Use of a surgical aspirator to resect intracranial meningiomas in dogs was associated with longer survival times than those achieved with traditional surgery alone or traditional surgery combined with radiation therapy. Dogs with meningothelial, psammomatous, or transitional intracranial meningioma subtypes appeared to have a better prognosis than dogs with other subtypes of meningioma.

There can be a disconnect between the level of content covered in undergraduate coursework and the expectations of professional-level faculty of their incoming students. Some basic science faculty members may assume that students have a good knowledge base in the material and neglect to appropriately review, whilst others may spend too much class time reviewing basic material. It was hypothesised that the replacement of introductory didactic physiology lectures with interactive online modules could improve student preparedness prior to lectures. These modules would also allow faculty members to analyse incoming student abilities and save valuable face-to-face class time for alternative teaching strategies. Results indicated that the performance levels of incoming U.S. students were poor (57% average on a pre-test), and students often under-predicted their abilities (by 13% on average). Faculty expectations varied greatly between the different content areas and did not appear to correlate with the actual student performance. Three review modules were created which produced a statistically significant increase in post-test scores (46% increase, P < 0.0001, n = 114-115). The positive results of this study suggest a need to incorporate online review units in the basic science dental school courses and revise introductory material tailored to students' strengths and needs.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of calibration training of departmental faculty and competency graders using an audience response system on operative dentistry concepts across 12 months. The training sessions were designed to further solidify the process and equilibration of clinical opinions among faculty members and provide a more calibrated grading assessment during patient care for student performance feedback. Four (quarterly) calibration sessions occurred over 12 months in 2015. The first session was considered the baseline (control value) for this study. Pre-and post-calibration interrater agreement was assessed. Additionally, a pre and post assessment with ten Likert-scale questions was used to measure students' perceptions of instructional consistency. The results showed that a statistically significant increase in conceptual knowledge scores occurred for both departmental faculty members and competency graders across each of the four sessions (one-factor ANOVA; p<0.05). Interrater reliability agreement also significantly improved for both department faculty members and competency graders' clinical assessments over 12 months of implementation (Cohen's Kappa; p<0.05). There was a statistically significant increase in positive student perceptions on all ten questions (dependent t-test; p<0.05). Implementation of an audience response system for departmental and competency graders was found to be effective in facilitating a discussion forum, calibrating clinical assessments, and improving student perceptions. The positive results from this study support the value of dental schools' introducing faculty development programs to ensure consistent instruction for assessing dental student competence.Dr. Michael Metz is Vice Chairman,

In order to best prepare students to become competent and confident practitioners in a clinical environment upon graduating dental school, it is imperative for them to receive consistent and productive feedback from the supervising faculty. Through academic engagement, and more specifically faculty calibration, it may be possible to eliminate the disconnect that sometimes exists between faculty expectations and terminology, and those of the students. In terms of definitions, academic engagement reflects faculty scholarly development activities that support integration of relevant, current theory of best practices consistent with the school's mission, expected learner outcomes, and supporting strategies. 1-6, 32 The difficulty lies in finding an effective, yet cost efficient way to conduct that faculty calibration and ensure that students are receiving consistent and reliable feedback in order to mold them into the most competent clinicians they are capable of becoming. It can be stated that professional faculty engagement is the cornerstone of providing consistent and calibrated clinical instruction to students for patient centered care learner outcomes. 7-11 A significant part of faculty engagement with professional students is to provide foundational knowledge, attitude and skills for both formative and summative assessment of competence. 12-18 We hypothesize that the introduction of faculty calibration to the clinical faculty will result in more consistent feedback, leading to more predictable results and ultimately more competent clinicians. This, in turn, will increase student perception of clinical faculty yielding an increase in the belief that they are receiving quality, accurate and consistent instruction.