Validation of an instructional module to help dental students learn to avoid plagiarism.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to validate the learning effectiveness of an instructional module in helping first-year dental students and international graduate advanced standing students learn to avoid plagiarism in their scientific writing. METHOD: The module was administered to a total of 226 first year dental students (157 at the University of Pittsburgh, in 2018 and 2019; 69 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2019), and a total of 102 international graduate advanced standing students at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2019 and 2020. Psychometric analysis of the module's test items confirmed reliability and validity. RESULTS: An independent sample t-test performed on the module pretest scores determined that the first -year dental students entered their programs with more knowledge about plagiarism than the international graduate advanced standing students. Mean differences were calculated between pretest and posttest scores for each group and indicated that the module was equally effective at helping both groups learn to avoid plagiarism. An independent sample t-test compared the posttest mean scores of the 2 groups and determined that the first -year students achieved a greater learning outcome from the module. An independent sample t-test for Equality of Means with Levene's Test for Equality of Variances were performed to compare the mean differences between posttest and pretest scores for the 2 groups. These tests indicated that the 2 groups learned to avoid plagiarism at the same rate. CONCLUSIONS: The instructional module proved to be valid, reliable, effective, and time-efficient in improving student knowledge about avoiding plagiarism.

A look at international, short-term service trips: challenges from a dental ethical perspective.

Although professionals helping those in need in other countries is a noble endeavor, it is not without its ethical challenges. Those in the medical field are just beginning to explore these issues. In this paper, the five-principle structure of the ADA Code is used to explore some of the not-so-obvious problems that may come in the wake of charity care in international contexts. Issues surrounding respect for autonomy include informed consent, adequate health history, and cultural sensitivity. Sometimes the difficulty of working conditions increases the possibility of causing harm, and follow-up care may be lacking or inadequate. The duty for beneficence may have different meanings in other cultures than it does in the United States. Standards for justice or fairness may not be the same in other countries, and bringing American benefits to a segment of a local population may disrupt indigenous standards. Issues can also arise around veracity due to communication problems and alternative ways of counting benefits and harms.

Teaching culturally sensitive care to dental students: a multidisciplinary approach.

Dental schools must prepare future dentists to deliver culturally sensitive care to diverse patient populations, but there is little agreement on how best to teach these skills to students. This article examines this question by exploring the historical and theoretical foundations of this area of education in dentistry, analyzes what is needed for students to learn to provide culturally sensitive care in a dental setting, and identifies the discipline-specific skills students must master to develop this competence. The problems associated with single-discipline, lecture-based approaches to teaching culturally sensitive care are outlined, and the advantages of an interdisciplinary, patient-centered, skills-based approach to teaching culturally sensitive care are described. The authors advocate for an approach to teaching culturally sensitive care that builds upon learning in the behavioral sciences, ethics, and public health. Component skills and perspectives offered by each of these curriculum areas are identified, and their contributions to the teaching of culturally sensitive care are described. Finally, the need to consider the timing of this instruction in the dental curriculum is examined, along with instructional advantages associated with an approach that is shared by faculty across the curriculum.