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The oral health education system is in need of major reform! This is especially apparent in university-based education for the health professions. So-called preclinical as well as clinical education simply has not kept pace with or been responsive enough to shifting patient demographics and patient/population desires and expectations, changing health system expectations, evolving interdisciplinary expertise and practice requirements, new scientific discoveries and scientific information, focus on quality improvement, and/or integration of emerging technologies. Moreover, university-based "dental education" is the most costly professional degree education within the entire university portfolio, and dental student accumulated debt is increasing each year well beyond national inflation estimates. Today, we have an enormous opportunity to explore major reforms in health professional education. Through the Santa Fe "process" of open and candid engagements and discussions (see www.santafegroup.org), we advance an argument as well as a national strategy that can enable major reforms in the oral health education system. We further suggest that major revisions can result in an outcome-based education system that prepares oral health professionals to meet both the needs of patients/families/communities and the requirements of a changing health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents position papers approved by the American Association of Dental Schools (AADS) related to dental education in the U.S. It mentions incorporation of peer review in dental school curricula provides an opportunity to learn skills of working with other practitioners and learn actual clinical skills. AADS believes that federal funds must be included to finance basic healthcare benefits.

The increase in scientific knowledge, oral healthcare, new dental hygiene workforce models, and the latest clinical skills, have elevated the need for doctoral prepared dental hygienists and dental therapists. These oral care providers need to be empowered with advanced preparation in education, research, and leadership. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present two curricular models for a doctorate of philosophy and a doctorate of oral health practice recognizing that students may have different goals and interests in educational pursuits. The doctoral program models support the conduct of research and scholarship, which supports the research infrastructure of the profession and emphasizes the dissemination of scholarly works. Creation of doctoral programs for dental hygienists and dental therapists provides opportunities to broaden choices and strive for autonomy throughout their careers. These programs may support the development of additional scholars and advanced practitioners who can contribute to the scientific body of knowledge and create policies and pathways to improve population oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is deeply embedded in all aspects of our daily lives, promoting efficiency and safety in routine tasks at home and work. Likewise, dentistry is rapidly exploring new uses of AI for image analysis, electronic health records, and clinical decision‐making. The accelerating advancement of AI and its application in dentistry demands dental education conscientiously integrate AI into curricula and equip graduates to use it ethically and responsibly in practice. The approach must be threefold: instill knowledge of the basic algorithms and appropriate application of AI, discuss its limitations/biases, and examine current and potential ethical challenges in practice. Furthermore, dental education must protect the public from intentional and unintentional harm introduced by AI. Therefore, the purpose of this perspective paper is to discuss various considerations for integrating AI into the dental curriculum, prioritizing patient safety by ensuring knowledgeable, safe, and ethical application by future providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The goal of this study is to determine whether alumni who completed training in the Center for Patients with Special Needs (CPSN) feel more prepared and treat more patients with special healthcare needs (SHCN) than alumni who completed training prior to the establishment of the Center (pre-CPSN).Methods: Alumni graduating in 2000-2017 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine (Pitt Dental Medicine) completed a survey addressing how well their dental school training prepared them to treat patients with SHCN and their current practice patterns as dental professionals. Alumni completed self-reported questionnaires online or on paper by mail.Results: The authors obtained a 16% response rate (N = 209; nPre-CPSN = 75; nCPSN = 134). Compared with the pre-CPSN alumni, CPSN alumni reported feeling more prepared in all 12 skills surveyed (t = 4.86, P < 0.05). There was a 0.85-point difference between groups, on average, across the 12 skills. However, CPSN alumni were no more likely to treat individuals with SHCN than the pre-CPSN alumni.Conclusions: Information obtained from this survey supports the hypothesis that experience is associated with perceptions of preparedness and raises new questions about factors associated with deciding whether to treat or refer. This information may inform schools of the amount of training necessary to reach preparedness goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral health care is the most prevalent unmet health care need among all U.S. children age 17 and under in the U.S., and this includes those with special health care needs (SHCN). Children with SHCN experience unique barriers to receiving oral care including challenging behaviors, inadequate insurance coverage, and a lack of trained dentists. Despite the need for specialized training to successfully provide dental care to children with SHCN, few dental programs offer the necessary educational preparation. The Nova Southeastern University College of Dentistry was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration to prepare pediatric and Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) dental residents in the care of children, adolescents, and adults with SHCN. The purpose of this paper is to describe the didactic and clinical training program and to provide data on the program's impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a shift of emphasis in the dental curriculum from measures to protect and improve the oral health of individuals to measures to protect and improve the oral health of the community or society. This shift represents a fundamental change in educational philosophy of the dental school. To illustrate this shift in emphasis, this paper describes a demonstration project to test the feasibility of this approach involving all seventy first-year students in the Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry in a four-week experience placing dental sealants in erupting molars of second and sixth graders in fifty schools of the Cleveland City School System. In future years, the program is expected to reach all second and sixth graders in the Cleveland School System. The experience is a required integral component of the curriculum, involving every student in the class, and is designed to make a demonstrable difference in oral health in the City of Cleveland. The experience is reinforced with course material on professional responsibility. The school is developing additional intensive experiences for second-, third-, and fourth-year classes involving smoking prevention for adolescents, oral health maintenance for nursing home residents, and dental care delivery in the inner city. The initial year of the program has had effects on students' responses to other elements of the first-year curriculum that go beyond the experience of placing sealants in children's teeth. The focused efforts of dental students every year are expected to have a measurable effect on the disparities in oral health found in the City of Cleveland as well as a measurable effect on dental students' and dentists' attitudes concerning professional responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anatomical sciences form one of the major building blocks of the basic medical sciences in the professional training of dentists. This paper defines the courses and classifies the formats of teaching for each course within the anatomical sciences curriculum. Information was gathered from the Internet, specifically the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) website links to U.S. and Canadian dental schools and their online catalogues or bulletins as well as online course syllabi. The results demonstrate the distribution of schools in the United States and Canada teaching anatomical sciences in the following categories: stand-alone, sequential, and multifaceted courses for gross anatomy; stand-alone and integrated courses for histology; stand-alone, integrated, incorporated, and no course for neuroanatomy; and stand-alone, incorporated, and no course in embryology. This paper concludes with the proposition that a survey of the usage of anatomical knowledge in use in a typical dental general practice needs to be conducted. The results of such a survey need to be evaluated with the intention of determining what should be taught in a dental clinical anatomical sciences curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The musculoskeletal physical examination (MSK PE) is an essential part of medical student training, and it is best taught in a hands-on, longitudinal fashion. A barrier to this approach is faculty instructor availability. "Near-peer" teaching refers to physicians-in-training teaching their junior colleagues. It is unknown whether near-peer teaching is effective in teaching this important physical examination skill.Objective: To investigate attitudes of medical students and physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residents regarding near-peer teaching in an MSK PE curriculum.Design: Qualitative, anonymous paper and online surveys.Setting: Tertiary academic center with a medical school and PM&R training program.Participants: Ninety-nine second- and third-year medical students and 13 PM&R residents in their third or fourth postgraduate year.Methods: Attitudes of second- and third-year medical students were measured immediately after their MSK PE course. Resident attitudes were measured in a single cross-sectional sample.Main Outcome Measurements: Student attitudes were assessed via a questionnaire with 5-point Likert scales and a free-text comment section. The resident questionnaire included a combination of multiple-choice questions, rankings, free-text responses, and Likert scales.Results: All 99 students completed the questionnaire. The majority of students (n = 79 [80%]) reported that resident involvement as hands-on instructors of examination skills was "very useful," and 87 (88%) indicated that resident-led small discussion groups were "very helpful" or "somewhat helpful." Fifty-seven of 99 students (58%) reported that the resident-facilitated course was "much better" than courses without resident involvement. Twelve of 13 eligible residents completed the survey, and of those, 8 found teaching "very helpful" to their MSK knowledge, and 11 became "somewhat" or "much more confident" in clinical examination skills.Conclusions: Our study supports educational benefits to medical students and resident instructors in our MSK PE program. We recommend including near-peer teaching in medical student education, particularly for hands-on skills; we also recommend providing opportunities for PM&R residents to participate in formal near-peer education.Level Of Evidence: Not applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creativity and learning are heightened when individuals are exposed to problem-solving activity (Y. Cho, Chung, Choi, Sea, & Baek, 2013); however, while creativity has historically been promoted in schools, educationalists experience difficulty in integrating it meaningfully to the curriculum (Y. Cho et al., 2013). This is relevant in terms of how students learn culinary food skills in the classroom, where it is necessary for students to generate solutions to difficulties during food preparation and in transferring this learning to the home environment. The challenge for educators is tailoring student creativity to a learning environment which is resource led, directed by a defined curriculum and influenced by the need to meet learning styles of today's 'digital natives' (M. Prensky, 2001). Therefore, this research investigates students' perceived impact of podcasting on food skills development in the context of Home Economics at secondary level. The findings reported within this paper represent a component part of a larger research study exploring the impact of podcasting on practical cooking skills development. The study comprised of a quasi-experiment using six test and control schools in Northern Ireland. In contrast to full cookery demonstrations, podcasting demonstration focuses on individual basic skills and encourages individuals to transfer learning by grouping individual skills to create nutritious meals. Eighteen student focus groups within the six test schools, ages 11-14 were identified to provide their perceptions of podcasting as a learning resource. Qualitative results suggest that students maximized food skills development using this technology, and developed skills through interpretive and integrative creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sought to compare and contrast educational policies on creativity education in four Asian Chinese societies, namely mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. It establishes five criteria on creativity education policy, including policies regarding legislation on creativity education, definitions of creativity, standard implementation, explicit identification of special populations of creative students, and creativity education in the community. Among the four societies, Taiwan has an official document -- the White Paper on Creative Education published in 2003 -- whereas in Hong Kong and Singapore, creativity has been identified as an ability to be nurtured in students of all levels in their national curriculum reform. In mainland China, innovation is regarded as a synonym for creativity. Definitions of creativity have at times not been clearly defined, although multiple levels of creativity development (individual, school, societal, industrial, and cultural) have been discussed in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, creativity has been defined as a generic skill in various key learning areas (e.g., language education, mathematics education, science education, etc.) in the school curriculum. In Singapore, creativity is a learning outcome to be developed in students. None of these societies use standard creativity assessment tests as evidence of creative competence in students. When creativity has entered the central stage in the curriculum reform and creativity education is made available to every student, efforts have been made to identify highly creative students and provide them enrichment opportunities, mainly using performance assessments and performance in creativity competitions in these societies. But mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore do not sufficiently emphasize creativity education in the larger community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent intense attention given to the existence of racial and ethnic health care disparities in the United States has resulted in an enhanced focus on the problem and a call to integrate cultural competence training into health professions curricula. While most dental schools have formally integrated cultural competence into their curricula, the professional literature contains little information regarding the specific types of curriculum modifications necessary to prepare culturally competent dentists. The purpose of this article is to communicate the process and materials used to develop and present didactic curriculum content incorporating cultural competence and to report early data regarding its effectiveness in improving students' knowledge and self-awareness regarding cultural competence. The preliminary observation of differences between pre-test and post-test scores suggests that the curriculum content may have contributed to developing students' cultural knowledge and self-awareness. Students' reflection papers also provided qualitative evidence that experience with the curriculum modules was transformational for some. Recommendations for future curriculum modifications and follow-up research studies to validate the instrument are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although dentistry recognizes that dental caries management encompasses more than restoring the consequences of the disease, caries risk assessment and management that go beyond traditional restorative care have not always had a strong and organized voice during clinical curriculum development and competency assessment in U.S. dental schools. This has resulted in confusion and great variability between the need for risk-based caries management and prevention and how practitioners apply these concepts in private and community settings. Dental education is in the unique position of being able to help bridge the gap to improve dissemination of new information and to enhance communication between research and the practice of dentistry to accelerate adoption of validated approaches for the diagnosis and management of dental caries. This paper presents one example of how a dental school totally revamped its approach to teaching cariology--from a few lectures scattered throughout the curriculum to a Cariology Management Program that is integrated into all four years of the curriculum, that includes both didactic and clinical components, and that emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving. From its inception, the program was centered on competency requirement for graduation and the principles of evidence-based practice. The process, competency, and initial programmatic outcomes assessment measures are discussed. Barriers encountered are briefly reviewed from the following perspectives: dental school structure, faculty support/calibration, students, reimbursement, and standard of care/public expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to review trends in the teaching of posterior composites in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom over the last fifteen years. The authors compared the results of surveys of the teaching of posterior composites performed in 1989, 1997, and 2004-05. Historical and contemporary international trends were investigated. The amount of clinical and didactic teaching of posterior composites has increased over the past fifteen years. From a time over fifteen years ago, when very few dental students placed posterior composites in dental school, approximately one-third of posterior plastic restorations placed by U.S., Irish, and UK dental students are now composite, with the corresponding finding for Canadian dental schools being approximately 50 percent. Some variations were noted between dental schools in terms of the teaching of contraindications to placement as well as lining and basing techniques. There was some inappropriate teaching of techniques, in particular, in relation to the use of transparent matrix bands and light transmitting wedges. There was also evidence of limited student exposure to newer forms of technology, notably LED curing light units. There have been clear increases in the teaching of posterior composites in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland in recent years; however, the proportion of posterior composite restorations placed by dental students relative to dental amalgams does not yet match the typical situation in contemporary clinical practice. Dental schools have a responsibility to ensure that their curricula are evidence-based to best prepare their students to meet the needs and expectations of their future patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have incorporated an audience response system into our curriculum to increase student interaction in the teaching process. Classroom Performance System (CPS) is a computer-based audience response system that allows students to answer questions posed to the entire class by entering responses on a keypad. The responses are tallied and displayed on the classroom screen for all students to see. The purpose of our study was to determine student accuracy using the system with three different methods of administering questions. A secondary purpose was to assess students' perceptions about using the system. Our hypothesis for the study was that there should be no difference in volunteer accuracy or questionnaire responses to the three methods of gathering responses. Sixty-two dental students volunteered to participate. Using three methods (projected on a screen, verbal, and written), volunteers were given "responses" to enter into the system using CPS wireless remote answering devices. In the projected and verbal formats, the teacher managed the assessment by controlling the pace of input. In the written format, students were given responses on paper to input into the system at their own pace. At the end of the sessions, volunteers completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding their experiences with the system. The accuracy of responses was similar in the teacher-managed assessments {projected and verbal format). There was a statistical difference in the accuracy of responses in the student-managed assessment (p=<0.000001). Questionnaire responses also showed that students preferred teacher-managed assessments. The hypothesis was disproved. The overall response to this audience response system and its methods of gathering information was very positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a series of white papers developed by the ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation (CCI) to explore the case for change in dental education. This preamble to the series argues that there is a compelling need for rethinking the approach to dental education in the United States. Three issues facing dental education are explored: 1) the challenging financial environment of higher education, making dental schools very expensive and tuition-intensive for universities to operate and producing high debt levels for students that limit access to education and restrict career choices: 2) the profession's apparent loss of vision for taking care of the oral health needs of all components of society and the resultant potential for marginalization of dentistry as a specialized health care service available only to the affluent; and 3) the nature of dental school education itself which has been described as convoluted, expensive, and often deeply dissatisfying to its students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past three years we have exposed our first-year dental students at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine to an early clinical experience. Following a seventy-two-hour didactic and laboratory course, first-year students spend over 100 hours treating school children in twenty-eight elementary and middle schools in the Cleveland Municipal School District. Not only do dental students learn a clinical procedure, but more importantly they experience the need for health care, in particular, dental care among those less fortunate than themselves. The experience strengthens their desire to help the underserved, their understanding of the problems many face in obtaining oral health care, and their commitment to addressing these issues. Themes from student reflection papers are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major trend at all levels of education in recent years has been the advent of distance learning and, more specifically, the use of computers and communications capabilities to provide online learning. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which distance learning and online technologies are being employed by dental schools in the United States and Canada. Two groups were surveyed: academic deans and faculty members of U.S. and Canadian dental schools. Thirty-eight academic deans responded to a paper-based survey, and more than 400 faculty members responded to a web-based survey. The results of these surveys indicate that online delivery of content and information has a bright future in the delivery of the dental school curriculum. At the same time, formidable obstacles must be addressed for this approach to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current explosive growth in developmental biology, fuelled by the almost completed sequencing of the human genome, is bound to have a profound impact upon the practice of medicine and dentistry in the twenty-first century. No other discipline more accurately reflects this impact than embryology, which combines the basic and clinical sciences of genetics, ontogeny, phylogeny, teratology, and syndromology into the essence of modern medical and dental practice. The advent of in vitro fertilization, chorionic villus sampling, amniocentesis, prenatal ultrasonography, intrauterine surgery, and stem cell therapy has vaulted the previously esoteric subject of embryology into clinical consciousness. All these aforementioned procedures require an intimate knowledge of the different stages of development. The alphabet soup of acronyms that now peppers papers proclaiming the genetics and characteristics of various growth factors and cytokines (e.g., FGF, TGFα) are all based upon an understanding of the developmental mechanisms occurring in the embryo and subsequently in wound healing and oncology. Congenital abnormalities ranging from lethal syndromes to dental malocclusions cannot be diagnosed, treated, cured, or prognosticated upon without a sound conceptualization of embryology. Computer technology has revolutionized the understanding and teaching of embryology by portraying developmental phenomena as three-dimensional model images in sequential depictions of changes proceeding in the fourth dimension of time. Embryology must now form the essential core of the basic sciences in medical and dental curricula. Future dental practice will become rooted in the genetics and morphogenesis of facial fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the curriculum design and enhancements of dental gross anatomy courses at three universities in North America. The greatest problem for gross anatomy faculty is making the regions of the body below the neck relevant to dental students for their future clinical education as well as the longer term dental practice. The proposed solutions demonstrated in the three courses range from satisfying the student's grade and test requirements, such as passing the anatomical sciences section of the National Board Dental Examination Part I, to making the material relevant to clinical dentistry. Strategies to increase relevance include incorporating clinical faculty into the gross anatomy course and integrating dental clinical material into the course. Lastly, pedagogical innovations include peer teaching, the use of the Internet and intranet for examination preparation, and the animation of dental procedures to illustrate relevant anatomy to dentistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is important to assess the effectiveness of programs, courses, and teaching methods to ensure that goals are being achieved, it is very difficult to evaluate the impact of fundamental changes in a whole curriculum. This paper reviews measures that have been used in the past in dentistry and medicine for evaluating academic programs: curriculum guidelines; competency documents; discussion and focus groups; competency examinations; board examinations; oral comprehensive examinations; student, alumni, and patient satisfaction surveys; evaluation by instructors; and clinical productivity. We conclude that, since no standard method exists, several tools should be used to obtain a multidimensional assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The premise of this paper is that the form and content of dental education do not reinforce each other. What results is suboptimal learning; dissatisfied students; difficulty generating excitement among the brightest to consider careers in dental education; erosion of dentists' self-identity as men and women of science; and doubts over whether dental schools can continue as the primary providers of oral health education. A need for reform exists because dental curricula must be responsive to changes in current and projected disease demographics, to advances in science and technology, and to a changing societal culture affecting patient demand for treatment. Today's dilemma is that dental schools need to continue to graduate competent practitioners to meet present clinical needs while also preparing students for a radically different kind of practice in the future. Possible approaches to resolve this dilemma include: a shift between what constitutes general practice and what constitutes specialty practice; and, the implementation of an asynchronous-distributed model of dental education. Such changes will likely be independently accompanied by changes in the role of universities in society in general that could make feasible many, now-unthinkable, alternative vehicles for providing dental education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has seen increasing demands for reform of dental education that would produce a graduate better equipped to work in the rapidly changing world of the twenty-first century. Among the most notable curriculum changes implemented in dental schools is a move toward Problem-Based Learning (PBL). PBL, in some form, has been a feature of medical education for several decades, but has only recently been introduced into dental schools. This paper discusses the rationale for the introduction of a PBL pedagogy into dental education, the modalities of PBL being introduced, and the implications of the introduction of PBL into dental schools. Matters related to implementation, faculty development, admissions, and assessment are addressed. Observations derived from a parallel-track dental PBL curriculum at the University of Southern California (USC) are presented and discussed. This program conforms to the Barrows (1998) concept of "authentic PBL" in that the program has no scheduled lectures and maintains a PBL pedagogy for all four years of the curriculum. The USC dental students working in the PBL curriculum have attained a high level of achievement on U.S. National Dental Boards (Part I) examinations, significantly superior to their peers working in a traditional lecture-based curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on a marriage course at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. The broad, basic objective of the marriage course is to further student's preparation for marriage by directing itself to that area of life activities involved in husband-wife relationships and the series of events and training of adolescent and youthful developments leading up to them. The marriage course grew directly out of the family section of a course in general sociology. The elective course is included in the Social Studies Division. Classes meet three times per week throughout the year. Each year the students are asked for suggestions and criticisms and to fill out an extensive evaluation form. Class meetings consist of informal lectures and discussions. From the very first meeting of a class students are encouraged to ask questions. A considerable amount of collateral reading is required. Students may choose this from a bibliography of some 140 titles in the course syllabus and available in a library of some 430 volumes. Each students must prepare at least two term papers or term project reports during the year. Topics range from marriage systems and ancient family customs to budgeting, planning a wedding or working out the cost of a baby.

This article provides information on the Social Living course incorporated in the curriculum of community high schools in Atlanta, Georgia. Since September 1947, all senior boys and girls in Atlanta's community high schools have been required to take a one-semester course entitled Social Living. This is a short name for the longer, but more accurate title, Personal and Family Living. The course is based on recognized interests and needs of the students in this area and on recognized values in the life of the community. One of the goals of Social Living teachers and students has been to bring parents into the program to gain a sympathetic understanding of the course and that all may have the benefit of teacher-student-parent discussion of personal and family living problems. Another goal has been the continuous evaluation of the course to discover needed changes and emphases. Throughout the year 1951, Brown High School have used the method of open discussion, due to the fact that they had so many parents present. All of them have decided they greatly prefer this method. It is more informal and gives everybody an equal chance to participate. Since the inception of the course at Henry Grady High School it has been the plan to ask each student to appraise the semester's work in terms of what has been of greatest help to him or what he has felt a need for that was not included in the course. These papers are written after report cards have circulated and are unsigned in order that the student may have perfect freedom in expressing himself.