Professional ethics and cynicism amongst Dutch dental students

How do educators in one New Zealand undergraduate Bachelor of Oral Health course teach and nurture professionalism?

INTRODUCTION

Research on integrated dental hygiene and dental therapy courses is scarce; studies reporting on how staff in these combined scope courses teach professionalism are even more scarce. This study aimed to partially fill these research gaps.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

In 2016, online surveys were sent to 34 staff members who taught into the integrated Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) course at the University of Otago's Faculty of Dentistry; 13 were returned. Two focus groups were conducted with six BOH educators.

RESULTS

Aspects of professionalism were taught and nurtured in the formal curriculum, the clinic and the informal curriculum. In the formal curriculum, policies outlining the professional standards of behaviour expected of oral health practitioners and students in New Zealand and the Faculty were discussed. In the clinic, educators taught professionalism through modelling clinical skills, assessing students' performance and commenting on their reflective logbooks. In the informal curriculum, BOH teachers nurtured professionalism through discussions about standards of behaviour outside of the university. Role modelling was the most common method that participants reported they taught or nurtured professionalism in their students.

DISCUSSION

Professionalism is a complex concept that is taught and nurtured in a number of ways over all aspects of the course.

CONCLUSION

Oral Health educators need to maintain a high standard of professionalism when interacting with students and patients, as well as in public spaces, in order to model professionalism to their students.

A review of teaching ethics in the dental curriculum: challenges and future developments

This study considers the role and status of the teaching of ethics on the dental undergraduate curriculum. The study reviews current developments in the delivery of dental ethics education and in particular focuses on the development of new pedagogies and curricula content. The study then critically considers the consequences of a squeezed curricula and the consequent reliance on professional regulation as shorthand for the ethical development of students. The study concludes that, although great strides have been made in improving the teaching of ethics in dental education, further dialogue is needed to better include patient views and develop a more theoretically robust approach to self-reflection.

Perceptions of Turkish Dentists of Their Professional Identity in a Market-Orientated System

This study explores the perceptions of Turkish dentists of their professional identity and of the effects of market orientation in dentistry. This phenomenological study used a qualitative approach using a group of Turkish dentists, who were selected based on the principle of maximum variation. Four focus groups and 31 in-depth interviews were conducted. Forty-nine dentists were interviewed using a semi-structured form. The data analysis yielded three themes: ( a) dentistry as a business; ( b) dentistry as a profession; and ( c) professional status of dentistry in the health care system and in the community. The participants' statements reflected that the dominance of market mechanisms in dentistry inevitably forces dentists to adopt the characteristics of a businessperson and prevents them from fulfilling the basic requirements of professionalism. All participants explained that with the transformation of the dental care market, dentists have become a cheap labor force and have lost their professional autonomy. Our study has confirmed previous reports pointing out the conflict between dentistry as a profession and dentistry as a commercial operation. The study also showed that in Turkey, as a country experiencing rapid reform processes, dentists' control over their professional practices and identities has decreased.

Development of ethical practices and social responsibility in dental education at the university of Chile: student and faculty perceptions

BACKGROUND

The authors argue that dental curricula in Latin America are noted for providing highly technical and individualistic training that may fail to address society's problems or instil in the dentist the idea that he/she has a social responsibility to contribute to his/her community.

OBJECTIVES

This study's main objectives were to determine whether the curriculum and the faculty teaching practices of the School of Dentistry at the University of Chile contribute to its students' commitment to ethical and social responsibility.

METHODS

This was a qualitative study that investigated the perceptions of sixteen subjects (eight students and eight faculty members). Data were collected in thorough deep interviews. The interview process model conceptualised and organised the information into sets of dimensions and categories. The dimensions studied were ethical commitment and social responsibility. The categories assessed within ethical commitment were honesty, tolerance, responsibility and respect. In the social responsibility dimension, the categories were solidarity, teamwork and concern for and communication with the patient. Analysis of the textual data was performed using a method of content analysis based upon constructed qualitative matrices.

RESULTS

Our results show that students and scholars alike realise that ethical commitment and a sense of social responsibility are not promoted in the curriculum. They do, however, recognise the importance of these qualities in dental practitioners.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that the current curriculum and teaching practices used in our School of Dentistry need to be reviewed and that programmes promoting professionals' commitment to their role in society need to be implemented.