Knowledge of dental academics about the COVID-19 pandemic: a multi-country online survey.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting all aspects of life in all countries. We assessed COVID-19 knowledge and associated factors among dental academics in 26 countries. METHODS: We invited dental academics to participate in a cross-sectional, multi-country, online survey from March to April 2020. The survey collected data on knowledge of COVID-19 regarding the mode of transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, protection, and dental treatment precautions as well as participants' background variables. Multilevel linear models were used to assess the association between dental academics' knowledge of COVID-19 and individual level (personal and professional) and country-level (number of COVID-19 cases/ million population) factors accounting for random variation among countries. RESULTS: Two thousand forty-five academics participated in the survey (response rate 14.3%, with 54.7% female and 67% younger than 46 years of age). The mean (SD) knowledge percent score was 73.2 (11.2) %, and the score of knowledge of symptoms was significantly lower than the score of knowledge of diagnostic methods (53.1 and 85.4%, P <  0.0001). Knowledge score was significantly higher among those living with a partner/spouse than among those living alone (regression coefficient (B) = 0.48); higher among those with PhD degrees than among those with Bachelor of Dental Science degrees (B = 0.48); higher among those seeing 21 to 30 patients daily than among those seeing no patients (B = 0.65); and higher among those from countries with a higher number of COVID-19 cases/million population (B = 0.0007). CONCLUSIONS: Dental academics had poorer knowledge of COVID-19 symptoms than of COVID-19 diagnostic methods. Living arrangements, academic degrees, patient load, and magnitude of the epidemic in the country were associated with COVD-19 knowledge among dental academics. Training of dental academics on COVID-19 can be designed using these findings to recruit those with the greatest need.

Improving Dental School Clinic Operations Using Business Intelligence Data.

In dental school clinics, students spend a great deal of time waiting for faculty members to check and approve their work. Traditionally at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, students have left their cubicles to form lines behind supervising faculty members, and this line of students would follow the faculty member around from patient to patient. To address this problem and improve the patient experience, the school computerized the approval-seeking process by building the Faculty Request System (FRS) to enable students to stay with their patients while seeking the necessary approvals. The FRS produced a large volume of time-stamped, business intelligence data that enabled further evaluation. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of this change, including the quality/process improvement interventions that were possible due to information revealed by the FRS. The results showed no change in the number of students or faculty members per clinic session across the three years of this evaluation. With the FRS, the amount of time students spent away from their patients was reduced from 40.6 minutes to 12.1 minutes. After the FRS was implemented, there was an eradication of appointments that ended 30 minutes late (from 0.03% to zero) and a reduction of appointments that ended 15 minutes late (from 0.25% to 0.01%). There were also increases in students' starting appointments on time (9.8% of start checks to 25.8%), 15 minutes late (16.6% to 35.2%), and 30 minutes late (13.2% to 22.2%). By critically analyzing data from the new system, the school's leadership can analyze trends and make data-driven decisions to alter operations. The results of this study suggest that this process can improve the patient and student experience and faculty utilization.

Qualifications and Characteristics North American Dental Deans Seek in Department Chairpersons.

The aim of this study was to determine whether deans of North American dental schools perceived that one category of department chairperson skills (leadership or management) was more important than the other for their chairpersons to be successful. A secondary purpose was to determine the professional qualifications and personal characteristics these deans perceived contributed most to the success of department chairpersons and whether those differed by the research emphasis of the school. An email survey was sent in 2016 to all 75 deans of U.S. and Canadian dental schools with graduating classes. Section one of the survey was an open response section asking deans to list the five most essential characteristics of a successful department chairperson. Section two asked deans to rank the importance of eight listed professional qualifications, and the last section asked deans to rate the importance of four leadership and four management traits that could contribute to the success of their chairpersons. Questions about characteristics of the deans and the schools were also included. A response rate of 46.7% was obtained. The most frequent characteristics listed in the open response section were in the categories of vision, academic expertise, and integrity. The three most highly ranked professional qualifications were previous teaching experience, previous administrative experience, and history of external research funding. Four of the eight professional qualifications were ranked differently by deans of high compared to moderate research-intensive schools (p<0.05). Overall, the respondents rated leadership skills more highly than management skills (p=0.002) as important for departmental chairpersons.

A Survey of Faculty Development in U.S. and Canadian Dental Schools: Types of Activities and Institutional Entity with Responsibility.

The aim of this study was to assess the status of faculty development in North American dental schools in 2016. This research project was designed to update and expand upon a 2001 study that reported the first comprehensive results on similar topics and to compare the 2001 and 2016 results. In this study, survey responses were received from 57 of 75 U.S. and Canadian dental schools for an overall response rate of 76%. The results showed a sizeable expansion of faculty development efforts across schools. Twenty-three schools (40%) reported the existence of an Office of Faculty Affairs and/or Professional/Faculty Development with 12 offices established within the past five years, a sixfold increase. Other entities that demonstrated increased participation in dental faculty development were Offices of Academic Affairs, Department Chairs, and Offices of the Dean. Activities with the highest increases in involvement over the past 15 years were faculty development planning, assisting with educational research, assessment of teaching, conflict resolution, team-building, and leadership training. The mean number of full-time equivalents devoted to faculty or professional development in these dental schools was 2.67.

An Innovative, Comprehensive Faculty Recruitment and Development Program at One U.S. Dental School: Early Results.

Dental faculty recruitment and development are critical to replenish and cultivate sufficient and adequately prepared educators to educate future generations of dentists. At Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, the From Practice to Preceptor (FP2P) program, now in the last of its five years of funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), has an overall aim of recruiting, training, and retaining a diverse and well-prepared dental faculty workforce. The FP2P program introduced novel methods for recruiting and preparing new faculty members since its goal is to help participants transition from being practicing dentists to becoming part- or full-time faculty members. The recruitment and selection process has emphasized reaching community practitioners in general or pediatric dentistry, individuals from underrepresented groups, and those with a passion for teaching. The two-year program with weekly meetings was designed to develop participants' skills to meet the teaching, clinical, and administrative roles of dental faculty. The aims of this study were to determine if the program recruitment methods used would result in participants who were more ethnically and racially diverse than the school's current faculty and to determine if, after training, participants perceived they had increased knowledge, skills, and abilities in specified areas as compared to before training. Participants completed pre- and post-program surveys assessing their perceived level of preparedness in critical competencies for dental faculty. Surveys were completed by 94% of participants in cohorts one through four; 75% (n=15) of cohorts two and three completed both the pre- and post-program surveys, which were used for this analysis. Over 30% of the 35 participants to date were from an underrepresented group. Survey results suggest the participants increased their perceived preparedness in administrative, clinical, and educational competencies. Follow-up is needed to ascertain how many go on to become dental educators and whether they are better prepared to succeed as new faculty compared to nonparticipants.

New Clinical Faculty Training Program: Transforming Practicing Dentists into Part-Time Dental Faculty Members.

At Indiana University School of Dentistry, a New Clinical Faculty Training (NCFT) program was created with the primary goals of informing new part-time faculty members of clinical policies and assessment guidelines and thus developing qualified and satisfied faculty members. The aim of this study was to determine if participation in the training program improved the participants' satisfaction and competence in comparison to their colleagues who did not participate in the program. Two cohorts were compared: a control group of part-time faculty members who did not receive formal training when they were hired (n=21; response rate 58.3%); and the intervention group, who had participated in the NCFT program (n=12; response rate 80%). A survey of faculty members in the control group gathered information on their experiences when initially hired, and a pretest was administered to measure their knowledge of clinical policies. After the control group was given an overview of the program, their feedback was collected through post surveys, and a posttest identical to the pretest was given that found statistically significant increases on questions one (p=0.003) and four (p=0.025). In February 2014, 15 new faculty members participated in the pilot implementation of the NCFT program. Of those 15, 12 (the intervention group) completed follow-up surveys identical to the pre survey used with the control group. Statistically significant differences were found for the factors clinical teaching (p=0.005) and assessment training (p=0.008) with better responses for the NCFT group. These results suggest that participation in the program was associated with improved clinical teaching knowledge and job satisfaction.

Compensation and Position Characteristics of Dental Hygiene Program Directors.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to collect information about dental hygiene program directors (PD) in order to create a comprehensive position profile for the profession and add to the current literature regarding employment trends and compensation in dental hygiene education. Information gained through this study addresses a gap in the literature and could be utilized by current and future educators considering a dental hygiene program director role or for recruitment purposes.Methods: An electronic survey, consisting of 38 items addressing areas including job characteristics, requirements, compensation, and anticipated retirement, was sent to PDs of all the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) accredited dental hygiene programs in the United States (n=314). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. ANOVA analyses were used to determine whether significant differences existed regarding salary and compensation, contact hours, total working hours, contract characteristics, and job expectations.Results: Directors from 122 programs responded yielding a response rate of 39%. Seventy-one percent of respondents were aged 50-59 years and 46% reported having held the program director position for 3 years or less. Thirty-five percent of participants plan to retire from their program director position in the next five years. In regards to compensation, 47% of respondents indicated making between $60,000 and $79,999 and 3% reported earning less than $40,000 while 4% indicated salaries over $100,000. Total number of teaching years and highest degree held demonstrated a positive impact on adjusted monthly salary. PDs employed in university settings were significantly more likely to have ongoing requirements for scholarly activity; those employed in settings associated with a dental school had a longer average contract length than directors in other institutions. Potential dental hygiene PDs should expect an average workweek of 40-50 hours, with the majority of the time spent on administrative duties. Additional responsibilities include teaching, scholarly activity, and committee work.Conclusion: A position profile detailing the range of employment expectations for dental hygiene PDs has been created and can serve as a guide to inform and recruit potential program directors.

Assessing Faculty Development Needs among Florida's Allied Dental Faculty.

PURPOSE: Professional schools rarely prepare prospective academic faculty for the responsibilities of college and university teaching. Without this training, faculty are often left to discover on their own and to varying degrees of success what is expected of them once they enter the academy. At the same time, universities and colleges recognize that retention of faculty depends on the successful transition of academics into the related roles and responsibilities of the professoriate. The purpose of this study was to assess the faculty development needs among allied dental faculty, specifically the state of Florida's dental hygiene and dental assisting faculty, by measuring the following: the relationship between their knowledge and priorities for further training, their level of satisfaction with current faculty development opportunities and mentoring, and their perceptions of what additional training and resources might advance their careers. METHODS: Two hundred and four full-time and part-time faculty were invited to participate in this survey research study. McNemar's test for paired binary data was used to analyze the level of agreement between knowledge and indicated priority. Responses to open ended questions were coded and categorized thematically. RESULTS: There were 115 responses (n=204, 74%). There were statistically significant differences between participants' ratings of knowledge and priorities for further training on many items related to teaching, scholarship and leadership skills. Participants also identified 5 categories of unmet needs. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that universities and colleges need to offer learning experiences aimed at strengthening the teaching, scholarship and leadership skill needs of their allied dental faculty. Additionally, professional schools might consider offering a program track that provides prospective allied dental faculty with the types of opportunities that develops teaching, scholarship and mentoring skills prior to graduation.

The Role of Organizational Context in the Creation and Sustainability of Dental Faculty Development Initiatives.

Dental faculty development programs exist for a variety of reasons: to improve teaching skills, develop and reinforce relationships among colleagues and mentors, foster career development, and support curricular initiatives and institutional priorities. These activities impact individual faculty members as well as the institutions in which they work. Each institution has a distinct culture that should be acknowledged and understood alongside conventional outcome measures. As such, this article provides an expanded view of faculty development programming, associated educational activities, and related organizational changes at the College of Dentistry, New York University (NYU) since 2005. Contextual factors include the existence of an Office of Professional Development established in 1999, an Academy of Distinguished Educators founded in 2010, and other programs for present and future educators that support the college's educational mission. Outcomes include a comparison study of one program, the creation of new courses, the sustainability and expansion of existing programs, participants' retention rate, and an increase in awards and other educational accomplishments such as publication of abstracts, oral presentations, and related activities by NYU faculty at national forums in dental education.

Pharmacology education in North American dental schools: the basic science survey series.

As part of the Basic Science Survey Series (BSSS) for Dentistry, members of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Physiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics Section surveyed course directors of basic pharmacology courses in North American dental schools. The survey was designed to assess, among other things, faculty affiliation and experience of course directors, teaching methods, general course content and emphasis, extent of interdisciplinary (shared) instruction, and impact of recent curricular changes. Responses were received from forty-nine of sixty-seven (73.1 percent) U.S. and Canadian dental schools. The findings suggest the following: 1) substantial variation exists in instructional hours, faculty affiliation, placement within curriculum, class size, and interdisciplinary nature of pharmacology courses; 2) pharmacology course content emphasis is similar among schools; 3) the number of contact hours in pharmacology has remained stable over the past three decades; 4) recent curricular changes were often directed towards enhancing the integrative and clinically relevant aspects of pharmacology instruction; and 5) a trend toward innovative content delivery, such as use of computer-assisted instruction applications, is evident. Data, derived from this study, may be useful to pharmacology course directors, curriculum committees, and other dental educators with an interest in integrative and interprofessional education.

The utility of hybrid promotion and tenure tracks for dental school faculty.

The promotion and tenure process for faculty members varies, by design, for different disciplines, departments, and academic institutions. For many faculty members in U.S. dental schools, the process may thus appear nebulous and be difficult to navigate. In this article, we review the history, forces of change, and some of the mechanisms utilized for promotion and tenure of faculty in the health sciences, particularly for clinician-educators. Some institutions have successfully created hybrid tracks for clinician-educators in order to develop and recognize these faculty members' scholarly activity in addition to their clinical teaching. Hybrid tracks empower faculty members to successfully perform scholarly activities that realistically reflect institutional missions. The authors of this article conclude with a number of practical suggestions to enhance development and retention of faculty using the hybrid promotion and tenure mechanism. These include demonstrating the congruence of institutional mission, faculty activities, and promotion and tenure guidelines; developing scholarly activities for clinician-educators that can be measured in the promotion and tenure process; rewarding scholarly achievement for clinician-educators utilizing the promotion and tenure mechanism; and developing an evaluation system that accounts for changes in mission and faculty activities.

Use of shared faculty in U.S. and Canadian dental schools.

Dental schools are facing substantial financial challenges and a shortage of faculty members. One solution to address these issues has been to hire "shared" faculty members, i.e., faculty members whose primary appointment is at one institution who are hired by another institution to teach a course or part of a course. This is a controversial concept. A survey of academic deans at U.S. and Canadian dental schools was conducted for this study; thirty-nine (54 percent) of the seventy-two academic deans completed the online survey. This survey found that the use of shared faculty members is not rare amongst U.S. and Canadian dental schools and that the opinions of the academic deans about the use of shared faculty members ranged widely-from strong support to strong disapproval. Using shared faculty members has advantages and disadvantages for students, the shared faculty members, and both institutions. Many of the disadvantages could be potentially minimized by stakeholders' working together to develop collaborative arrangements. Networks could be developed in which institutions coordinate hiring of shared faculty members based on what expertise is needed. Financial challenges and shortages of faculty members are unlikely to be resolved in the near future, but use of shared faculty members is one promising approach to begin to meet these challenges.

Fitting form to function: reorganization of faculty roles for a new dental curriculum and its governance.

The College of Dentistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago has reorganized its predoctoral curriculum to better integrate biomedical, clinical, and behavioral sciences using a systems-based framework. The resulting D.M.D. curriculum features small-group discussions of patient scenarios that include orofacial, systemic, and professionalism learning objectives. Small-group learning is closely coordinated with laboratory, pre-patient care, and patient care experiences. Accordingly, the college has also reorganized its faculty roles to eliminate discipline-based silos and to better ensure program coherence. The new organizational structure is designed to improve coordination among faculty course teams that develop and administer individual courses, several units that provide curriculum resources and support services, and the curriculum committee, which is charged with governance of the curriculum as a whole. In addition, the new structure employs a system of reporting and planning relationships to ensure continuous monitoring and improvement of the curriculum. This article describes six principles that guide the new faculty roles structure, defines the various faculty roles and their coordinating relationships, presents diagrams depicting the organizational structures for curriculum governance, administration, and support, and discusses mechanisms for faculty support and continuous curriculum improvement.

Using multiple measures to evaluate a dental faculty development program.

INTRODUCTION: The formal preparation of dental professionals for teaching is increasingly seen as essential to enhance teacher effectiveness and student learning and to promote curricular initiatives. As a result, many dental schools have implemented a variety of faculty development programming. There is a body of literature that describes these programmes, but there is limited rigorous evaluation of them. The use of multiple measures of evaluation helps to compensate for potential inadequacies of individual methods. Analyses with multiple measures provide a more comprehensive view of whether a programme is achieving its learning outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A dental faculty development programme, Class Advanced Clinical Teaching Scholars (ACTS), at New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) was evaluated with four different measures: pre- and post-programme tests of participants' level of relevant pedagogical knowledge, pre- and post-programme objective structured teaching examinations (OSTEs), pre- and post-programme self-assessments of teaching abilities and post-programme participant satisfaction surveys. Two of the measures used a comparison group of faculty. RESULTS: Results revealed that the Class ACTS participants significantly improved their knowledge; observed teaching performance in most teaching domains tested showed significant improvement; there was no significant change in self-assessed teaching abilities after participation; and the course was viewed positively by the participants. CONCLUSION: Class ACTS, an advanced dental faculty development course, has been successfully implemented and evaluated with the use of multiple measures.

Advancing the educational training of dental educators: review of a model program.

Very few dental educators have formal pedagogical training, and the availability of degree-granting programs for dental educators is very limited. A joint D.D.S.-M.A. program for predoctoral students and a Ph.D. program for faculty members have been established at Columbia University's College of Dental Medicine in conjunction with the Graduate School of Education, Teachers College. Six students have completed the joint degree program, five are currently enrolled, and an additional three have taken courses at Teachers College without pursuing a degree. One faculty member has completed the Ph.D. program, and one is enrolled. This article describes the details of both programs and discusses preliminary outcomes. The model described here may serve as an example for other dental schools that may choose to implement degree programs in education for dental educators.

To teach or not to teach: making the transition from dental practice to dental faculty.

The authors, with more than forty years of combined private practice experience, discuss professional satisfaction in the private practice setting. A change to an academic career may provide job satisfaction and revitalize a dental career, while simultaneously satisfying the need for faculty in our dental schools.

Creating an evidence-based dentistry culture at Baylor College of Dentistry: the winds of change.

In the early years of the new millennium, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health began funding Oral Health Research Education Grants using the R25 mechanism to promote the application of basic and clinical research findings to clinical training and to encourage students to pursue careers in oral health research. This report describes the impact of an R25 grant awarded to the Texas A&M Health Science Center's Baylor College of Dentistry (BCD) on its curriculum and faculty development efforts. At BCD, the R25 grant supports a multipronged initiative that employs clinical research as a vehicle for acquainting both students and faculty with the tools of evidence-based dentistry (EBD). New coursework and experiences in all four years of the curriculum plus a variety of faculty development offerings are being used to achieve this goal. Progress on these fronts is reflected in a nascent EBD culture characterized by increasing participation and buy-in by students and faculty. The production of a new generation of dental graduates equipped with the EBD skill set as well as a growing nucleus of faculty members who can model the importance of evidence-based practice is of paramount importance for the future of dentistry.