Pairing as an instructional strategy to promote soft skills amongst clinical dental students

Abstract

Training dentists today is challenging as they are expected to provide a wide range of dental care. In the provision of good dental care, soft skills are equally important as clinical skills. Therefore in dental education the development of soft skills are of prime concern. This study sought to identify the development of soft skills when dental students are paired in their clinical training. In this perception study, four open-ended items were used to elicit students ' feedback on the appropriateness of using clinical pairing as an instructional strategy to promote soft skills. The most frequently cited soft skills were teamwork (70%) and communication (25%) skills. However, both negative and positive behaviours were reported. As for critical thinking and problem solving skills, more positive behaviours were reported for abilities such as to explain, analyze, find ideas and alternative solutions, and make decisions. Leadership among peers was not evident as leading without legitimate authority could be a hindrance to its development. If clinical pairing is to be used as an effective instructional strategy to promote soft skills amongst students , clear guidelines need to be developed to prepare students to work in a dental team and the use of appropriate assessment tools can facilitate the development of these soft skills.

Dental students' perceptions on the contribution and impact role of a clinical teacher

“…Our findings revealed that the majority of students were not satisfied with their assistants' performance in the clinic. To overcome this issue, Abu Kassim and colleagues recommended that an assessment should be incorporated when assigning operator–student pairs in clinics to encourage positive behaviours of the assistants and improve the students' learning experience overall. It has been suggested that soft skills development is important to prevent the students from being stereotype in their clinical management.…”

Self‐assessment of competencies in dental education in Germany – a multicentred survey

“…Pairing has been considered as a strategy to promote soft skills amongst dental students . However, a recent published study described that although students recognised the value of working in a team, they also had considerable problems in their interactions . This has been supported by another observation that maintained that working together is a skill that has to be learned and should be a fundamental consideration in the dental curricula .…”

Working experience is not a predictor of good communication: Results from a controlled trial with simulated patients

“…They are therefore used to being judged and observed by an equivalent treatment partner with similar levels of knowledge. Here, Kasim et al found that soft skills like communication and team work benefited from the pairwise collaboration of two students . A US‐American study showed that doctors are only partially capable of self‐reflection, at least with regard to the assessment of their learning needs.…”