Non-attended appointments in health care facilities create ineficiencies and loss of clinical productivity: clinical teaching hours are reduced, impacting students' ability to meet the competencies necessary for professional registration. The aim of this study was to assess demographic and time-related factors for patient non-attendance at a dental school clinic in Australia. Appointment data were extracted from the patient management system for the years 2011 and 2012. Data included the status of appointment (attended, cancelled, or failed to attend [FTA]) and an array of demographic and time-related factors. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to assess relationships between these factors and appointment status. Attendance rates were also compared by year following implementation of a short message service (SMS) reminder at the beginning of 2012. The results showed that, of 58,622 appointments booked with students during 2011 and 2012, 68% of patients attended, 23% cancelled, and 9% were FTA. The percentage of non-attended (cancelled or FTA) appointments differed by demographic and time-related factors. Females were 7% less likely to be FTA, those aged 16-24 years were ive times more likely to be FTA, and early morning appointments were 18% less likely to be cancelled and FTA. With the SMS reminder system, the odds of a cancellation were 15% higher, but FTAs were 14% lower (both were statistically signiicant differences). This study found that failing to attend an appointment was signiicantly related to a number of factors. Clinical scheduling and reminder systems may need to take these factors into account to decrease the number of teaching hours lost due to patients' missing their appointments.Dr. Storrs is an associate

Purpose/Objectives: Clinical educational challenges led to the Griffith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health (DOH) introducing interprofessional team-based treatment planning (TBTP). This paper evaluates the interprofessional contribution made to student clinical learning and experience among dentistry, oral health therapy, dental prosthetics, and dental technology students. Methods: A mixed methodology approach targeting 845 students collected data annually employing a prevalidated online instrument from 2012 to 2014 to answer the question: "What is the contribution of interprofessional student team-based processes on students' perceptions of interprofessional practice at DOH?" Results: A representative study sample with a 64.4% response rate (N = 544) reported TBTP creating a supportive environment for interprofessional clinical learning. Significant improvements in learning shared across disciplines indicated improvements in mutual respect, understanding roles, and constructive communication enhancing teamwork. There were increasing significant correlations between shared learning and positive clinical experiences from 2012 (r = .642, p < .000) to 2013 (r = .678, p < .000) and 2014 (r = .719, p < .000). A combination of TBTP predictors accounted for 53% of the variance in clinical learning and experience in 2014 compared to 40% in 2012. Conclusion:Learning with other students, developing teamwork abilities, improved communication skills, and respect for other oral health professions were aspects of TBTP that positively impacted clinical learning and practice at DOH. Further study would assist to determine specific elements that made the greatest contribution to student learning experiences.

Previous research on interprofessional education (IPE) assessment has shown the need to evaluate the inluence of team-based processes on the quality of clinical education. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate the effectiveness of interprofessional team-based treatment planning (TBTP) on the quality of clinical education at the Grifith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Queensland, Australia. A scale was developed and evaluated to measure interprofessional student team processes and their effect on the quality of clinical education for dental, oral health therapy, and dental technology students (known more frequently as intraprofessional education). A face validity analysis by IPE experts conirmed that items on the scale relected the meaning of relevant concepts. After piloting, 158 students (61% response rate) involved with TBTP participated in a survey. An exploratory factor analysis using the principal component method retained 23 items with a total variance of 64.6%, suggesting high content validity. Three subscales accounted for 45.7%, 11.4%, and 7.5% of the variance. Internal consistency of the scale (α=0.943) and subscales 1 (α=0.953), 2 (α=0.897), and 3 (α=0.813) was high. A reliability analysis yielded moderate (r s =0.43) to high correlations (0.81) with the remaining scale items. Conirmatory factor analyses veriied convergent validity and conirmed that this structure had a good model it. This study suggests that the instrument might be useful in evaluating interprofessional or intraprofessional team-based processes and their inluence on the quality of clinical education in academic dental institutions. Dr. Storrs is an associate

into its various curricula the concept of team-based treatment planning (TBTP), aiming to facilitate intraprofessional, interdisciplinary training and peer learning among its students. Fifty student teams were organized, each of which included students from three programs (Dental Science, Oral Health Therapy, and Dental Technology) and three years of study (third-, fourth-, and ifth-year students). This study prospectively evaluated the impact of TBTP on students' perceptions and attitudes towards teamwork and their role in a team of peers. A total of 202 students who participated in ifty TBTP teams were prospectively surveyed at baseline and at six and twelve months after introduction of TBTP. "Reliable" and "responsible" were reported to be the most important qualities of both an effective team leader and member. Fifth-year students identiied "hard-working" as an important quality of the ideal leader as opposed to the fourth-year students who ranked "supportive" higher. Attitudes of the ifth-year students towards TBTP appeared to have declined signiicantly from the previous years, while fourth-year students remained consistently more positive. In addition, fourth-year students appeared more likely to enjoy working in a team and considered themselves more effective in a team. No gender differences were observed, other than female students' appearing less conident to lead a team. It was concluded that the function of student-directed interdisciplinary, intraprofessional treatment planning teams might pose disproportionate strain on ifth-year students, impacting their attitudes to such modes of work.Dr. Mattheos is Associate Professor of Implant Dentistry,

Purpose/Objectives This article describes a qualitative evaluation of interprofessional (IP) team‐based treatment planning (TBTP) involving dentistry, oral health therapy, dental prosthetics, and dental technology students at the Griffith University School of Dentistry and Oral Health (DOH). Using the same data from a recently published article that looked solely at the quantitative evaluation of TBTP, this article focuses on the qualitative evaluation of TBTP. This evaluation explores the contextual meaning related to the previously published aspects of TBTP that contributed positively toward oral health students’ IP clinical learning and identifies themes reflecting students’ IP clinical experience. Methods Thematic analysis of transcripts from nine focus groups, comprised of 46 final year students and open‐ended questions collected from 544 students through an online instrument from 2012 to 2014, explored the question: “What is the contribution of IP student team‐based processes on students’ perceptions of IP learning and practice at DOH?” Results Responses from online participants and student focus groups revealed three major themes: useful role learning, communication confidence, and pro‐active collaborative teamwork. Throughout each of these themes, students stated they possessed a confidence in collaborating with other oral health students as exhibited through an understanding of profession‐specific and IP roles, self‐assurance in communicating, and teamwork skills. Conclusion Aspects of TBTP that contributed positively toward students’ IP clinical learning and practice were meaningfully identified.