School of Education, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
J Dent Educ. 2010 Aug;74(8):892-901.
Each United Kingdom regional postgraduate deanery offers courses and educational support for the NHS (National Health Service) primary care dental team, primarily through networks of tutors (dental educators). After reporting literature on effective continuing education and the role of evaluation, this article provides an analysis of five educational evaluations (2005-08), identifying key messages and distilling ways to enhance educational support for the UK dental team. These evaluations adopted case study design and principally employed interviews (n=51) and questionnaires (n=221). The studies' key messages and recommendations are as follows: clarify dental educator roles; provide strategic management and educational support for educators; ensure continuing education is matched to the learning needs of dental teams and specific groups; and use practice (office) visits to support practice (team) development plans. Evaluation enables initiatives to be evidence-informed, focus effort where most needed, argue for continued funding, and give voice to stakeholders. However, there is added value in a collective consideration of evaluation findings from related studies. Doing this has identified ways to enhance the strategic development of educational support for the UK dental team and is applicable in a wider context both nationally and internationally.
每个英国地区的研究生院长学系都为 NHS（国家医疗服务体系）初级保健牙科团队提供课程和教育支持，主要通过导师网络（牙科教育者）来实现。在报告了关于有效继续教育和评估作用的文献后，本文对五项教育评估（2005-08 年）进行了分析，确定了关键信息，并提炼出了增强英国牙科团队教育支持的方法。这些评估采用了案例研究设计，主要采用了访谈（n=51）和问卷调查（n=221）。这些研究的关键信息和建议如下：明确牙科教育者的角色；为教育者提供战略管理和教育支持；确保继续教育与牙科团队和特定群体的学习需求相匹配；并利用实践（办公室）访问来支持实践（团队）发展计划。评估使各项举措能够获得证据支持，将精力集中在最需要的地方，为持续的资金提供理由，并为利益相关者发声。然而，从相关研究中集体考虑评估结果会有额外的价值。这样做已经确定了增强英国牙科团队教育支持的战略发展的方法，并且在全国和国际范围内具有更广泛的适用性。
