An approach on defining competency in evidence-based dentistry

THE CONTENTS, METHODS, AND ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCE-BASED DENTISTRY EDUCATION: A SCOPING REVIEW

OBJECTIVE

With evidence-based dentistry (EBD) having a far-reaching influence on oral healthcare, dental educators worldwide have made joint efforts to integrate EBD-related knowledge and skills into dental education. The present scoping review aims to identify and summarize the existing teaching contents, teaching methods, and assessment strategies of EBD education.

METHODS

Electronic (PubMed and Embase) and manual searches were performed to identify articles related to both "dental education" and "evidence-based practice." Based on predetermined eligibility criteria, articles were selected by 2 reviewers, independently and in duplicate. Data synthesis was conducted based on teaching contents, teaching strategies, and teaching assessment.

RESULTS

Of the 1758 articles found in the literature searches, 74 were deemed eligible and included in this review. A total of 4 basic skills (problem formulation, literature searching, critical appraisal, and research methodology), 5 teaching methods, and 6 assessment strategies were identified. In most of the articles, 2, or more skills were taught, and a combination of traditional strategies for teaching and its assessment (eg, courses and questionnaire survey) was involved. Other teaching methods, such as journal clubs and workshops, were seldom used, and validated assessment tools accounted for a relatively small proportion of the assessment strategies involved.

CONCLUSIONS

The contents, methods and assessment of EBD education have been widely studied and discussed. However, the current literature focuses mainly on teaching of critical appraisal skills, traditional teaching methods, and short-term outcome assessments. Future research in this area can be aimed at integrating all EBD-related skills into educational models, studying multifaceted teaching approaches, and developing comprehensive teaching outcome assessment methods based on validated tools and dental patient-reported outcomes.

Aligning Information Literacy and Evidence-Based Dentistry Concepts in a Rubric to Improve Dental Education

Understanding of the alignment of key concepts in both evidence-based dentistry and information literacy could lead to greater collaboration between librarians and dental faculty. To identify these areas of partnership, a group of dental librarians from across North America created a rubric aligning information literacy concepts with competencies from dental education groups in the United States and Canada. The process included identifying relevant competencies, determining information literacy concepts for each competency, and adding learning outcomes scaled by Bloom's Taxonomy. The resulting rubric is useful for advocating librarian involvement in dental education curriculum, communication with dental faculty, and instruction planning.

A national window on critical thinking by dental educators following an ADEA webinar

PURPOSE

Critical thinking is an essential skill for the dentist, yet little has surfaced to define the outcome, guide learning, and assess performance. On June 16, 2020, the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) sponsored a 1-hour webinar on Critical thinking with 600 attendees. To report input from a national cohort of dental educators responding to a model for critical thinking guidance.

METHODS

Critical thinking concepts with explicit skillsets were presented. Attendees gave Likert responses on importance and confidence defining outcome. At the end of the webinar, attendees were asked in an open-ended format what their "take away" was.

RESULTS

One hundred and five responded to a Likert scale question on how important critical thinking is, with 93% giving a 5. To the question on how well have you figured out how to define the outcome, guide learning, and assess performance, 53% gave a 3 and 21% gave a 2 (χ²  = 151; P < 0.01) From 121 "take away" responses, 79 reiterated the session's central theme with comments on emulating the thought process of the expert or articulating a skillset. In a separate classification of the same "take away," responses oriented to common domains of education nomenclature. No alternative critical thinking model for articulating the outcome, guiding learning, and assessing performance was evident in any of the 121 take away responses.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are interpreted as an opportunity moment for dental education to collectively develop additional critical thinking models.

Two critical thinking models-probing questions and conceptualization-adding 4 skillsets to the teacher's armamentarium

Critical thinking is ubiquitous in patient care. One track for critical thinking develops skillsets emulating the thought process of the master clinician using probing questions and has been offered in treatment planning, literature search, and critique, risk assessment in caries and geriatrics, technology decision-making, EBD, and IPP. This paper offers 2 additional critical thinking skillsets following this emulation model in social work and ethics. Conceptualization, another form of critical thinking, is also ubiquitous in health care, yet almost no literature exists to guide learning and assess performance on conceptualization. This paper introduces for discussion 2 examples of conceptualization-"How and how much does this situation differ from the ideal?" and "How does the student/practitioner conceptualize the outcome prior to the imminent procedure?" -used continually by the practitioner in patient care situations. The result is 4 additional critical thinking skillsets at different stages of development in the armamentarium for the teacher.

Teaching Evidence-Based Practice: Considerations for Dental Education

The motivation for teaching evidence-based practice is that, through the use of high-quality clinically relevant evidence, clinicians will make rationale decision that optimally improve patient health outcomes. Achieving that goal requires clinicians who are able to answer patient care-relevant clinical questions efficiently, which means that they must be able rapidly to retrieve, assess, and apply evidence of direct relevance to their patients. Educational programs designed to accomplish this vary in their effectiveness. This article reviews the evidence on educational approaches that may be beneficial when developing educational programs for both dental students and practicing dentists.