No abstract

Dentist‐patient communication skills are important aspects of contemporary oral health care, as shared decision making with patients becomes more common. The aim of this systematic review of the literature on teaching and assessment methodologies for communication skills in dental practice was to categorize those skills most relevant to dental practice and determine the best‐evidence teaching and assessment methods. The systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE, EBM‐Cochrane Libraries, Embase, ERIC, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, and PsycINFO using the OVID search engine, together with manually searching relevant journal articles. Relevant data were extracted from all included articles, and thematic analysis, categorization, and quality review of the articles was performed. Fifty articles published between 2000 and 2016 were identified as relevant to this study. Most were comparative design studies. The largest numbers were single group studies with before and after tests and cross‐sectional studies. A total of 26 communication skills were identified and grouped into four major categories: generic skills, case‐specific skills, time‐specific skills, and emerging skills. Review of the teaching methods described in those articles showed that educators used a combination of passive and active strategies. All the assessment measures were considered to be valid and reliable. This categorization of essential dentist‐patient communication skills reported in the literature may be used to assist in curriculum design along with use of tested teaching methods and validated assessment measures. The review highlights the need for more robust study designs for research in this important aspect of dental education.

Objectives: Staff development is one of the main challenges when planning to introduce new educational methods into existing curricula. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether conducting a workshop prior to the implementation of new educational methods would help to enhance the participants' awareness of new educational strategies and motive them to use those strategies. Methods: A comprehensive workshop was developed and delivered to staff members at the Taibah University College of Dentistry, Almadinah Almunawwarah, KSA, during November 2014. The workshop explained the concepts of the flipped classroom and problem-based learning methods and provided exercises and simulation of actual classroom sessions. A questionnaire including closed-and open-ended questions was electronically distributed to participants after the workshop.Results: Of the 27 participants, 89% thought that the workshop was a useful experience (p < 0.01). Similarly, responses to questions concerning the relevance, comprehensiveness and ease of the workshop were generally positive. The staff was now aware of these new methods and enjoyed the participation and interaction the workshop provided. However, concerns arose about the applicability of the proposed methods in real-life settings. This was mainly attributed to time constraints.Conclusion: Dental staff at Taibah University gave positive feedback about the workshop on interactive learning. Although staff awareness of the concepts was increased, scepticism and concerns related to the applicability of interactive learning methods to real-life settings were noted.

In dental education, assessment of students is of critical value to improve their performance in clinical settings. The assessment of students' clinical performance includes various stages, where in certain cases, assessors encounter challenges in providing final grades. This study sheds a light on assessment practices in clinical settings and focuses on assessors' modulation of the whole cognitive process. The argument involves discussing critical thinking of assessors before, during, and after the event of assessment. Then, it analyzes a cognitive approach of assessment implied by assessors during students' performance. Further, it proposes a model with step-by-step approach in decision-making along with different factors, which may strongly influence final grades. Four main stages were identified for the purpose of analysis, such as pre-decision, driver, primary decision, and communication stages. Each stage was supported by literary data, along with evidences worth consideration. Possible factors related to the assessment and assessors' cognition that derived from literature were discussed in terms of the influence on the final decision towards more stringent or lenient decisions, following a temporal sequence for the proposed model events. Finally, both primary and secondary factors involved in each stage were presented.

Background: Providing fluent transition of clinical skills from preclinical level into dental clinics is a major concern amongst dental educators, for which various effective and valid tools have been developed. Previous research in dental education have not adequately addressed the effect of simulation events or environment on skill transferability from preclinical level into clinics.Objectives: To find effect of simulation events or environment on skill transferability from preclinical level into clinics.Methods: Out of 3297 searched articles, a total of 15 articles were included in this review searched through "MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL" as the main search engines. This included primary studies that comprised original studies and reviews and secondary study in the form of report were included. Findings:Virtual reality simulators have proved their feasibility in diagnosis, obtaining objective and immediate evaluation and developing critical thinking. On the other hand, interactive and Internet-based simulations have proved their efficiency in remote learning, promoting information retention in students' memories, providing new scopes in courseware development, and enhancing the understanding of some theoretical aspects of dentistry. Finally, conventional simulation is still mastering dental manual practicing process and their role in acquisition of clinical skills remain valid until new technology and business world could create alternative tools. Conclusion:Dental skills transferability is affected by interaction of several factors which affects one another.