Yanira A. Owens, RDH, BS, MHA, is Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgical Dentistry, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine; Amy M. DeStaffany, RDH, BS, is Assistant Professor, Department of Surgical Dentistry, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine; Meghan E. Crow, RDH, BS, is Clinical Instructor, Department of Surgical Dentistry, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine; Lonnie R. Johnson, DDS, PhD, is Professor, Department of Surgical Dentistry and Senior Associate Dean for Clinics and Professional Practice, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine; Terri S. Tilliss, RDH, PhD, is Professor, Department of Orthodontics, University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine; Rachel L. Johnson, BA, MS, is in the Department of Biostatistics and Analysis, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; and Bryan K. McNair, MS, is in the Department of Biostatistics and Analysis, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
J Dent Educ. 2019 Dec;83(12):1427-1435. doi: 10.21815/JDE.019.141. Epub 2019 Aug 12.
Dental students in North American dental schools are exposed to faculty members with various professional backgrounds. These faculty members may include dentists, dental hygienists, and scientists without clinical dental credentials. The practice of dental hygienists' educating predoctoral dental students has not been well documented. The aims of this two-part study were to investigate the parameters of didactic, preclinical, and clinical instruction of dental students by dental hygienist faculty members in North American dental schools and to explore dental students' perceptions of this form of teaching. In part one, a survey was sent electronically to the clinical or academic affairs deans of all 76 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) member dental schools in 2017. Twenty-nine responded, for a 38.2% response rate. In 76% of the responding schools, dental hygienists were teaching dental students. Most respondents reported that, in their schools, the minimum degree required to teach didactically was a master's, while a bachelor's degree was required for preclinical and clinical courses. There was no significant association between dental hygienists' instructing dental students and having a dental hygiene educational program at the institution. In part two of the study, a questionnaire was completed by 102 graduating dental students (85% response rate) at one U.S. university to evaluate the impact of dental hygienist educators. Among the respondents, 87% reported feeling that dental hygienists were very effective educators. There were no significant differences in responses between traditional and advanced standing international dental students. This study found that dental hygienists were educating dental students in many North American dental schools and were doing so in curricular content beyond periodontics and that their educational contributions at a sample school were valued by the dental students there.
北美的牙科学院的牙科学生接触到具有各种专业背景的教职员工。这些教职员工可能包括牙医、牙科保健师和没有临床牙科证书的科学家。牙科保健师教育牙科学员的做法尚未得到很好的记录。本研究分为两部分，旨在调查北美牙科学院的牙科保健师教职员工对牙科学生进行理论、临床前和临床教学的参数，并探讨牙科学生对这种教学形式的看法。在第一部分中，2017 年向美国牙科学教育协会（ADEA）的 76 名成员牙科学校的临床或学术事务院长发送了一份电子调查。29 人回复，回复率为 38.2%。在 76%的回复学校中，牙科保健师正在教授牙科学生。大多数受访者报告说，在他们的学校，教学的最低要求是硕士学位，而临床前和临床课程则需要学士学位。在牙科保健师指导牙科学生和该机构拥有牙科卫生教育计划之间没有显著关联。在研究的第二部分，美国一所大学的 102 名即将毕业的牙科学生（85%的回复率）完成了一份问卷，以评估牙科保健师教育者的影响。在受访者中，87%的人认为牙科保健师是非常有效的教育者。传统和高级国际牙科学生的回答之间没有显著差异。这项研究发现，许多北美牙科学院都在教育牙科学生，并且在牙周病以外的课程内容中进行教育，而且在一所样本学校，牙科学生对他们的教育贡献给予了高度评价。
