Undergraduate dental students' perceptions of dental pain in children - A grounded theory study

INTRODUCTION

There is an underuse of pain management strategies in dental care for children, possibly owing to perceived stress and discomfort when treating children, which has also been reported by dental students. The aim of this study was to explore how undergraduate dental students experience and understand pain related to dental treatment in children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Interviews were held with 21 Swedish dental students, from 3 dental schools, all in their final 2 years of education. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed according to Grounded Theory.

RESULTS

A core category, seeking guidance to avoid pain, was identified and related to 6 conceptual categories. The students used different strategies to manage pain prevention in child dentistry and to become skilled dentists. They described high levels of stress, as well as having high expectations on themselves when treating children. The stress led to a surface learning approach, something the students were not fully aware of.

CONCLUSION

All children should have the right to be ensured optimal pain prevention in dental care. The basis for this is laid during undergraduate education. Thus, pain management in child dentistry is an area in need of special attention in this respect. The academic staff has an important role in supporting their students in their process to gain an identity as professional dentists. To ensure that students incorporate an understanding of the importance of pain prevention when treating children there is a need to create more integration between theory and clinical training in undergraduate education.

Peer assessment: Development and delivery of the OSCE

INTRODUCTION

There is an expectation that healthcare professionals display competence in teaching, assessment and providing feedback. Development begins with formative peer-assisted learning and teaching in the undergraduate environment. Using peers or near-peers (in this case having 1 year more experience than the examination cohort) to provide assessment in summative exams remains unexplored. This study investigates how the use of near-peers compares to marking by academic staff in a summative OSCE.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

BDS4 Peer assessors (PAs) developed an OSCE question and marking schedule. Each PA (n = 3) was paired with an academic staff assessor (ASA) (n = 3). Peer and academic marked the candidates independently. Two years later, the process was repeated on the same cohort of candidates with the PA now 1-year post qualification. Statistical analysis compared the scores awarded by PA during each timeframe and against the marks awarded by the ASA.

RESULTS

During round 1, 28 students (62.2%) were awarded the same score by PA and ASA. On 17 occasions, there was a discrepancy (37.8%). Bias was skewed in favour of PA scoring higher (mean difference of differences -0.0667). During round 2, 27 students (55.1%) were awarded the same score by PA and ASA. On 22 occasions (44.9%), there was a discrepancy. Bias was skewed in favour of ASA scoring higher (mean difference of differences 0.0612).

DISCUSSION

Levels of agreement between PA and ASA are strong. Our results show PA mark more leniently as undergraduates and less leniently at 1-year post graduation.

CONCLUSIONS

Peer assessors are able to write OSCE stations, produce marking schemes and effectively assess their near-peers.

Presence of management, entrepreneurship, leadership and marketing topics in the dental school curriculum in Brazil

INTRODUCTION

To analyse the presence and characteristics of curricular components related to management, entrepreneurship, leadership and marketing as part of the structure and teaching methods of undergraduate courses in dentistry in Brazil.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is an observational study that used the Ministry of Education's Undergraduate Course Accreditation Platform, which included 424 undergraduate courses in Dentistry on the last date of collection (August 31 2019). The following items were analysed as follows: the existence of curricular components in relation to the proposed themes, the most recurring denominations of curricular components, minimum and maximum workload, mandatory/optional classification, theoretical/practical teaching condition and in which year the curricular components were inserted.

RESULTS

367/424 (86.6%) of dentistry courses in Brazil included at least one of the topics: management, entrepreneurship, leadership and marketing curricular components in their curriculum, whilst 57/424 (13.4%) did not have these curricular components in their curricular structure. The most frequent names were "Management" 99 (45.21%) and "Entrepreneurship" 80 (36.5%). There was a predominance of the "theoretical method" and the number of hours varied considerably, with the most common course hours between 40 and 60 h. The majority of curricular components were inserted in the third to fifth year and offered on a compulsory basis.

CONCLUSION

Most curricular matrices of dentistry courses in Brazil had components related to the topics studied. However, due to the variety of curricular components' names, hours, periods of courses and different teaching methodologies, there is a need to redesign the teaching and learning process, defining educational and evaluation models with common curricular components.

Teaching to learn: Using peer-assisted learning to complement the undergraduate dental curriculum

INTRODUCTION

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is a method of teaching in which students teach their often less-experienced peers. Whilst they gain more knowledge, peer tutors are able to convey information at a level that tutees can engage with. Whilst the use of PAL has increased in popularity within the healthcare faculty, there are fewer reports of its efficacy within dental education. Our aim is to explore the advantages and disadvantages of PAL, identifying factors that make it effective within undergraduate dental teaching.

METHOD

3rd-year dental students enrolled in supplementary PAL sessions taught by 4th-year dental student volunteers alongside their curriculum on an Integrated Human Disease course. Tutees participating in more than one PAL session were invited to a focus group to discuss the value of PAL within teaching, as were their tutors. Semi-structured focus groups in which they reflected on their learning experience and satisfaction were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically.

RESULTS

The qualitative data gathered from the focus groups for peer tutees (n = 4) and peer tutors (n = 5) revealed that the sessions stimulated learning, built confidence, developed skills out with the core topics and were complementary to the course.

CONCLUSION

Our study confirms that PAL enhances the learning experience and is mutually advantageous to both tutees and tutors. Whilst further training, a larger sample size and higher quality research are required to confirm the more general use of PAL, the promise shown in this study would suggest that PAL is an extremely useful method, complementing the undergraduate dental curriculum.

An observational study of learning effects of peer-assisted learning tests in COVID-19 pandemic times

Purpose

This study aimed to determine whether peer‐assisted learning (PAL) is a more effective learning and test method in terms of oral‐ and maxillofacial surgery.

Material and methods

In July 2020, a total of 267 students took a PAL‐based exam on fictional patients with surgical issues, in which they had to evaluate two fellow students and were themselves evaluated by two fellow students. The students evaluated their experience with the PAL‐based exam through a questionnaire which consisted of five given statements (answer possibilities: agree, disagree, neutral) and two questions (answer possibilities: better, equal, worse) to rate.

Results

In the survey, 77.9% of the students rated PAL as a better learning method and 21% rated it as at least equally effective to the known multiple‐choice (MC) test. A total of 74.9% of the students indicated that they learned more content with PAL and 20.2% said they learned the same amount; 83.7% said that their “clinical thinking has improved” through PAL. In the comments, 73% of the students noted that they think PAL is a good learning method, and at least 22% rated it as useful but in need of improvements. Only 5% did not see PAL as an acceptable learning method. In contrast to this, 1.3% saw PAL as a “bad alternative to MC tests.”

Conclusion

PAL, especially peer assessment, might represent a better learning method as it might encourage students to deal more intensively with the learning content and to improve clinical thinking.

A multicenter study of dental curricula in Asia/Pacific nations: The views and experiences of final-year dental students

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this qualitative study was to gain greater understanding of final-year dental students' views on and experience of their dental curricula in 4 universities from different Asia/Pacific countries, including New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong (China).

METHODS

A qualitative study approach was used, with semistructured interviews conducted with final-year students from each of the 4 universities.

RESULTS

Interviews were conducted with 60 final-year dental students, and 5 main themes were extracted from the interviews: (1) the definition of an "ideal" dental curriculum, (2) theoretical teaching, (3) transitional tools, (4) assessment, and (5) grading.

CONCLUSION

The findings provide insight into final-year students' views of dental curricula and suggestions on possible areas of reform in the dental curriculum. Further investigations are necessary to provide a curriculum that enables students to become competent, future-ready dental practitioners.