Simulation‐Based Medical Emergencies Education for Dental Students: A Three‐Year Evaluation

Abstract

This aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a simulation program for dental students to supplement a lecture‐based medical emergencies course. Students' self‐reported knowledge, experience, confidence, and ability regarding medical emergencies were assessed as program outcomes. For three years (in 2014, 2015, and 2016), all second‐year students (N=333) at one U.S. dental school were randomly assigned to groups of 15 and participated in 15 simulated clinical scenarios. All students completed a 21‐item pre‐post survey and rated their knowledge, experience, and confidence using simulated emergencies. Following the intervention, students' ability to complete critical actions was also peer‐assessed using a ten‐item checklist. Four open‐ended questions were included on the post‐intervention survey for acquisition of additional data. For all years, students' self‐reported measurements significantly improved with high practical impact (p≤0.001, g=|0.62, 3.93|), with the exception of calling 911 (knowledge). Peer‐rated performance indicated the students were deficient (<75% success) in the following: inhaler use, dose of local anesthetic, dose of epinephrine, and EpiPen use. Content analysis of students' comments pointed to areas that need improvement but found high satisfaction with the program. These findings indicate that this program improved students' knowledge, experience, and confidence using simulated medical emergencies.

Relationship Between “Simulated Patient Scenarios and Role-Playing” Method and OSCE Performance in Senior Anesthesiology Residents: A Correlation Assessment Study

“…Teaching medical emergencies using a simulationbased model has been demonstrated as an effective method in improving students' knowledge, experience, and confidence, for the management of critical events (7,31,32). Role-playing is one of those techniques benefiting from simulation-based models, leading to improvement in several aspects of ACGME core competencies, especially those affected by a load of stress in anesthesiology (7,(32)(33)(34).…”

Medical emergencies teaching in dentistry undergraduate courses in southeastern Brazil

“…In this present study noted that few institutions offer practical content in ME disciplines, which does not seem to follow the trend in developed countries, where courses are moving away from just didactic-theoretical instruction, and incorporating regular practical simulation training into the provision of education 15,16,18,19 . These exercises help dental professionals and staff to feel more confident in their duties during emergency situations, improving their level of knowledge and overall readiness [15][16][17]19 . The use of simulators can be expensive as it may require the purchase of various mannequins and advanced life support simulators, but the skill acquisition level and positive student feedback seem to justify this expense 18 .…”

“…Based on these aspects, in recent years there has been a change in medical emergency management teaching methodologies for undergraduate students in many developed countries as an attempt to improve their management outcomes [15][16][17][18][19][20] . Moreover, in some countries, emergency medical training is formally part of undergraduate dental programs, and the example is the United States, which has been offering the discipline since 1981 21 .…”

Meet the Founding Resident Ambassador: John M. Le, DDS, MD

“…John M. Le, DDS, MD (Fig 1) and his colleagues in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have made a serious impact on global OMS specialty. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Moreover, their article contribution to our journal in 2020 made a huge influence by attracting an international community of readers to our journal, making us enormously proud. The masterpiece was dedicated to the use of zygomatic implants for restoration of complex nasal defects.…”