Belongingness in undergraduate dental education

Well-being of undergraduate dental students: Questionnaire design, findings and future directions

INTRODUCTION

The recent pandemic has highlighted the importance of addressing well-being in the overall health of students. There is a need for support systems within dental schools to help students demonstrate resilience, adapt to learning environments and thrive in their professional careers.

OBJECTIVES

The main aim of the study was to evaluate Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) students' understanding and experience of well-being. The objectives were to create a suitable survey to assess students' well-being, investigate the factors affecting dental students' well-being and develop a student well-being action plan based on the analysis of the survey.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted to identify and critically assess existing measures of well-being in dental students. Four domains of well-being (emotional, physical, social, intellectual) relevant to dental students were identified. Through a comprehensive iterative process, a two-part survey was developed and tested, which measured individual experiences of well-being across the four domains and collected feedback on proposed initiatives to support student well-being. The survey was disseminated to all 452 dental students from Years 1 through 6, of which 71% (321) responded.

RESULTS

The survey revealed low levels of overall well-being among the dental student population, which worsened with increasing years of clinical study. Fear of failing exams presented the biggest challenge with regard to emotional well-being, while sleep deprivation and occupational health hazards most affected the physical well-being domain. Intellectual well-being was compromised by insufficient free time to pursue extracurricular interests and concerns about achieving the required skills. Despite a majority experiencing positive relationships with their peers and tutors, less than a fifth agreed that the Faculty of Dentistry 'supported my well-being as a dental student'.

CONCLUSION

As the first investigation of the well-being of dental students in Hong Kong, the key stressors identified were examinations, long schedules and the physical burden of dental work, which are consistent with international literature. The findings reveal students' needs and preferences for well-being initiatives which will be optimized in the implementation of student-centred curricular activities.

Illustration of self-perceived knowledge, skills, and interests in undergraduate dental students using a visual metaphor- results of a monocentric cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Self-assessment and self-reflection of competencies are crucial skills for undergraduate students. This monocentric cross-sectional study aims to assess the self-perceived knowledge, skills and interests in conservative dentistry and periodontology of third-, fourth-, and fifth-year dental students by the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self-measure (PRISM).

METHODS

Seventy-five undergraduate dental students (n = 25 of each year) who studied between 2021 and 2022 at the Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology at the University of Leipzig, Germany, were included. All of them underwent a PRISM-based interview regarding their perceived knowledge, practical skills, and interests in conservative dentistry as well as its sub-disciplines. The distances in the PRISM task (in millimeters) were measured and compared between the groups. Spearman's Rho was used to reveal correlations between knowledge, skills, and interests in the cohort.

RESULTS

Perceived theoretical knowledge and practical skills differed significantly between groups for the sub-disciplines periodontology, cariology, restorative dentistry and preventive dentistry (p < 0.05). However, students' interests did not significantly vary between groups (p > 0.05). In the field of conservative dentistry and its sub-disciplines, significant moderate to high positive correlations were found between knowledge and skills (p < 0.01), and weak to moderate positive correlations were found between interests and knowledge (p < 0.05). Regarding the relationship between perceived interests and skills, only restorative dentistry, endodontology and periodontology were significant and only moderate to weak correlations were found (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

PRISM revealed differences in perceived knowledge and skills between third-, fourth-, and fifth-year dental students. Correlations were found between perceived knowledge and skills, as well as between interests and knowledge. PRISM may be a promising tool to support students and teachers in dental education.

An exploration of the impact of working in pairs on the dental clinical learning environment: Students' views

INTRODUCTION

The aims of this study were to explore the undergraduate dental clinical students' experiences and perspectives of paired working in the clinical learning environment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An interpretivist methodological approach with a socio-cultural lens was used. A stratified purposeful sampling strategy was chosen. Students digitally recorded three audio-diaries using Gibbs' cycle to guide reflection on collaborating clinically with a peer. 1:1 semi-structured interviews were held using a topic guide. Inductive thematic data analysis was undertaken.

RESULTS

Eight participants were recruited. Main themes related to individual characteristics (motivation, professionalism, knowledge and experience) and relational features (feeling safe, attaching value, positive working relationships) that contributed to effective collaborative partnerships. The social setting is important for learning in the dental clinical environment. Benchmarking is used by students to motivate and reassure. Students learnt from their peers, particularly when they felt safe and supported and had developed good relationships. A lesser quality learning experience was highlighted in the assistant role.

CONCLUSION

Paired working for clinical training was viewed mostly positively. Working with a variety of peers was beneficial and enabled development of interpersonal skills and professionalism. More effective collaborative learning partnerships were described when students felt they belonged and had affective support. Disadvantages of paired working were noted as reduced hands-on experience, particularly for senior students and when working in the assistant role. Ground rules and setting learning goals to change the mind-set about the assistant role were recommended. Emotional and practical support of students is needed in the clinical setting.

PRISM: A Novel Visual Instrument to Facilitate Self-Reflection and Learning Progress in Undergraduate Dental Education

Objectives

PRISM (Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self-Measure) is a simple visual tool that has been successfully used as a visual metaphor in medicine. In this pilot study, PRISM was used for the first time to test its potential to support self-reflection and expectations of learning in dental students.

Methods

Dental student volunteers (25 3^rd year, 10 4^th year, and 10 5^th year) participated. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, PRISM interviews were compared with a numerical scale in assessing learning objectives concerning theoretical knowledge, practical skills, interest, and training need in the field of conservative dentistry.

Results

Overall, 71% of total student group stated that they would draw personal consequences for their studies due to participating in the PRISM interviews. Compared to the numeric scales, PRISM was rated as more helpful regarding appraisal of students' theoretical knowledge (p = 0.02), practical skills (p < 0.01), training needs (p < 0.01), importance of dental subspecialties (p < 0.01), and facilitating self-reflection (p = 0.02). In focus groups, students commented that PRISM fostered the development of a trusting relationship with their teacher. Strengths of PRISM mentioned by the students included being able to observe and manipulate a visual summary of their individual learning needs and seeing their different learning needs in relation to one another.

Conclusion

In this pilot study, dental students evaluated PRISM to be superior against numeric scales. Furthermore, it ameliorated the communication with teachers. The PRISM task is both simple and brief and warrants further exploration as a useful tool for self-reflection in dental education.

Possibilities and limits of a student-led, near-peer mentoring initiative for first-year dental students

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES

Dental students face many challenges throughout their education. Peer mentoring programs can support students and help manage pressures associated with dental school, although few studies have researched student-led peer mentoring. The aim of this study was to explore the possibilities and limits of student-led, near-peer mentoring in a dental program.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative study on the tooth bud program (TBP), a student-led, near-peer mentoring program at a research-intensive university. Eligible study participants were Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) students who participated in the TBP as a first-year mentee and/or second-year mentor between 2017 and 2020. Twenty-two participants and one program founder were interviewed about their experiences and involvement in peer mentoring. A thematic analysis was employed, and Brownlie and Anderson's sociology of kindness provided a theoretical analytical framework.

RESULTS

Three themes represented participant perspectives of the TBP: Firstly, students desired to build a community but had to manage inherent hierarchies. Secondly, participants appreciated that the TBP was a student-led initiative, but its unstructured and informal nature brought challenges. Thirdly, mentoring experiences and the ways mentors and mentees navigated their pairings were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Mentoring was founded in the shared experience of studying dentistry and allowed mentor-mentee pairs to establish kinship and progress relationships. Kindness acts as an infrastructure to guide interactions; however, underdeveloped kinship may hinder mentoring. Thus, the peer mentoring program researched provides value to mentees and mentors and allows participants to benefit from becoming part of a student-led, professional community.

Modification, Translation, and Psychometric Testing of the Arabic Version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE)

BACKGROUND

This paper aimed to describe the modification, translation, and psychometric testing of the Arabic version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE).

METHODS

This study included the following phases: modification of the original BES-CPE based on the qualitative findings from a previous study; translation and back-translation of the scale; evaluation of the content validity by experts from Saudi Arabia; evaluation of the internal consistency reliability; and other psychometric properties of the Arabic BES-CPE.

RESULT

The results demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. The Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.68 to 0.92.

CONCLUSION

The Arabic BES-CPE is a promising tool that can be used to assess Saudi nursing students' sense of belonging. However, testing the tool with other undergraduate nursing students in a different context is recommended.

Social Media and Health Care, Part I: Literature Review of Social Media Use by Health Care Providers

BACKGROUND

As the world continues to advance technologically, social media (SM) is becoming an essential part of billions of people's lives worldwide and is affecting almost every industry imaginable. As the world is becoming more digitally oriented, the health care industry is increasingly visualizing SM as an important channel for health care promotion, employment, recruiting new patients, marketing for health care providers (HCPs), building a better brand name, etc. HCPs are bound to ethical principles toward their colleagues, patients, and the public in the digital world as much as in the real world.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to shed light on SM use worldwide and to discuss how it has been used as an essential tool in the health care industry from the perspective of HCPs.

METHODS

A literature review was conducted between March and April 2020 using MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science for all English-language medical studies that were published since 2007 and discussed SM use in any form for health care. Studies that were not in English, whose full text was not accessible, or that investigated patients' perspectives were excluded from this part, as were reviews pertaining to ethical and legal considerations in SM use.

RESULTS

The initial search yielded 83 studies. More studies were included from article references, and a total of 158 studies were reviewed. SM uses were best categorized as health promotion, career development or practice promotion, recruitment, professional networking or destressing, medical education, telemedicine, scientific research, influencing health behavior, and public health care issues.

CONCLUSIONS

Multidimensional health care, including the pairing of health care with SM and other forms of communication, has been shown to be very successful. Striking the right balance between digital and traditional health care is important.

Transition to dental practice: Newly graduated dentists' views of being successful in dental practice

BACKGROUND

The transition of dental graduates to the workforce is of interest to dental educators. The ways dentists think about success and successful practice tend to be tied to business parameters, patient flow and job satisfaction. These measures are narrow, however, and there is scant literature exploring success in ways that connects with professional identity formation. This study aims to add to scholarly understanding about the experiences of newly graduated dentists by asking: What is the variation in the ways new graduate dentists experience success in practice?

METHODS

The qualitative methodology used in this study is phenomenography. Phenomenography studies the variation in the way a group of people experience a common phenomenon. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 new dentists who had graduated from the University of Sydney.

RESULTS

Five increasingly sophisticated, qualitatively distinct categories of description were identified: the day runs smoothly, keeping busy, providing quality patient care, generating personal meaning and having a sense of connection and belonging.

CONCLUSIONS

This study gives insights into the complex ways newly graduated dentists think about successful dentistry. It broadens our view of successful practice beyond commercial aspects to include practitioner identity. Importantly, sense of responsibility, the practice environment and mentorship emerge as key players in this transitional career stage.

Dental Student Perspectives of a Comprehensive-Based Teaching Methodology: A Confidence, Effectiveness, and Challenge Report

Background/Objectives. The holistic methodology in education has been widely appreciated and implicated in dental schools in the last decade. Our department of conservative dentistry decided to reform the educational model of teaching from a traditional requirement-based model to a hybrid model incorporating comprehensive care treatment. The aim of our study was to assess students' confidence and perspectives regarding the benefits of a comprehensive model of teaching. Materials and Methods. A questionnaire was distributed at the end of the academic year 2018-2019 and designed to investigate students' opinions on the benefits of the new model of teaching, as well as difficulties encountered and possible shortcomings. In addition, self-perceived confidence level was assessed for the purpose of comparing confidence during supervised tasks versus confidence during comprehensive patient care. Results. Complete responses were gathered from 127 students out of 202, giving a response rate of 63%. The majority of students believed that the comprehensive model of teaching allowed them to better address patients' needs, gave higher satisfaction, positively influenced self-confidence, permitted greater exposure to clinical techniques, and enhanced reasoning and analytical skills. However, their confidence was still lower in comprehensive patient management when compared to supervised tasks. Conclusion. Our students showed an appreciation of the comprehensive care model. Self-learning and didactic skills were enhanced. It would, therefore, be beneficial to adapt this methodology to earlier years and other disciplines to enhance the effectiveness of education and achievement of learning outcomes.

Belongingness and its implications for undergraduate health professions education: a scoping review

Belongingness is well recognised within higher education to have an important influence on the performance and well-being of learners. There appears to be little awareness of its importance in undergraduate health professions education. To identify how belongingness has been defined and measured, its impact on the performance and well-being of learners, and how it can be fostered in educational settings. A scoping review to map the published research in the wider higher education literature (including undergraduate health professions education). PubMed and ERIC were used. Only peer-reviewed articles in the English Language between 1996 and 2016 were included. Fifty-one relevant articles were identified with 16 related to nurse clinical education. No studies were found in undergraduate medical education or in primary care educational settings. Common features were identified within the several definitions of belongingness. A thematic analysis of articles revealed that belongingness has an important role in student motivation and learning identity formation and in facilitating positive mental health. The scoping review highlighted the importance of belongingness in higher and undergraduate health professions education, with implications for future practice and policy. Further research is recommended. There are important implications for curriculum development and delivery, including clinical placements; within secondary and primary care health professional education.

Psychosocial student functioning in comprehensive dental clinic education: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION

The aims were to describe first-year clinical dental students' psychosocial experiences in a known well-functioning comprehensive clinic teaching group (F+Grp) and a known dysfunctional group (Dys-Grp) and, thus, discover and describe phenomena related to psychosocial functioning of students. These groups were compared and contrasted regarding negative stress symptoms, perfectionism and coping with stress.

METHODS

Eight female dental students (mean 26 years old), four in each group, were interviewed after the first clinical year about learning and emotional experiences. The students also rated their perceived stress using a 0-10 scale, where 0 is no stress, and 10 is highest stress. Qualitative analyses involved searching for recurring themes and discovery of categories of clinical and social functioning. All 8 students were revisited as dentists after 8 years and filled out a 15-item survey as longitudinal validation of their first-year clinical experiences and to estimate group consensus and informant accuracy.

RESULTS

Both groups suffered from negative stress symptoms attributed to lack of time for clinical tasks, worries about work quality with confusion about their own expectations and worries about how others perceived them. Dys-Grp experienced higher negative stress and maladaptive perfectionism and described crying behaviours, withdrawal and unwillingness to cooperate with others. In contrast, students in F+Grp provided rich content about mutual cooperation related to social networking and positive support. The 8 subjects exhibited high internal consistency (α  =  .98) in their responses to the follow-up survey about their first year of clinic.

CONCLUSIONS

The comprehensive care teaching clinic environment with students working in groups appeared to provide a possibility for students to support each other for improved stress coping. Unfortunately, the opposite also occurred. Positive, supportive teacher supervision of student challenges related to perfectionism and stress is crucial and requires specific attention.

Perceived stress and well-being in UK and Australian dental hygiene and dental therapy students

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to explore United Kingdom (UK) and Australian (Aus) dental hygiene and dental therapy students' (DHDTS) perception of stress and well-being during their undergraduate education. Upon qualification, DHDTS in the UK register as dental therapists (DT), and in Australia, they register as Oral Health Therapists (OHT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A questionnaire was distributed to years 1, 2 and 3 DHDTS at the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy (UPDA) in the UK and La Trobe Rural Health School in Australia. The questionnaire consisted of 5 well-used measurement instruments which included the following: Dental Environment Stress questionnaire (DES); Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21); Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB); Valuing Questionnaire (VQ); and the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) to collect data on students' perception of levels of stress and well-being.

RESULTS

A response rate of 58% (UK) and 55% (Australia) was achieved. Clinical factors and academic work were perceived as stressful for DHDTS in both the UK and Australia. The Australian DHDTS-perceived stress in the educational environment was significantly higher (P < .002) than the UK DHDTS. The majority of respondents reported levels of depression, anxiety and stress to be within the normal-to-moderate range. All students reported high levels of positive well-being, with no significant differences between the 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS

DHDTS in the UK and Australia identified sources of stress within their undergraduate education, but also perceived themselves as positively functioning individuals.

The risks and benefits of social media in dental foundation training

The use of social media has greatly expanded in the last decade, with widespread use of smartphones, the internet, and other multimedia to enhance learning. There is evidence to suggest that social media has a place in healthcare education, but there is limited research to suggest the effectiveness or use of it in dental foundation training. This paper discusses the risks and benefits of social media and suggests that a better understanding of social media and its role in the development and practice of newly qualified dental professionals could benefit both trainees and trainers.

Climate Study of the Learning Environment for Faculty, Staff, and Students at a U.S. Dental School: Foundation for Culture Change

The aim of this study was to assess the culture and climate for diversity and inclusion and the humanistic learning environment for students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. From July 2014 to June 2015, two committees of 16 faculty members, staff members, and students, in partnership with trained program evaluators, used a participatory program evaluation (PPE) process to conduct the assessment using key informant interviews, surveys, and focus groups. The topics addressed were humanistic environment, learning environment, diversity and inclusion, microaggressions and bullying, and activities and space. All staff members, all faculty members (both full- and part-time), and all students in all four years were invited to participate in the parallel but distinctive versions of the survey from November 10 to 25, 2014. Response rates for each group were as follows: 50% (318/642) for students, 68% (217/320) for staff, and 40% (147/366) for faculty; numbers responding to individual items varied. Among the respondents, the majority (76% faculty, 67% staff, 80% students) agreed that the environment fostered learning and personal growth and that a humanistic environment was important (97% faculty, 95% staff, 94% students). Many reported having experienced/witnessed a micro-aggression or bullying. Many also reported having "ever had" dissatisfaction with the learning environment (44% faculty, 39% staff, 68% students). The students sought better relationships with the faculty; the staff and faculty members sought opportunities for professional development and mentoring. Recommendations included cultural sensitivity training, courses for interpersonal skills, leadership and team-building efforts, addressing microaggressions and bullying, creating opportunities for collaboration, and increasing diversity of faculty, staff, and students. These recommendations were incorporated into the school's strategic plan. In this study, a utilization-focused PPE process using mixed methods was effective for evaluating the dental school's climate for diversity and inclusion, as well as the learning environment for faculty, staff, and students.