Using standardized patients to assess presentation of a dental treatment plan

Abstract

In this new era of relationship‐based care, involvement in treatment planning and goal setting is a high priority for patient satisfaction. This study reports on the use of standardized patients (SPs) in training third‐year dental students to gather dental, medical, and psychosocial information from patients and to involve the patient in the decision‐making process leading to the dental treatment plan. Among the skill areas measured, students were most successful in gathering dental information, with 94 percent of the students obtaining the complete set. Students were least successful in identifying the patient's goals for treatment (81 percent of the students identified the patients' goals). Students were most challenged by discussing sensitive topics with patients such as grief‐related depression (25 percent of the students recognized and discussed such topics). It is important that dental schools familiarize students with patient issues and teach them how to talk effectively to patients about personal issues and to incorporate those issues into a discussion of the treatment plan for the patient. Standardized patients can be used effectively toward this end.

Treatment planning in dentistry using an electronic health record: implications for undergraduate education

“…In spite of its importance, however, treatment planning has received little attention in the dental literature, and there appears to be no consistent format being followed in the teaching and development of treatment plans within dental school curricula . In one study on using standardised patients to assess presentation of a dental treatment plan, the investigators reported that 94% of dental students obtained a complete set of information from the patients, but the same students were not so successful in identifying the patient's goals for treatment – only 81% of students were successful . A 1984 survey of 70 American and Canadian dental schools reported that most dental schools offer preclinical treatment planning information and also develop clinical treatment plans but that there were no curricular guidelines devoted to the principles of dental treatment planning .…”

Inserción de un paciente estandarizado como estrategia didáctica en Odontología

“…Autores como McKenzie y su grupo evaluaron a una cohorte de estudiantes que realizaron experiencias de simulación clínica con paciente estandarizado en el segundo año de la carrera, a través de la observación de su desempeño clínico con los pacientes dos años después, encontraron que existían diferencias en las etapas de comunicación del plan de tratamiento, donde los estudiantes que tuvieron contacto con pacientes estandarizados eran capaces de ofrecer mayor información u opciones de tratamiento, lo que probablemente estuvo asociado a la capacidad de retener y desarrollar este concepto entregado como parte fundamental de las habilidades comunicacionales durante la entrevista clínica. 6,12 En cuanto a la percepción cualitativa de los estudiantes, el logro de los desempeños y el acercamiento temprano a la profesión fueron los aspectos mejor valorados. Los estudiantes actuales aprenden mejor a través de experiencias que aseguren el aprendizaje significativo, lo que les permite experimentar lo aprendido en el campo laboral, autoevaluarse e identificar su nivel de conocimiento, mejorar sus habilidades técnicas, aumentar la seguridad, confianza, razonamiento crítico y toma de decisiones.…”

Standardized Patients in Audiology: A Proposal for a New Method of Evaluating Clinical Competence

“…Having long been accused of valuing psychomotor skills and technical performance over clinical thinking, dental education programs began using SPs to evaluate basic skills in communication, physical examination, diagnosis, treatment planning, and record keeping (Monaghan et al, 1997). SP programs in dental education have aimed at improving communication skills in order to elicit patient confidence and accelerate recovery after treatment without lengthening appointment times; studies have shown improved patient communication and improved technical abilities following SP-based exercises (Stilwell and Reisine, 1992;Logan et al, 1999). In the education of pharmacy (PharmD) students, this process is called the Pharmaceutical Care Encounter Program (PCEP).…”

“…A systematic review of the medical education literature (Epstein and Hundert, 2002) found that the SP assessment (to assess physical examination and communication skills) was one of the three most common forms of assessment used in order to measure professional competence. The use of SPs for formative and summative assessments has become common across a variety of health professions including medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry (Monaghan et al, 1997;Logan et al, 1999;Westberg et al, 2006;Sharpless and Barber, 2009). The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for establishing SP programs to evaluate competencies in AuD students by detailing the history of SP cases and their use, developing a rationale for this method of assessment, and outlining the steps for writing and implementing SP cases.…”