Dental students' perceptions of instructor storytelling for clinical learning: A qualitative description study.

Abstract

Storytelling has been infrequently used in dental education to link clinical knowledge and practice. Our study aimed to explore dental students' views of instructor storytelling with an emphasis on clinical reasoning within a case-based oral pathology seminar. Qualitative description guided the study design. Participants were third- and fourth-year undergraduate dental students who participated in the seminar. Data were collected through semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. Data analysis was approached using inductive, manifest thematic analysis. Verification strategies were employed to ensure methodological rigor throughout the analysis. In total, 21 students participated in the study ranging in age from 22 to 29 years. Three interrelated themes were identified, which were related to storytelling authenticity, benefits, and recommendations for improvement. Specifically, students reported that instructor stories effectively conveyed genuine cases and clinical reasoning; were beneficial in terms of engagement, awareness, knowledge acquisition, and skill development; and needed to be educationally and clinically relevant to bridge the knowledge-practice gap. Instructor storytelling was regarded by dental students as both positive and beneficial. Research is needed to further demonstrate the effectiveness of instructor storytelling in fostering clinical learning and reasoning using indirect and direct outcome measures.