Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the acceptance and assessment of work shadowing carried out by students and dentists in dental practices. Furthermore, the extent to which students perceive an improvement in their specialised, communication and social competencies, was to be examined.Methods61 dental students in their clinical semesters at a German university participated in work shadowing placements at 27 different general dental practices. Before beginning, they received checklists of various competencies that they self-assessed using school grades (from 1 = ‘very good’, to 6 = ‘failed’), which they also repeated after completion. The dentists supplemented this with their external assessments. In addition, the students were requested to fill out a 54-item questionnaire and compose a freely-structured report after the work shadowing; the dentists filled out a questionnaire containing 16 items. The statistical analysis was carried out by means of the Friedman Test, including a post-hoc test (Bonferroni-Holm correction).ResultsThe analysis showed a significant overall improvement in the students’ self-assessed competencies by 0.71* ± 0.43 grades. With an average of 0.33* ± 0.36, the dentists’ external assessment proved significantly higher than the self-assessment. The greatest improvements were perceived by the students in the areas of accounting (1.17* ± 0.77), practice organisation (1.05* ± 0.61) and dentist’s discussions (0.94* ±0.80) [*p < 0.05]. The students confirmed experiencing an expansion of knowledge, an improvement in their communication skills and indicated a high degree of satisfaction in regard to the dentists (school grade 1.58 ± 0.93). A maximum amount of satisfaction towards the work shadow students was demonstrated by the dentists, and this form of teaching was assessed with a school grade of 1.69 ± 0.89.ConclusionBoth students and dental practitioners demonstrated a high level of satisfaction in regard to the work shadowing. The students felt their knowledge had increased, viewed the dentists as motivating role models and acknowledged a significant improvement in their specialised, communication and social competencies. Work shadowing in dental teaching practices presents a sensible addition to academic teaching at a university.
Highlights
The aim of this study was to investigate the acceptance and assessment of work shadowing carried out by students and dentists in dental practices
The highest response rate was found in student evaluation questionnaire (EVA II) with an average of 88.5%
Individual results Eva I The individual results of the checklists and assessment questionnaires of competencies (EVA I) are shown in Tables 3 and 4. The students rated their knowledge in all assessed competencies prior to the work shadowing with the grade 2.93 ± 0.52 and after the work shadowing with 2.22 ± 0.39
Summary
The aim of this study was to investigate the acceptance and assessment of work shadowing carried out by students and dentists in dental practices. The extent to which students perceive an improvement in their specialised, communication and social competencies, was to be examined. The practical life of a dentist has changed over the last decades and many areas are not reflected in current German education. The ‘Dental Licensure Act’ (‘Zahnärztliche Approbationsordnung’) has been virtually unchanged since its creation in 1955 [1]. In more than 60 years, many scientific findings, as well as social, technical and educational developments have changed the requirements for a modern study of dentistry. It is not surprising that in Germany the call for a new version of the Licensure Act has become increasingly louder. This means that it can be passed on to the Federal Council and after approval there, the Ordinance could be implemented on 1/10/2018 [2]
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