OP12 The integration of haptic technology into postgraduate dental training programmes

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Aim: In 2017, Health Education England, Midlands and East introduced haptic simulation into the early postgraduate year’s programmes (Foundation and Core) for both training and assessment. This presentation will share learning secured from the introduction of this contemporary approach to postgraduate dental education. Over the last two decades there has been a marked increase in the use of technology in medical education.1,3 Concurrently, dental education has also seen an increased use of technology in both learning and training. As a practical vocation, dentistry has always drawn on simulation as an essential part of training and education. In the UK the traditional training methods have focused on the acquisition of fine motor skills and development of hand-eye coordination through the repetitive practicing of gradated task-based skills before transferring those competencies into the clinical setting. These simulated tasks are reproduced on extracted or synthetic teeth, embedded within either plaster blocks or phantom head jigs. Objectives: In a postgraduate setting traditional phantom head courses are expensive to run (set up and maintenance of skills centres, which otherwise experience low utilisation) and there is a scarcity of extracted teeth with the appropriate levels of disease. A major disadvantage of this approach is the limited ability to evaluate the work process as the main focus is on the outcome. Furthermore, it is very reliant on instructor evaluation, which lacks reliability and consistency due to human subjectivity. Creating quality clinical skills programmes is time consuming, expensive and requires experienced faculty, which has driven the need to engage with technology-based teaching and learning software to support this training. Emerging haptic technology in the field of dentistry is bridging the gap between phantom head models and fully immersive VR environments.2,4,5 Summary of work undertaken: Over the last 5 years the UK has experienced a progressive increase in patient expectation, medico-legal litigation and a regulatory requirement for frequent re-evaluation of clinical skills. Health Education England (HEE) has a statutory responsibility to commission workforce development training programmes to meet the needs of the primary care workforce in this ever-changing landscape. Within HEE Midlands and East the dental haptic simulation is used as an adjunct to traditional educational. New graduates entering the region’s Dental Foundation Training Programme (the UK’s post-qualification training year designed to allow new graduates, who have often had a short gap in training, to refresh skills prior to starting in general dental practice) spend time on a Simodont Dental Trainer as part of their induction process. In 2019, haptic simulation was offered to established dentists via our Supported Return to Practice and Keeping in Touch Schemes. Impact on practice: The potential opportunities for haptic technology are clearly broad and wide-ranging. At present these tools provide a valuable supplementary tool to augment, rather than a replace, traditional teaching and assessment methods. Early identification is valuable in directing personalized mentoring, career counselling and targeted training. Over the two years the Simodont programme has been running, this approach has been shown to improve confidence and lessen anxiety. References Perry S, Bridges SM, Burrow Ml. (2013). The Role of Simulation Technology in Dental Education: A Review. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266786137_The_Role_of_Simulation_Technology_in_Dental_Education_A_Review Accessed: 13 May 2019. Sreelakshmi M, Subash TD. (2017). ‘Haptic technology: A comprehensive review on its applications and future prospects’. Materials Today: Proceedings, Volume 4, Issue 2, Part B. Aggarwal, R. et al. Training and simulation for patient safety. Qual Saf Health Care 2010;19(Suppl 2). Gilad BG, Ervin I, Weiss NG, Ziv A. Preliminary Assessment of Faculty and Student Perception of a Haptic Virtual Reality Simulator for Training Dental Manual Dexterity Journal of Dental Education 2011;75(4):496–504; Osnes C, Keeling A. Development of haptic caries simulation for dental education. Journal of Surgical Simulation 2017;4:29–34