Implementation of a Medical Ethics Course in Undergraduate Dental Education and Assessment of Knowledge and Attitudes

Ethical issues in dental education-A cross-sectional study with pre-clinical and clinical dental students

INTRODUCTION

Although ethics is an indispensable part of dental education, it has not yet played a relevant role in the dental curriculum in Germany. The study aimed at assessing their prior knowledge of ethical aspects, and their expectations of and wishes for ethics course of dental students, preclinical vs. clinical, at the dental school Kiel, Germany by means of a validated questionnaire.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The study population consisted of dental students, from pre-clinical (n = 105) and clinical semesters (n = 110). In January 2019, each student completed a validated questionnaire to identify semester-specific ethical teaching content. Besides descriptive analyses, Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare pre-clinical and clinical students.

RESULTS

A total of 215 dental students, with a mean age of 25.3 (SD 4.1), participated in the study, of which 150 were female (69.8%) and 65 were male students (30.2%). The results in the areas of 'previous knowledge of ethical issues' and 'expectations and desires in terms of teaching medical ethics' showed similarities and differences between pre-clinical and clinical students. Both groups stated that they need training in ethics. Moreover, especially clinical students recognize that more ethical competence is needed if the first patient contact will start.

CONCLUSION

The study indicates that there is a clear need for ethics education. Student awareness of the relevance of ethical competences and the perception of ethical problems increased progressively during the course of their studies. Overall, the study provides good support for the development of specific ethics courses.

Analysis of moral reasoning in dentistry students through case-based learning (CBL)

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to develop a tool to analyze the ethical dimensions during dental students' decision making, by using case-based learning (CBL).

METHODS

Five clinical scenarios involving ethical aspects addressing different moral dilemmas were selected. The cases were then administered to students during a course on ethics, and the students responded using a narrative technique. To analyze the responses, a criterion inspired by Kohlberg's theory of moral development was used. Subsequently, the data were analyzed statistically, and possible associations between the answers and other variables, such as the student's gender and theoretical knowledge of ethics, were evaluated.

RESULTS

A total of 260 students participated (182 women and 78 men), and 1300 narratives were analyzed. The reliability of the construct, as tested by the Cronbach's alpha and the homogeneity index, was acceptable (0.7). The validity of the construct was also assessed, suggesting a component analysis. The descriptive analysis suggests a certain tendency to solve moral problems by referring to established norms and laws. Furthermore, the correlation anaylysis suggests the interrelation between dimensions linked to patient integrity and respect for the truth, even though this conclusion is not reflected in the component analysis, which only detects a generic component of moral sensitivity. No significant differences by gender were found in the narratives, nor a strong correlation of the responses with theoretical knowledge on ethics.

CONCLUSION

CBL through the narrative method on ethical dilemmas is an effective tool for assessing dental students' moral competencies and their possible interactions with other variables.

Identification of semester-specific teaching contents for dental ethics: development, testing and validation of a questionnaire

BACKGROUND

Although medical ethics is an indispensable part of dental education, it has not played a relevant role in the dental curriculum thus far. This study is aimed at developing and validating a questionnaire that identifies semester-specific ethical issues, in order to develop longitudinal ethic modules.

METHODS

March 2018 a workshop on item generation was coordinated, using Delphi method; followed by a cognitive testing with students (2nd, 4th, 10th semesters, n = 12). A pilot test was carried out with students from different semesters (n = 60). The distribution of response frequencies and missing values were determined. The questionnaire used for validation consisted of three dimensions: ethical knowledge, dealing with ethical issues, expectations in terms of teaching. The psychometric examination was carried out by preclinical students (n = 105) and clinical semesters (n = 110) January 2019.

RESULTS

After cognitive testing and piloting, some items were reformulated, so that a questionnaire with 127 items was used for validation. The individual dimensions were assigned to various factors with excellent to acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.72-0.96).

CONCLUSION

The questionnaire has an acceptable to excellent consistency and suggests that the different dimensions are conclusive. With this questionnaire, ethical issues in dentistry can be mapped and teaching contents identified.