Social Media in the Dental School Environment, Part B: Curricular Considerations

Abstract

The goal of this article is to describe the broad curricular constructs surrounding teaching and learning about social media in dental education. This analysis takes into account timing, development, and assessment of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to effectively use social media tools as a contemporary dentist. Three developmental stages in a student's path to becoming a competent professional are described: from undergraduate to dental student, from the classroom and preclinical simulation laboratory to the clinical setting, and from dental student to licensed practitioner. Considerations for developing the dental curriculum and suggestions for effective instruction at each stage are offered. In all three stages in the future dentist's evolution, faculty members need to educate students about appropriate professional uses of social media. Faculty members should provide instruction on the beneicial aspects of this communication medium and help students recognize the potential pitfalls associated with its use. The authors provide guidelines for customizing instruction to complement each stage of development, recognizing that careful timing is not only important for optimal learning but can prevent inappropriate use of social media as students are introduced to novel situations.

Development and Assessment of a Three‐Dimensional Tooth Morphology Quiz for Dental Students

“…In particular, the difficulty to attract and retain qualified staff, reductions in the number of teaching hours and the difficulty to retain good quality extracted teeth have all contributed to pressure in maintaining the quality of tooth morphology teaching. While extracted teeth are still considered the best teaching tool (Cantin et al, ) and dental carving has been shown to improve students’ manual dexterity (Bodi et al, ; de Azevedo et al, ), dentistry and dental education are being transformed by the introduction of new technologies including mobile phone apps (Khatoon et al, ) and the inclusion of social media for educational purposes (Spallek et al, ; Spallek et al, ). In particular, the introduction of cone‐beam computerized tomography in practice has increased the need for the development of pedagogical elements dealing with the 3D representation and interpretation of anatomical and dental structures.…”

An assessment of professionalism on students’ Facebook profiles

“…Spallek et al recognised three developmental stages in a student's path to becoming a competent professional: from undergraduate to dental student, from the classroom and pre‐clinical simulation laboratory to the clinical setting and from dental student to licensed practitioner. They proposed an educational programme to prevent inappropriate use of social media as students are introduced to novel situations ; a similar endeavour is currently under consideration in our institution based upon the findings of this study. Other possible explanations include a busier working schedule allowing less time for social media use as well as many institutions blocking social media sites in work.…”

Creating and Evaluating Skills‐Based Training in Working with Spoken‐Language Interpreters for Oral Health Professions Students

“…On the other hand, this difference may indicate that some students' self‐perception of skills and competence is overestimated. This unconscious incompetence has been observed across health professions education, 21 including dental education where it has been identified as relating to clinical preparedness 22 and professionalism with social media 23 . This second explanation may be more likely as participating students realized after the training that working with an interpreter was not intuitive.…”