Aim: The aims were to describe the development of a modified national online OSCE during COVID-19 and assess related student feedback. Material and methods: The modified online OSCE comprising of eight question entities was organised simultaneously in all four dental institutes of Finland using the Moodle virtual learning environment. All fourth-year students (n = 179) attended the examination online at home. Student feedback was collected via an anonymous questionnaire with multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions concerning attitudes towards the modified online OSCE, as well as content and usability of the question entities in the examination. Means and standard deviations were calculated for multiple-choice questions. Content analysis was used for open-ended questions.Results: Of 179 students, 119 (66%) consented to the study. Students experienced they had received adequate information (mean 3.8; SD 1.2), had a positive attitude before the examination (4.0; 1.0) and found the practice test useful (3.7; 1.1) (range 1-5). Technical implementation (2.7; 0.7) and the difficulty of the questions (2.9; 0.6) (range 1-4) were found to be good. The teaching students received during their studies was sufficient (3.2; 0.5) (range 1-4). Content (mean 3.2; 0.4) and usability (2.9; 0.4) of the question entities were good (range 1-4). The themes arising from open-ended questions were importance and practicality of the topic (in questions) in relation to the work of a dentist and gratitude for the rapid conversion of the OSCE into an online examination despite COVID-19. The themes arising from negative experiences included difficulties in completing the examination within the time allocated, and dissatisfaction with the model answers provided after the examination.
Conclusion:The positive student feedback towards the modified online OSCE encourages including an online examination to complement the traditional OSCE.
Introduction: By maintaining skills and keeping dentists up-to-date, continuing professional development (CPD) supports safe clinical practice. However, CPD for dentists across Europe is not harmonised.
To ensure high standards of care, alongside recommending core or mandatory topics, more attention should be given to reflection on learning needs, the learner's readiness to engage with education and training and the influence of the workplace environment.
Aim: To summarise findings from a literature review of dentists’ engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) and its effects on improving oral health care for patients.
Method: The search strategy used key terms in a range of databases and an academic literature search engine, complemented by hand searching and citation follow‐up.
Results: One hundred and fourteen papers were reviewed. The majority of dentists engaged in CPD. Factors affecting participation included time since graduation, costs, work and home commitments, postgraduate qualification, interest and convenience. Learning needs identification and reflection on practice were rarely evidenced. Common modes of CPD were courses and journal reading; no one delivery method proved more effective. Few papers directly explored recommendations for topics although suggestions related to common areas of error and gaps in knowledge or skill. Studies of CPD effectiveness and impact‐on‐practice suggested that courses can result in widespread new learning and considerable self‐reported change in practice. However, significant barriers to implementing change in workplace practice were noted and included availability of materials, resources and support from colleagues.
Conclusion: To ensure high standards of care, alongside recommending core or mandatory topics, more attention should be given to reflection on learning needs, the learner’s readiness to engage with education and training and the influence of the workplace environment.
The gender differences in young dentists' confidence-which favoured male dentists-require further inquiries. More attention should be paid in dental education to constructively support students with differences in learning clinical skills.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.