Balancing the role of the dental school in teaching, research and patient care; including care for underserved areas (original) (raw)

Special Care Dentistry Curriculum at The Undergraduate Level : Students’ Prespective

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia, 2015

Special needs patients (SNP) have difficulty accessing dental services, partly due to reluctance of dentists to treat them. Objective: We assess didactic and clinical training experiences of final-year dental students and new graduates in managing SNP. Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to 123 final year dental students and new graduates, assessing their experiences and readiness in handling SNP. Results: Majority of the respondents were not confident in attending to SNP. Majority gained knowledge in handling SNP via lectures while more than half had managed patients with complex medical history. Majority mentioned a lack of clinical training to treat SNP as their dental training experience had only been in a dental school clinical setting. Most of the respondents hope their curriculum would include more education to improve clinical skills in managing SNP. Conclusion: Respondents demonstrated minimum training and lack of confidence and skills that might contribute to a lack of preparedness to manage the oral health care needs of SNP. Clinical exposure in managing SNP at the undergraduate level is still inadequate and it needs to be emphasized in the curriculum.

Developing an undergraduate curriculum in Special Care Dentistry - by consensus

European Journal of Dental Education, 2013

It has been reported that healthcare providers often lack the skills set to provide care for people with disabilities, leading to inequalities in health and reduced access to health care. Newly graduating dentists are likely to see a significant number of patients with special healthcare needs in the course of their practicing lives. However, there is evidence of national and international variation in the availability of education and training at the undergraduate level in this important, emerging area. The quality and content of undergraduate education in Special Care Dentistry has been shown to correlate with students' confidence and their expressed willingness, towards providing care for patients with special healthcare needs in their future practice. The aim of this study was to use information from a three-round Delphi process, continued into a face-to-face meeting, to establish consensus on what constitutes the essential core knowledge, skills and attitudes required by a newly qualified dentist so that they are able to deliver patient care to diverse populations following graduation. A high level of agreement was established amongst an international panel of experts from 30 countries. The final core items identified by the panel showed a paradigm shift away from the traditional emphasis on medical diagnosis within a curriculum towards an approach based on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) with patient-centred treatment planning for people with disabilities and special healthcare needs according to function or environment. Many of the core skills identified by the panel are transferable across a curriculum and should encourage a person-centred approach to treatment planning based on the function, needs and wishes of the patient rather than their specific diagnosis.

Assessing Dental Students' Readiness to Treat Populations That Are Underserved: A Scoping Review

Journal of dental education, 2018

In North America, all dental schools have adopted some form of community-based dental education (CBDE) or service-learning, but little is known about the areas being researched and reported in published studies. The aim of this study was to conduct a scoping review to determine what areas of research had been conducted to determine the effects of CBDE on dental students' readiness to treat populations that are underserved. A systematic search of articles published in English or French since 2000 was performed on July 29, 2015, and combined quantitative and qualitative synthesis of data was conducted. Of the 32 studies evaluated, 23 (72%) were quantitative, seven (22%) were qualitative, and two were multi-method. The majority (66%) used self-report methods, most frequently surveys. Participants in 50% of the studies were fourth-year dental students; the others assessed third- and fourth-year (13%), first- and second-year (6%), and first-year (13%) students. Dentists were the part...

Developing a national dental education research strategy: priorities, barriers and enablers

BMJ open, 2017

This study aimed to identify national dental education research (DER) priorities for the next 3-5 years and to identify barriers and enablers to DER. Scotland. In this two-stage online questionnaire study, we collected data with multiple dental professions (eg, dentistry, dental nursing and dental hygiene) and stakeholder groups (eg, learners, clinicians, educators, managers, researchers and academics). Eighty-five participants completed the Stage 1 qualitative questionnaire and 649 participants the Stage 2 quantitative questionnaire. Eight themes were identified at Stage 1. Of the 24 DER priorities identified, the top three were: role of assessments in identifying competence; undergraduate curriculum prepares for practice and promoting teamwork. Following exploratory factor analysis, the 24 items loaded onto four factors: teamwork and professionalism, measuring and enhancing performance, dental workforce issues and curriculum integration and innovation. Barriers and enablers existe...

Dental Education and Changing Oral Health Care Needs: Disparities and Demands

Journal of Dental Education, 2012

The population of the United States has changed dramatically over recent decades and, with it, the oral health care needs of the nation. Most notably, the racial/ethnic composition of the population has shifted from a European American majority to what is now a much more diverse population, comprising a variety of racial/ethnic groups that, taken together, will become the majority by mid-century. The proportion of children from minority racial groups will represent more than half of all U.S. children by 2025. These groups are overrepresented among those living below the poverty level and have higher levels of oral disease and are less likely to have access to care than the European American segment of the U.S. population. Most of the population needing dental care in the future will be comprised of these now underserved groups, along with other groups who can be described in terms of the health and social challenges of aging, disabilities, or other special health care conditions. This article provides an overview of these various needs and what they will mean for the dental practitioners of tomorrow and suggests that dental education has not adapted to the changing population and its oral health needs as quickly as it should. As a result, we identify major gaps in current dental curricula and make some recommendations for change. Research has shown that dental education has a crucial inluence on future providers' professional attitudes and behavior related to providing care for patients from underserved patient groups. Acknowledging the speciic needs of patients and ensuring that future providers are optimally prepared to respond to these challenges must be a major goal of dental education in the twenty-irst century. The Journal of Dental Education will continue to play a critical role in informing readers about innovative approaches and best practices that ensure this goal can be met.

O-Health-Edu: Advancing oral health: A vision for dental education

European Journal of Public Health, 2020

The prevalence and burden of untreated oral diseases throughout the life course remains high worldwide, and inequalities in oral health and dental care are increasing. This is a major public health issue that is not being enough addressed by the health care systems. To better manage populations' oral health, oral health professionals must be trained to adapt to population needs and societal and technological changes. Furthermore, dental institutions must fulfill their social responsibility by prioritizing educational and research activities that promote advancing individual and community health. In Europe, great variability exists between dental programs within the same country or between countries. This variability is an issue as European graduates can practice around the European Union through mutual recognition of their qualifications. This might lead to inequities in the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health services. The convergence of competencie...

Profile of a Dentist in the Oral Health Care Team in Countries with Devleoped Economies

2007

This paper confines itself to the description of the profile of a general dentist while outlining where the boundary between specialist and generalist may lie. The profile must reflect the need to recognise that oral health is part of general health. The epidemiological trends and disease variation of a country should inform the profile of the dentist. A particular tension between the provision of oral health care in publicly funded and private services may result in dentists practicing dentistry in different ways. However, the curriculum should equip the practitioner for either scenario. A dentist should work to standards appropriate to the needs of the individual and the population within the country's legal and ethical framework. He/she should have communication skills appropriate to ascertain the patient's beliefs and values. A dentist should work within the principles of equity and diversity and have the knowledge and clinical competence for independent general practice including knowledge of health promotion and prevention. He/she should participate in lifelong learning which should result in a reflective practitioner whose clinical skills reflect the current evidence base, scientific breakthroughs and needs of their patients. Within the four to five years of a dental degree it is not possible for a student to achieve proficiency in all areas of dentistry. He/she needs to have the ability to know their own limitations and to access appropriate specialist advice for their patients while taking responsibility for the oral health care they provide. The dentist has the role of leader of the oral health team and, in this capacity, he/she is responsible for diagnosis, treatment planning and the quality control of the oral treatment. The dental student on graduation must therefore understand the principles and techniques which enable the dentist to act in this role. He/ she should have the abilities to communicate, delegate and collaborate both within the dental team and with other health professions to the benefit of the patient. The profile of a dentist should encompass the points raised but will also be based upon competency lists which are published by a variety of countries and organisations. It is important that these lists are dynamic so that they are able to change in light of new evidence and technologies.