Management of the clinical curriculum in which students direct rather than perform the laboratory stages of restorations.

Abstract

At the University of Iowa, senior dental students direct rather than perform laboratory construction of clinical prosthodontic work. This report highlights the fundamentals of a successful curriculum based on this concept. One critical component of the curriculum involves teaching the process of self-evaluation of laboratory work as well as the evaluation of work received from a commercial laboratory. Instructors teach students how to evaluate a product in the sophomore preclinical curriculum. A computerized evaluation form, developed by the prosthodontic faculty, allows assessment of the students' laboratory work in addition to self-evaluation. To incorporate patient care into the appraisal process, a modified preclinical evaluation framework is used during the junior clinical clerkship. This expanded framework takes into consideration patient treatment factors such as degree of difficulty, diagnosis and treatment planning, use of infection control, and students' understanding of patients' comprehensive treatment plan. In the senior clinic, the students' ability to direct the construction of a prosthesis is enhanced by the unique diversity of faculty within the Department of Family Dentistry at the University of Iowa. This department unites private practice dentists with academicians and general practitioners with specialists.