'It is difficult to think about becoming what you have never seen': Black students' reflections around a career in academic dentistry.

This opinion piece considers the national representation of the Black population in the United Kingdom in an academic career in dentistry and draws on engagement with Black dental students to see what their perceptions of this are. Black people are under-represented in dentistry as a whole and the number of Black academics who teach dentistry to an increasing number of aspiring young Black dental students is exceedingly low. Black dental students do not see themselves represented by their teachers and therefore 'it is difficult to think about [them] becoming what [they] have never seen'. Black dental students themselves have started initiatives to establish a strong support network of aspiring and qualified Black dentists. Dialogue with them showcases that while there are pathways into an academic career in dentistry, these appear unclear to them. This piece is intended to raise awareness of these issues, in the knowledge that with mentoring, role modelling and dialogue, pathways may become clearer, opportunities may arise that were previously not considered and the national picture may one day change.

Addressing racial inequalities in dental education: decolonising the dental curricula.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the impact of racial disparities on the educational experiences of Black and minority ethnic students in healthcare education. Attainment gaps and barriers to career progression for minority ethnic home students in the United Kingdom have been recognised for decades, but little progress has been made to address these issues. Students and staff in higher education have been campaigning for 'decolonisation of the curriculum' to improve inclusivity and representation. These trends are being mirrored in medical education and there is growing recognition to decolonise the medical curricula. This would improve the educational experience and attainment of minority ethnic students and doctors, and would also help to address disparities in healthcare provision for minority ethnic patients. The context for decolonisation of the dental curricula is provided, followed by a discussion on the benefits, challenges and strategies for such decolonisation.

Students' views on the sustained impact of a learning approach developed by blending pedagogy to prepare for professional practice: Introducing "Daybook".

INTRODUCTION: Daybook is an enquiry-based teaching and learning approach that blends various adult learning theories. It is designed to equip and prepare a new graduate to do a designated job in the workplace. It supports the safe beginner to undertake high-level thinking that permits adaptation to unfamiliar challenges of the job, as well as use of continuous learning strategies to do the job better. Its aim is to support four main pedagogic pillars of learning: preparing for practice, educating for employability, enhancing capability over competence and lifelong learning. METHODS: A study using three successive student cohorts evaluated the perceived sustained impact of Daybook on learners' clinical practice following graduation and entry into the workplace. Using a questionnaire with open-ended, opinion and closed questions, descriptive quantitative analysis was used on numerical data, and qualitative data underwent a deductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Quantitative and qualitative results supported one another to identify that the four pedagogic pillars of learning were all impacted positively by use of Daybook. Enhancing capability was the most influenced area. Each of the four areas, although discrete academic entities, demonstrated overlap and commonality. CONCLUSIONS: Although an academic exercise, Daybook is perceived to support users' undergraduate learning across the four domains of educating for employability, preparing for practice, enhancing capability and lifelong learning, and this impact sustains through the transition from student to independent practitioner when they qualify.

Effect of constant versus variable small-group facilitators on students' basic science knowledge in an enquiry-based dental curriculum.

INTRODUCTION: The role of small-group facilitators is of pivotal importance for the success of curricula based on active learning. Disorganised tutorial processes and superficial study of the problem have been identified as main hindering factors for students' learning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of consistency of facilitation on students' performance in knowledge-based basic science assessments in a hybrid, enquiry-based (EBL) undergraduate dental curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 519 first- and second-year undergraduate dental students, enrolled at Peninsula Dental School between 2013 and 2018. Twice in each academic year, students sat a 60-item single-best-answer, multiple-choice examination. Percentage and Z-scores were compared between students whose EBL groups had the same facilitator throughout the academic year, and those whose EBL group was facilitated by different members of staff. All EBL facilitators were dentally qualified but with different levels of expertise in basic dental sciences, prior EBL facilitation, involvement in the curriculum design and university affiliation. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was observed in the percentage or Z-scores of students whose EBL sessions were supported by consistent or variable facilitators in any of the 18 MCQ tests. Z-scores of first-year students were more variable than for second-year students. In addition, pairwise comparisons revealed no statistically significant differences in students' Z-scores between any of the permanent facilitators' groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study may influence the design and delivery of enquiry-based curricula as well as human resources management by shifting the focus from maintaining facilitator consistency to ensuring comparable training and approaches across facilitators.

To accept or decline academic remediation: What difference does it make?

Introduction: Academic remediation offered after failure in a knowledge-based progress-test assessment is voluntary and involves student-centered individualized support that helps students to learn most effectively for themselves. This paper explores whether accepting or declining the offer of academic remediation given to struggling students impacts their outcomes both short-term and longitudinally. Method: Data was collated from 2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18 and included all students offered academic remediation in the third, fourth, and fifth years of a five-year Dentistry program. Z-scores for each stage and test were calculated and centered on a triggering point; the point at which the offer of remediation was made. These students' average performance post-trigger test and longitudinal performance were analyzed. Results: While performance for both groups significantly improved for the immediate post-trigger test after academic remediation, those that accepted remediation sustained longitudinal improvements across subsequent tests compared to those that declined remediation. Discussion: Through the academic remediation support process students appear to increase their mastery of "learning to learn" and are able to implement sustainable effective learning strategies to carry with them throughout their program. Conclusion: Students who accept academic remediation maintain a more successful academic profile compared to those that do not take advantage of this.

Enfermedades infecciosas más frecuentes en pacientes desnutridos con edades comprendidas entre 6 meses a 10 años, habitantes de la parroquia Curiapo, Estado Delta Amacuro, en el período mayo-julio de 2016

Introducción: En pediatría las enfermedades infecciosas constituyen la causa más frecuente de consulta a nivel de atención primaria en salud. La población del presente trabajo de investigación es predominantemente de la etnia Warao y nuestra línea de investigación pretende realizar diagnóstico clínico oportuno tanto de la gravedad del estado nutricional como de las enfermedades infecciosas, respetando la identidad, cultura y autonomía de dicha etnia. Objetivo: Identificar las enfermedades infecciosas más frecuentes por diagnóstico clínico en pacientes desnutridos con edades comprendidas entre 6 meses a 10 años de edad, habitantes de la Parroquia Curiapo, Municipio Antonio Díaz, Edo. Delta Amacuro en el período mayo-julio de 2016. Métodos: La recolección de datos se basó en la entrevista médico-paciente y en la utilización de equipos médicos como estetoscopio, otorrinolaringoscopio, balanza, cinta métrica, gráficas nutricionales de la Organización Mundial de la Salud y las del Estudio Transversal de Caracas. Resultados: De 608 pacientes en estudio, 296 (48,7 %) se encuentran en un estado de malnutrición por déficit, siendo la desnutrición subclínica la predominante con un total de 107 casos. Por otro lado de esos pacientes con malnutrición por déficit, la diarrea y el catarro común conforman las enfermedades infecciosas más frecuentes. Conclusión: El 50 % de la población en estudio presenta algún grado de desnutrición, y la enfermedad infecciosa más frecuente es la diarrea la cual deteriora el estado nutricional del paciente; generándose un círculo pobreza-enfermedad difícil de romper.

Introduction: Pediatric infectious diseases are the most frequent cause of consultation at the level of primary health care. The population of this research belongs to ethnic warao, and our research aims to make timely clinical diagnosis of the severity of the nutritional status and the infectious diseases, respecting the identity, culture and autonomy of this ethnic group. Objective: Our main objective is to identify the most common infectious diseases by clinical diagnosis in undernourished patients between 6 months and 10 years old inhabitants of the Curiapo Parish, Municipality Antonio Diaz, Edo. Delta Amacuro in the period May-July 2016. Methods: Data collection was based in Medical-patient interview, also using medical equipment such as stethoscope, tape measure, othorrinolaringoscope, scales, Nutritional charts of the World Health Organization and the Transversal Study of Caracas for a complete physical examination. Results: In our research we found out that, of 608 patients studied, 296 (48,7 %) are in undernourished deficit level, being subclinical malnutrition the most frequent with 107 cases. On the otherside, those patients with undernourished deficit level, Diarrhea and common cold make up the most frequent infectious diseases in our studied population. Conclusions: We conclude that in the population, about 50 %, have some kind of malnutrition and the most common infectious diseases is diarrhea which decrease the nutritional status of the patients, generating a poverty-disease circle, very difficult to break out.