Abstract
The Portsmouth Dental Academy (UPDA) was opened in September 2010 and was a development from the highly successful School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry (2004-2010). The aim of the Academy was to provide integrated team education for all dental professionals in a primary care setting. The dental students are on outreach from King's College London, and the dental care professional students are registered at the University of Portsmouth. To evaluate the dental students response to the residential outreach educational experience at the UPDA. A 49-item questionnaire divided into nine domains that provided both qualitative data and quantitative data were administered at the end of the longitudinal 10-week placement, to four successive cohorts of students in 2010-2014. A 95% return rate was achieved. Students valued highly the quality of the clinical teaching. Through their experience, they felt they understood fully the role of the dentist in care planning in primary care and felt well prepared for dental foundation training. This educational success is unpinned with successful maintenance factors including a well-organised induction period and giving the students a sense of belongingness, empowerment and autonomy for their personal development as new graduates. Within the limitations of the questionnaire study over the 4-year period, the students were very positive about all the aspects of this residential outreach education at the UPDA but particularly valued the immersion in clinical dentistry and the bridging from dental school to their dental foundation training.
Highlights
Outreach education is not a new concept in UK education with the first reports from Manchester in 1977 from the centres established in 1974 [1]
Within the limitations of the questionnaire study over the 4-year period, the students were very positive about all the aspects of this residential outreach education at the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy (UPDA) but valued the immersion in clinical dentistry and the bridging from dental school to their dental foundation training
intended learning outcomes (ILOs): In particular, students should have: a Developed greater independence in decision-making. b An increased awareness of interactions within the dental team and between the team and other agencies. c Experience working as a dental student and life at a university and city outside London. d Presented their patients systematically including proposing holistic care plans and alternatives. e Where appropriate, completed courses of treatment in conjunction with the expanded dental team and evaluated both outcomes and the team’s performance. f Summarised their learning experiences on completion of the programme and discussed them with their tutor/tutors
Summary
Outreach education is not a new concept in UK education with the first reports from Manchester in 1977 from the centres established in 1974 [1]. In the UK, the rationale for outreach dental education is that the majority of care is provided in the primary dental care sector of the National Health Service (55.9% of the population had received NHS dental care in a 24-month period) [4]. These experiences will ease the transition of graduates into dental practice. The General Dental Council (GDC), UK, in the second edition of their document on the training of dentists, ‘The First Five Years’ [7], recommended a period of undergraduate education in the primary care setting. The dental students are on outreach from King’s College London, and the dental care professional students are registered at the University of Portsmouth
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Schedule a callMore From: European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe
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