Abstract
BackgroundYearly surveys among the undergraduate students in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Karolinska Institutet have conveyed a wish for increased clinical training, and in particular, in surgical removal of mandibular third molars. Due to lack of resources, this kind of clinical supervision has so far not been possible to implement. One possible solution to this problem might be to introduce simulation into the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students' perception of two different simulation methods for practicing clinical reasoning skills and technical skills in oral and maxillofacial surgery.MethodsForty-seven students participating in the oral and maxillofacial surgery course at Karolinska Institutet during their final year were included. Three different oral surgery patient cases were created in a Virtual Patient (VP) Simulation system (Web-SP) and used for training clinical reasoning. A mandibular third molar surgery simulator with tactile feedback, providing hands on training in the bone removal and tooth sectioning in third molar surgery, was also tested. A seminar was performed using the combination of these two simulators where students' perception of the two different simulation methods was assessed by means of a questionnaire.ResultsThe response rate was 91.5% (43/47). The students were positive to the VP cases, although they rated their possible improvement of clinical reasoning skills as moderate. The students' perception of improved technical skills after training in the mandibular third molar surgery simulator was rated high. The majority of the students agreed that both simulation techniques should be included in the curriculum and strongly agreed that it was a good idea to use the two simulators in concert. The importance of feedback from the senior experts during simulator training was emphasised.ConclusionsThe two tested simulation methods were well accepted and most students agreed that the future curriculum would benefit from permanent inclusion of these exercises, especially when used in combination. The results also stress the importance of teaching technical skills and clinical reasoning in concert.
Highlights
Surveys among the undergraduate students in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Karolinska Institutet have conveyed a wish for increased clinical training, and in particular, in surgical removal of mandibular third molars
The teaching staff resources consisted of three persons trained in oral and maxillofacial surgery, one assisted at each oral surgery simulator and the third aided the students working with Web-based virtual simulation of patients (Web-SP)
The results of the present study show that the attitude towards the simulator techniques tested, in terms of agreement that the simulator exercises should be included in the future curriculum, was high
Summary
Surveys among the undergraduate students in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Karolinska Institutet have conveyed a wish for increased clinical training, and in particular, in surgical removal of mandibular third molars. Curriculum design does not seem to influence the attitude towards life-long learning [2] an interactive teaching modality provides the student with the necessary. The introduction of simulators has provided novel possibilities for a student oriented environment to develop practical skills. The success of a certain simulator is dependent on its introduction to a well designed curriculum and that its contribution to learning and advantages over traditional teaching has been well assessed [4]. This in turn requires close cooperation between clinical tutors and representatives of the industry during the development and implementation of a surgery simulator. An interesting simulator is the Forsslundsystem AB Oral Surgery Simulator http://www.forsslundsystems
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