Dental hygiene students' matching accuracy when comparing antemortem dental radiographs and oral photographs to simulated postmortem WinID3® odontograms.

Matching dental antemortem (AM) and postmortem (PM) data for human identification is especially challenging when the workforce is limited. Dental hygienists have served mass fatality incidents (MFIs) due to dental-related expertise. However, forensics within dental hygiene education and research on transferable skills is limited. This qualitative balance design study assessed senior dental hygiene students' match accuracy of simulated cases varying in dental identifiers based on AM full mouth series (FMS) radiographs and oral photographs to PM WinID3® odontograms to demonstrate possible disaster victim identification (DVI) transferable skills gained during formal education. A convenience sample of senior dental hygiene students (n = 31) was presented information on WinID3® interpretation, then presented with 5 mismatched cases and asked to visually interpret each to make 10 total matches; five based on AM FMS with simulated PM WinID3® odontograms and five based on AM photographs with PM WinID3® odontograms. Match accuracy scores ranged from 41.9% to 58.1% for cases with 1-10 identifiers, and 77.4% to 93.5% for cases with 11-40 identifiers. Accuracy when matching AM radiographs to PM odontograms versus AM photographs to PM odontograms was compared and revealed no statistical differences in match accuracy depending on image type (p = 0.388 to 1.000). Results of this pilot study suggests transferable match accuracy skills resulted from the participants' dental hygiene formal education. These baseline skills with additional specialized training support the rationale for dental hygienists serving on DVI teams. More research is needed in education and practice when preparing dental hygienists for forensic-based service.

INteractive Virtual Expert-Led Skills Training: A Multi-Modal Curriculum for Medical Trainees.

Background: Internationally, pediatric depression and suicide are significant issues. Additionally, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, pediatric mental health needs are rising astronomically. In light of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist (CAP) subspecialist shortages in the United States (US), there is an increasing call for primary care physicians in Family Medicine and Pediatrics to address an increasingly broad variety of patient needs. Here we report on the development and preliminary evaluation of medical student and resident perceptions on the "INteractive Virtual Expert-led Skills Training" (INVEST) medical education curriculum, a virtual synchronous CAP curriculum employing active learning strategies, including expert-led discussion and video modeling, and discussion designed to meet those priorities. Methods: In a standardized 60-min training format, our curriculum leverages audience response system polling, video modeling of key clinical skills, and interactive discussion with an expert subspecialist, over a virtual video conferencing platform. The primary educational strategy relies on use of video modeling to demonstrate best practice with CAP led group discussion to solidify and explain important concepts. Five waves of medical students and residents (N = 149) participated in the INVEST curriculum and completed pre- and post-training surveys regarding knowledge and comfort in the management of pediatric patients with depression and suicidality. Results: Trainee participants reported significant positive gains in perceived likelihood of encountering pediatric suicidality as well as knowledge/comfort with depression screening and suicidality assessment in a primary care setting. Across some competency areas, there was an effect of medical learner level. Learners at lower levels generally reported the highest benefit. Medical students reported significant increases in their comfort interpreting and discussing positive depression screens and evidenced the greatest relative benefit in comfort with discussing suicidality. Conclusion: To our knowledge, INVEST is the first fully virtual, multimodal curriculum led by expert CAP subspecialists. Our findings suggest that INVEST shows promise for equipping medical learners with baseline knowledge for caring for patients with pediatric depression and suicidality. This synchronous, virtually delivered curriculum allows for critical training delivered to diverse medical learners regardless of geographic location, a particular benefit during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Sexual Harassment Issues Among Virginia Dental Hygienists.

Purpose: The "#MeToo" movement has increased awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace and its detrimental effects on the work environment. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of sexual harassment in a convenience sample of dental hygienists in the state of Virginia (VA).Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used to determine the experiences of VA dental hygienists with sexual harassment in the workplace occurring over the previous twenty-four months. The revised Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ-W) measured three constructs: gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion and was administered electronically to a convenience sample of 238 dental hygienists attending a continuing education conference. Chi-square was used to determine significant associations between survey scores and demographics.Results: A total of 161 dental hygienists completed the survey (n=161) for a response rate of 68%. A little more than one-quarter of the respondents (27%) reported at least one experience of sexual harassment in the previous 24 months. Of the three constructs measured, 27.3% of participants reported gender harassment, 18.6% unwanted sexual attention, and 6.8% sexual coercion. The most commonly reported items were being told offensive sexual jokes or stories (21%) and hearing someone make crude and offensive sexual remarks (18%). A definition of sexual harassment was provided and participants were asked, "During your career as a dental hygienist, have you experienced sexual harassment?" to which 24.2% (n=39) responded yes.Conclusion: Sexual harassment is a contemporary problem in dental hygiene employment settings in the state of Virginia. Effective training and policies in sexual harassment is needed to prevent these behaviors from occurring in the workplace.

Change in Psychotropic Prescribing Patterns Among Youths in Foster Care Associated With a Peer-to-Peer Physician Consultation Program.

There has been growing concern about the safety and efficacy of psychotropic prescribing practices for children enrolled in Medicaid and in foster care.1 In response, accreditation organizations and policymakers have developed standards for optimal use of psychotropic medications among children.2 In addition, federal legislation has prompted states to implement monitoring programs to address quality and safety issues among vulnerable pediatric subpopulations.3,4 Here, we report findings from an evaluation of Indiana's program for foster youth, which used outlier case review followed by peer-to-peer consultation between prescribing physicians and child and adolescent psychiatrists. We observed clinically and statistically significant reductions in polypharmacy, off-label prescribing, inpatient hospitalizations, health care costs, and related outcomes among youths randomized to an immediate intervention group compared to no improvements in a waitlist control group.

Workplace Bullying: A survey of Virginia dental hygienists.

Purpose: Workplace bullying in health care has been identified as a problem that negatively affects career satisfaction, career longevity and patient outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in a convenience sample of dental hygienists in the state of Virginia.Methods: Two hundred and forty Virginia dental hygienists attending a continuing education seminar were invited to participate. Using the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), respondents were asked to indicate how often they had experienced 22 negative acts or behaviors according to rate of occurrence (never, now and then or monthly, weekly or daily). Bullying was defined as experiencing two or more of the specified negative behaviors over the past 6 months. The negative behaviors were categorized into three subgroups: work-related bullying, personal bullying and physical intimidation.Results: The response rate was 64%. Data revealed almost one fourth (24%) of respondents experienced workplace bullying. The most frequent behaviors experienced by those being bullied were having their opinions and views ignored (73%), experiencing unmanageable workloads (68%) and having their work excessively monitored (68%), on a weekly or daily basis.Conclusions: Results from this study suggest approximately 1 out of 4 Virginia dental hygienists responding to this survey experience workplace bullying. Education and support to ensure identification of bullying may be helpful in promoting proactive awareness, prevention strategies and a healthier work environment leading to greater job satisfaction.