Jones T, Cumberbatch K
Dentistry Programme, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica, W.I.
Department of Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Education, and Deaf Clinic Coordinator, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica, W.I.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2018 Aug;22(3):143-150. doi: 10.1111/eje.12285. Epub 2017 Aug 14.
The introduction of the landmark mandatory teaching of sign language to undergraduate dental students at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Kingston, Jamaica, to bridge the communication gap between dentists and their patients is reviewed.
A review of over 90 Doctor of Dental Surgery and Doctor of Dental Medicine curricula in North America, the United Kingdom, parts of Europe and Australia showed no inclusion of sign language in those curricula as a mandatory component.
In Jamaica, the government's training school for dental auxiliaries served as the forerunner to the UWI's introduction of formal training of sign language in 2012. Outside of the UWI, a couple of dental schools have sign language courses, but none have a mandatory programme as the one at the UWI.
Dentists the world over have had to rely on interpreters to sign with their deaf patients. The deaf in Jamaica have not appreciated the fact that dentists cannot sign and they have felt insulted and only go to the dentist in emergency situations. The mandatory inclusion of sign language in the Undergraduate Dental Programme curriculum at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, sought to establish a direct communication channel to formally bridge this gap.
The programme of two sign language courses and a direct clinical competency requirement was developed during the second year of the first cohort of the newly introduced undergraduate dental programme through a collaborating partnership between two faculties on the Mona Campus.
The programme was introduced in 2012 in the third year of the 5-year undergraduate dental programme.
PROGRAMME REVIEW & OUTCOMES: To date, two cohorts have completed the programme, and the preliminary findings from an ongoing clinical study have shown a positive impact on dental care access and dental treatment for deaf patients at the UWI Mona Dental Polyclinic.
The development of a direct communication channel between dental students and the deaf that has led to increased dental access and treatment for the deaf can be extended to dentists and to other dental students globally. The vision is that similar courses will be introduced in other health training programmes at the UWI, and conceivably, in other institutions.
The small sample size allows for informative, but not definitive, conclusions to be drawn.
The mandatory inclusion of sign language and Deaf culture in the dental curricula has not just removed a communication barrier, but has assisted in the empathetic and ethical development of the dental student.
回顾了牙买加金斯敦西印度群岛大学（UWI）莫纳校区具有里程碑意义的向本科牙科学生强制教授手语的举措，以弥合牙医与患者之间的沟通差距。
对北美、英国、部分欧洲地区和澳大利亚的90多个牙医学博士和牙医学硕士课程的回顾显示，这些课程中均未将手语作为必修内容纳入。
在牙买加，政府的牙科辅助人员培训学校是西印度群岛大学2012年引入手语正规培训的先驱。在西印度群岛大学之外，有几所牙科学校开设了手语课程，但没有一所像西印度群岛大学那样有强制性的课程安排。
世界各地的牙医不得不依靠口译员与聋哑患者交流。牙买加的聋哑人不理解牙医不会手语这一事实，他们感到受到了侮辱，因此只在紧急情况下才去看牙医。西印度群岛大学莫纳校区本科牙科项目课程中强制纳入手语，旨在建立一个直接沟通渠道，正式弥合这一差距。
在新引入本科牙科项目的第一批学生的第二年，通过莫纳校区两个学院的合作，制定了两门手语课程和直接临床能力要求的项目。
该项目于项目于2012年在5年制本科牙科项目的第三年引入。
迄今为止，已有两批学生完成了该项目，一项正在进行的临床研究的初步结果显示，该项目对西印度群岛大学莫纳牙科综合诊所的聋哑患者的牙科护理可及性和牙科治疗产生了积极影响。
牙科学生与聋哑人之间直接沟通渠道的建立，增加了聋哑人的牙科护理可及性和治疗机会，这一模式可以推广到全球的牙医和其他牙科学生。设想是在西印度群岛大学的其他健康培训项目中，甚至在其他机构中引入类似课程。
样本量小，只能得出有参考价值但不确凿的结论。
牙科课程中强制纳入手语和聋人文化，不仅消除了沟通障碍，还促进了牙科学生的同理心和职业道德发展。
