Current arrangements for training dentists in Australia on primary care dentistry.

There is an expectation in Australia that dental students engage in primary care as they learn to recognise and respond to aspects of a person's general health and wellbeing. These skills, knowledge and behaviours are outlined by the Australian Dental Council, the accrediting body of dental training programs. Education in primary care dentistry can be seen integrated across the length and breadth of dental curricula yet is not commonly referred to as primary care. Interprofessional education provides opportunities for dental students to develop their professional identities as primary healthcare practitioners and be seen as such by other health professions. We propose that the primary care dentistry could be elevated by naming and noticing these activities in the curriculum.

Employability in health professional education: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: The concept of employability can help educators understand the variability in the career outcome of graduates. Within the health professional education (HPE) literature, various conceptions of employability are used and implied. This review considers how the concept 'employability' is depicted and characterised in HPE literature. METHODS: A scoping review was conducted. The authors searched Medline, Web of Science and Scopus databases for English language literature relevant to employability in HPE. Arksey and O'Malley's review protocol and the criteria defined in the preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist (PRISMA-ScR) were used with methodological guidance provided by Levac et al. and Peters et al. with the exception of formal stakeholder consultation. RESULTS: The search resulted in 158 articles, of which 34 articles were included in this review. Charting the included articles revealed that within the set of articles, there is much diversity in study design, geographical setting and health profession. Three conceptions of employability were identified: acquiring a professional job, sustaining employment and thriving in the workforce. CONCLUSION: Conceptions of employability in HPE are largely focused on listing skills and capabilities for entry into employment and sustaining a career. To address gaps in research, structural contributions to employability and institutional strategies to promote conditions for thriving in disruption should be explored.

Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part-time as dental assistants.

INTRODUCTION: Whilst admission to dental school in many jurisdictions requires applicants to shadow dentists or undertake work experience at a dental practice, little is known about the impacts on professional learning when dental students work part-time as dental assistants whilst concurrently studying dentistry. This paper explores what, how and from whom dental students who work as dental assistants acquire professional knowledges during employment. METHODS: This study draws on a qualitative analysis of interviews with sixteen senior dental students who have extra-curricular part-time employment as dental assistants in private dental practices. RESULTS: Analysis produced four themes that relate to students learning in the professional environment: students learn about the responsibilities, rhythms and routines of practice, as well as patient communication and interactions. Students embedded in the dental team noticed and related to the dispositions and the work of dentistry. Students learned from all members of the dental team including clinical and non-clinical staff (reception, administration, laboratory and sterilisation). DISCUSSION: Students used their experiences in a practice setting to further their professional education. The ability to "read" a situation and formulate an appropriate response requires the integration of complex and actionable professional knowledges. CONCLUSION: This research study presents insight into the ways dental students employed as dental assistants are embedded in and learn from the dental team in a critically evaluative manner. Students professionally notice and make sense of complex practice environments whilst undertaking university studies to learn about practice routines, rhythms and responsibilities as well as advancing confidence in relating with patients. This study provides a stimulus for further research about the contribution of workplace experiences to 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.

Conceptualisations of the social determinants of health among first-year dental students.

BACKGROUND: Social conditions have a significant impact on the health of individuals and populations. While the dental curriculum is focused on teaching students about the diseases that affect the dentition and oral structures from a biomedical perspective, education about the social determinants of health is frequently regarded as less important. Thus, it occupies a smaller and disconnected part of the dental curriculum. The aim of this study was to explore the ways dental students conceptualised the social determinants of health after one year in dental school. METHODS: Reflective statements written by first year dental students at the end of the first year of study were collected. This qualitative study has an interpretivist basis and a thematic analysis of the reflections was conducted by two researchers. Metzl's structural competencies were used as a further analytic device. RESULTS: Four inter-related themes were identified: First, professional attitudes taken up by students influence their conceptions. Second, structural barriers to students understanding social determinants of health generate partial understandings. Thirdly, the social gulf that exists between the student body and people of different circumstances provides context to understanding the student's perspectives. Finally, we described how students were learning about the social determinants of health over the academic year. CONCLUSIONS: Dental students face several challenges when learning about the social determinants of health, and translating these learnings into actions is perhaps even more challenging. Metzl's structural competencies provide a framework for advancing students' understandings. One of the most important findings of this research study is that coming to an understanding of the social determinants of health requires sustained attention to social theories, practical experiences as well as institutionalised attitudes that could be achieved through an intentional curriculum design.

Exploring the temporal dimensions of student engagement with longitudinal assessment in an oral health therapy programme.

The time and effort students devote to learning tasks has been related to student success and outcomes, however, the way students understand and experience time during their health professional education remains poorly understood. This article aims to address this gap in knowledge through a qualitative analysis of health professional students' engagement with a longitudinal portfolio assessment spanning two years. Thematic analysis of 7 focus groups conducted with oral health therapy students was performed. Four temporal dimensions of student engagement associated with the longitudinal portfolio assessment were identified: the organising effect of the assessment structure and timeline; flows of learning over time; individual perceptions of time; and having a future orientation. A fifth theme identified that circumstances or events can make or break the temporal rhythms of any of the dimensions. Our findings show that students' experiences of learning are affected by institutional arrangements as well as personal perceptions of time. Taking the experience of time beyond the concept of 'time management', we show how curricula contain under-recognised tools for students to authentically experience the complexities and contradictions of time in preparation for the context of health practice.

Using self-study as a methodology for dental educators' professional inquiry.

INTRODUCTION: Dental educators play crucial roles in dental education and in the functioning of dental schools. Whilst it is recognised that dental educators need more than relevant disciplinary expertise and that scholarly development of dental educators is important, there is a lack of knowledge about ways research can be used to promote professional development. This article aims to showcase a research methodology for professional inquiry that is widely used in teacher education to promote the view that dental education is a professional practice. APPROACH: Self-study methodology was employed by four dental educators to illuminate their theory-informed practice. We chose to frame the inquiry around technology and accumulated three forms of data: individual journaling, video-call discussions and Padlet/bricolage. Analysis of this data focused on how the learning was co-constructed by the group. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: Five key elements of our self-study were constructed into narratives: understanding technology as a dental educator, being a learner and embodied scholarship, the (expanded) roles of a teacher in a technological environment, advancing our own professional identity as an educator, and possibilities and limits for self-study in the dental education context. CONCLUSION: Professionalisation of dental educators is critical to sustainable dental education. By educators researching their own practice, research approaches such as self-study can perform a dual role of facilitating scholarly development and contributing to the generation of new knowledge about becoming and being a dental educator.

How are the social determinants of health being taught in dental education?

INTRODUCTION: The social determinants of health that influence how wellness and illness are experienced within society must be a core component of dental curricula where aspiring dental professionals are taught about the aetiology and social history of dental diseases. Through this scoping review, we examine the current approaches that have been employed to incorporate the social determinants of health within dental curricula. METHODS: Using a scoping review methodology, we searched the databases Scopus, PubMed, and Embase using keywords relevant to the social determinants of health and dental education. RESULTS: Following screening and sorting, 36 articles were included within this review. The majority of the articles described research that evaluated outcomes of educational interventions with relevance to the social determinants of health. The remainder of the included studies discussed attitudes and readiness relative to the social determinants of health and how this core competency could be taught effectively. CONCLUSION: The included literature revealed that the social determinants of health frequently are not the focus of educational activities in dental curricula, with students frequently having little active guidance on how they might make sense of their educational experiences in this domain. The socioeconomic, cultural, political, geographic, and structural barriers that contribute to patients being impacted by the social determinants of health should be explicitly addressed and discussed with students as a foundation element of the dental curriculum.

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.

What Is the Educational Value of a Student-Led Conference in Dental Education?

Student-led conferences are a type of inquiry learning and student-led pedagogy. They have the potential to foster learning across many of the domains required for professional dental practice including communication and interpersonal skills, adaptive capability, professional attitude and ethical judgment, entrepreneurship, and a social and community orientation. A student-led conference, which provided a framework for students studying oral biosciences to create and host a conference focused on contemporary issues in oral biosciences, was introduced into the Bachelor of Oral Health program at the University of Sydney in Australia in 2017 and 2018. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine the educational purposes that the student-led conference satisfied. Data were collected from the 2017 cohort of students in the form of reflective essays. In 2018, students' experience of the conference was recorded from a focus group discussion. In both years, reflective accounts written by attendees were collected. The thematic analysis generated four themes: integration of learning, personal learning, student resourcefulness through peer relationships, and deep commitment to delivering an excellent conference. The learning project served as a platform for students to display their professionalism and skills gained in entrepreneurship, communication, and adaptive capability. This study provided an example of a participatory curriculum approach with the potential to help students generate a working understanding of knowledge structures and how knowledge is created and circulates in the discipline.

Student generation and peer review of examination questions in the dental curriculum: Enhancing student engagement and learning.

BACKGROUND: Writing, sharing, answering, discussing and rating examination questions are a way to involve students in creating content and applying their knowledge. The PeerWise online question-setting platform facilitates student communities in this activity. This mixed-methods study asks the question: Does students' writing and answering examination questions enhance their engagement and learning of Neurology as a Life Science topic? METHODS: Over a 2-year period, self-assembled groups of 3-4 students submitted 1-2 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) every 2 weeks into the PeerWise portal for review by their peers. Summative examination results were compared with previous year's control group. Data were also collected regarding student engagement (number of MCQs answered or submitted comments) are compared to summative assessment results at the end of semester. Post-intervention student satisfaction surveys were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to assess the effectiveness of the exercise. RESULTS: With 174 and 80 student participants in intervention and control groups, respectively, no statistical difference was found in the average marks between the cohorts. However, within intervention group, positive correlation (Spearman's r = .272-.333) was found between higher level of student engagement with PeerWise and higher examination result. Positive correlation remained persistent after completion of the PeerWise exercise. Student survey revealed greater engagement with subject content, and qualitative thematic analysis was mapped to define various ways students engaged with the PeerWise activity. CONCLUSION: Tasking students to regularly generate and review MCQs enhances engagement with the topic, and higher engagement with PeerWise correlating to higher examination scores.

Twelve tips for a successful student-led conference in health professional education.

Student-led initiatives provide an authentic context for students to shape their own learning experiences and to develop skills in complex interpersonal behaviors, communication, teamwork, and leadership. A student-led conference is an example of a student-led initiative that integrates skill development across these professional domains that are necessary for contemporary health practice with conceptual understanding of basic and clinical sciences. Importantly, by participating in the student-led conference, students can form advanced views about knowledge, such as that scientific knowledge is complex and uncertain or even start to see themselves as capable contributors to the profession's knowledge. Drawn from literature as well as our experiences in implementing student-led conferences in dentistry courses, these 12 tips provide practical guidance to academics and curriculum designers on how to introduce and implement a student-led conference in health professional education. These 12 tips will help educators to consider aspects associated with design, implementation, and evaluation of a student-led conference, as well as surfacing aspects pertaining to relationships and culture. In doing so, we also aim to prompt academics to think more deeply about issues that arise when students partner with their academic advisors and the opportunities that the academics involved have for their own professional development.

Engaging Oral Health Students in Learning Basic Science Through Assessment That Weaves in Personal Experience.

Learning basic science forms an essential foundation for oral health therapy and dentistry, but frequently students perceive it as difficult, dry, and disconnected from clinical practice. This perception is encouraged by assessment methods that reward fact memorization, such as objective examinations. This study evaluated use of a learner-centered assessment portfolio designed to increase student engagement with basic science in an oral health therapy program at the University of Sydney, Australia. The aim of this qualitative study based on focus groups was to investigate students' engagement with basic science courses following introduction of the portfolio. Three assessments were conducted in three subsequent semesters: one based on students' interest in everyday phenomena (one student, for example, explored why she had red hair); the second focussed on scientific evidence and understanding of systemic diseases; and the third explored relations between oral and general health. Students were encouraged to begin with issues from their personal experience or patient care, to focus on what they were curious about, and to ask questions they really cared about. Each student prepared a written report and gave an oral presentation to the entire cohort. After the portfolios were completed, the authors held focus groups with two cohorts of students (N=21) in 2016 and analyzed the results using Zepke's framework for student engagement research. The results showed that the students successfully interweaved personal experience into their studies and that it provided significant motivation for learning. The students described their learning in terms of connection to themselves, their peer community, and their profession. Many additional benefits were identified, from increased student engagement in all courses to appreciation of the relevance of basic science. The findings should encourage dental and allied dental educators to reconsider the effects of assessments and seek integrative methods to help students engage in meaningful knowledge production and understand that what they are learning goes beyond acquisition of scientific facts.