Clinical experiences of staff and students in transitioning from in-person to blended teaching

Abstract

This paper describes some of the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic from a study conducted with a group of clinical teachers and undergraduate dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences (FoDOCS) at King's College London about the use of a combination of remote, online and in-person teaching methods that resumed from June 2020. In the narrative research, participants shared their experiences delivering online clinical workshops and their previous experiences delivering face-to-face sessions online, both during and before the pandemic. We conducted remote interviews with the participants via video conferencing, which were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis. Narrative accounts revealed commonalities organised into seven themes, highlighting some of the challenges encountered during the pandemic and providing insights into addressing different curricular constraints and concerns when utilising various delivery modes during emergency situations, such as pandemics. In our study, we concluded that students and teachers benefit from dissociating clinical learning from clinical treatment sessions to focus on the educational intent and content before applying them chairside with patients. Throughout the course, students and teachers were challenged by a lack of engagement. In addition, it is important to examine the online fatigue highlighted by both students and teachers and identify ways to improve time, literacy, and facilitation to create a more conducive learning environment.