookshelf, a collection of downloadable textbooks, includes the Contemporary Dental Library (CDL), a basic package of sixty books, plus additional titles selected by course directors. A survey was sent to students in the four LSUSD classes to assess satisfaction with the program. ⋯ In addition, exit interviews of graduating seniors contained a question on the Bookshelf. In both the survey and the exit interview, LSUSD students overwhelmingly expressed dissatisfaction with reading extensive amounts of text online and indicated a preference for printed books. Some students also resented paying for books in the CDL that were not required by instructors and felt that, considering how infrequently they used the Bookshelf, the cost was too high.