Dental students at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM) participate fully in the first two years of the curriculum with the Harvard Medical School (HMS) while also taking parallel dental classes. HSDM students were first exposed to problem-based learning (PBL) in 1987 when the "New Pathway" curriculum was introduced at HMS in the first two years of the medical school curriculum (the HSDM courses remained traditional lecture-based classes). In 1994, HSDM incorporated PBL into the first, second, and third (clinical year) year dental courses, and the curriculum shifted from a five-year curriculum to a four-year curriculum. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of PBL and program length on measurable outcomes for dental education: NBDE Part I scores, attrition and graduation rates, and percentage of graduates entering postdoctoral training programs. This study was designed as a retrospective analysis of outcomes data from 1980 to 2002. Univariate linear regressions were computed for each measure against each outcome. Subsequent bivariate regression analyses revealed that the implementation of PBL has markedly affected NBDE Part I scores, graduation rates, attrition rates, entrance into postdoctoral plans, and percentage of graduates entering GPR/AEGD programs, while program length has had an effect on graduation rates, attrition rates, entrance into postdoctoral programs, and percentage of graduates entering GPR/AEGD programs. The findings of this report suggest that the implementation of PBL combined with a change in program length has been successful for all outcomes measured and that PBL alone has contributed to the rise in NBDE Part I scores among HSDM graduates.Mr.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among dental students' performance on the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE Parts I and II), comprehensive written multiple-choice question examinations (MCQ examinations), and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) administered at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine (HSDM). Outcomes were measured during the third and fourth years at HSDM for the classes of 2006 and 2007. Three separate OSCE exams and two comprehensive MCQ examinations are administered during years 3 and 4 at HSDM per class. The study group was made up of sixty-two students (thirty-two females and thirty males). The average NBDE Parts I and II scores of the study population were 93.32 ±4.02 and 84.63 ±4.25, respectively, and were associated with outcomes on all three OSCE examinations (p≤0.044). However, using multiple regression models, the only statistically significant association occurred between NBDE Part II and OSCE 2 (p=0.003). Analysis showed that didactic predictors (NBDE Parts I and II and comprehensive MCQ examinations) explained 20.4 to 22.1 percent of the variability in OSCE scores. These results suggest that performance on OSCE examinations is not highly correlated with performance on NBDE Parts I and II and HSDM-administered MCQ examinations. The findings suggest that OSCE examinations are more likely to measure other qualities such as problem-solving ability, critical thinking, and communication skills. Dr. Dennehy is currently a Resident in

The purpose of this study was to evaluate possible associations between a variety of measures used to evaluate didactic knowledge and clinical performance within a predoctoral dental program. In this study, clinical performance was assessed by clinical productivity and clinical proficiency across four different competency areas: operative dentistry, major restorative dentistry, fixed prosthodontics, and removable prosthodontics. Predental and preclinical predictors were undergraduate GPAs (overall and science), DAT subtest scores (including the Perceptual Ability Test, PAT), and performance on subtests of Part I of the National Board Dental Examination. The sample consisted of eighty-four students at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine who graduated during the period 2002-04. Associations between predictors and outcomes were first evaluated individually. Any associations that were near statistically significant (p≤0.15) were then included in a multiple linear regression model. The criterion for statistical significance in the multiple linear regression model was p≤0.05. While a number of measures were associated in bivariate analyses, few predictors were statistically significantly associated with clinical outcomes in the multiple regression analyses. Those predictors that were associated with clinical outcomes were also not consistently associated with the different outcomes studied. These data indicate that, within this study population, there is little to no uniform association between preclinical didactic performance and measurements of clinical productivity and clinical proficiency. It is possible that the overlap in skill sets required for success in the predental/preclinical and clinical areas is minimal.Dr. Park is Senior Tutor, Office of Dental Education, Harvard School of Dental Medicine; Mr.

For patients undergoing VHR, current evidence suggests a decreased incidence in wound complications using incisional NPWT compared with conventional dressings.