Should attendance for preclinical simulation and clinical education be mandatory?

Learning together: a narrative review of external resources for medical education through a shared student-faculty lens

External resources, defined as commercial learning resources typically found online and not created by academic institutions, are increasingly utilized by students in medical education. As the use of external resources continues to grow, there is a need to understand their appropriate place within medical education and for faculty members to continue to integrate such resources into the existing medical curricula. A gap in the literature exists regarding the role of such resources within formal medical education.

This narrative review identifies factors contributing to the use of external resources, integrates student and faculty perspectives to highlight their unique insights, and collaboratively proposes recommendations for the future use of external resources in medical education.

Identified factors contributing to the increased use of external resources include generational affinity for technology and online learning, perceived efficiency compared to live lectures, pass-fail grading system of biomedical science courses, the pressure of board exams, and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although external resources are expensive, medical students use them to support their pre-clerkship learning and performance on national licensure exams. Faculty share the goal of student success and see potential for integration of external resources in the curriculum but raise concerns about reduced learner presence and willingness to read as well as the possibility of a universal medical curriculum. Collaborative student-faculty recommendations include the primacy of student autonomy, the benefits of classroom engagement, and the importance of cost management around third-party resources.

Although external resources should not supplant all faculty instruction, they can benefit both medical students and faculty when thoughtfully and strategically integrated within the pre-clerkship curriculum to enhance learning outcomes and board exam performance.

Implementation of machine learning models as a quantitative evaluation tool for preclinical studies in dental education

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE

Objective, valid, and reliable evaluations are needed in order to develop haptic skills in dental education. The aim of this study is to investigate the validity and reliability of the machine learning method in evaluating the haptic skills of dentistry students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One-hundred fifty 6th semester dental students have performed Class II amalgam (C2A) and composite resin restorations (C2CR), in which all stages were evaluated with Direct Observation Practical Skills forms. The final phase was graded by three trainers and supervisors separately. Standard photographs of the restorations in the final stage were taken from different angles in a special setup and transferred to the Python program which utilized the Structural Similarity algorithm to calculate both the quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (visual) differences of each restoration. The validity and reliability analyses of inter-examiner evaluation were tested by Cronbach's Alpha and Kappa statistics (p = 0.05).

RESULTS

The intra-examiner reliability between Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and examiners was found highly reliable in both C2A (α = 0.961) and C2CR (α = 0.856). The compatibility of final grades given by SSIM (53.07) and examiners (56.85) was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). A significant difference was found between the examiners and SSIM when grading the occlusal surfaces in C2A and on the palatal surfaces of C2CR (p < 0.05). The concordance of observer assessments was found almost perfect in C2A (κ = 0.806), and acceptable in C2CR (κ = 0.769).

CONCLUSION

Although deep machine learning is a promising tool in the evaluation of haptic skills, further improvement and alignments are required for fully objective and reliable validation in all cases of dental training in restorative dentistry.

Orthodontics rewired: A new approach to predoctoral competency training

OBJECTIVE

To describe changes in a competency-based orthodontics course in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and compare outcomes before and after these adaptations.

METHODS

Exempted by NYU IRB (#FY2021-4795, #FY2021-5748). At NYU College of Dentistry, assessments and surveys for D3 course groups were compared: 2018 (N = 89, in-person) and 2022 (N = 109, hybrid; remote synchronous with cold-calling). Assessments were identical and proctored. Pass rates, mean scores, and score distributions were compared using t-tests and Z-scores. Internal consistency of surveys was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha. Six paired Likert items were categorized into Positive, Neutral, and Negative and compared using Fisher's exact test and phi coefficients. Four items were added to the 2022 survey to assess students' responses to "cold-calling" and were evaluated using descriptive statistical methods.

RESULTS

No significant differences in pass rates or mean assessment scores were found between 2018 (79.8%, 1.45 ± 1.11) and 2022 (80.7%, 1.50 ± 0.97) groups. Surveys demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.95 and 0.81). Response rates were 79% and 80% for both groups with a median score of 4 (Agree) or higher, indicating positive confidence and motivation. Fisher's exact test and phi coefficients did not find significant differences across surveys (p ≤ 0.05). The four additional Likert items in the 2022 group survey suggested that cold-calling increased preparedness and anxiety. The median score for cold-call items = 4 (Agree).

CONCLUSIONS

The null hypothesis was upheld. Assessment and survey outcomes for 2018 and 2022 were similar. Students displayed increased confidence and motivation. "Cold-calling" was associated with increased preparedness, engagement, and anxiety.

Drawings to explore faculties‘ and students‘ perceptions from different generations cohorts about dental education: A pilot study

Introduction/Aims

We aimed at using drawings as a form of data collection to give voice to older and younger generations in regards to educational practices in undergraduate dentistry.

Materials and methods

First year dental students (younger generations) and faculty members (older generations) produced drawings depicting their perceptions of the current dental education learning environment. Qualitative analysis was conducted independently by two researchers using the drawings to produce codes, categories and themes.

Results

15 drawings were produced: 9/34 (26.4%) made by students and 6/20 (30%) made by faculty members. The generated themes indicated that students and faculties found that dental education is going through a challenging time, because of the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; and that they were aware about the evident division between basic/preclinical and applied/clinical courses. Faculties showed hopeful signs that the situation may get better. Students‘ drawings evoked the following topics: digital connectedness, diversity, time goes by, and future aspirations in Dentistry.

Discussion

This study reinforced the validity of visual methods as an approach in research and showed different graphical features (features that might be intentionally or unintentionally represented in the drawings) that gave voice to participants. These voices could have been invisible in more traditional qualitative approaches, such as interviews or questionnaires.

Conclusions

Although the two groups of participants came from different generation cohorts, they had aligned perceptions regarding challenges in dental education, and mentioned the separation between preclinic and clinic. Drawings were unique, innovative, and an interesting tool to express perceptions regarding today’s learning environment. These insights can consequently help educators to personalize teaching approaches to better meet the needs of the students.