School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Eur J Dent Educ. 2024 Nov;28(4):969-977. doi: 10.1111/eje.13033. Epub 2024 Aug 13.
This paper reports on the scholarship activity of the 'Sustainability in Dentistry' Special-interest Group (SiG), which met at the Association for Dental Education in Europe (ADEE) annual conference in Liverpool on 25 August 2023. The aim of this study was to (i) identify current teaching practices and approaches to embedding Environmental Sustainability (ES) in the curriculum in ADEE attendee schools and (ii) explore existing barriers/challenges to incorporating ES in dental education and consider potential solutions.
A mixed-methods approach was used to fulfil the aims of this study. A pre-workshop questionnaire was used to explore current teaching practices, challenges and drivers of embedding ES in the curriculum. An interactive workshop at the in-person meeting in Liverpool was used to propose key strategies to overcome the most frequent challenges to embedding ES in the curriculum.
The majority of respondents (56%) reported that their institutions do not currently teach ES. Traditional didactic forms of teaching were mostly reported to teach ES in non-clinical environments, and a transition to more environmentally sustainable materials and instruments was the most popular response for clinical teaching. Key barriers to embedding ES in the curriculum were identified, including time constraints and the overloaded curriculum, a lack of expertise/knowledge to teach and lack of practical guidance to support educators, limited learning resources for staff and students and resistance from colleagues regarding the relevance of ES in dentistry. The special-interest group participants proposed strategies to overcome these challenges that centred around 14 themes.
This paper reports recent scholarship activity by ADEE's 'Sustainability in Dentistry' SiG. Key strategies for overcoming the most common challenges to embedding ES in the curriculum are also discussed.
本文报告了“牙科可持续性”特别兴趣小组（SiG）的学术活动，该小组于 2023 年 8 月 25 日在利物浦举行的欧洲牙科教育协会（ADEE）年会上举行了会议。本研究的目的是：（i）确定 ADEE 参会学校目前在课程中嵌入环境可持续性（ES）的教学实践和方法；（ii）探索将 ES 纳入牙科教育的现有障碍/挑战，并考虑潜在的解决方案。
采用混合方法来实现本研究的目的。在会前问卷调查了目前的教学实践、嵌入课程的 ES 面临的挑战和驱动力。在利物浦举行的现场会议上举行了一次互动研讨会，提出了克服嵌入课程中 ES 最常见挑战的关键策略。
大多数受访者（56%）报告称，他们的机构目前不教授 ES。传统的教学形式大多用于非临床环境中的 ES 教学，而向更环保的材料和仪器过渡是临床教学中最受欢迎的回应。嵌入课程中的 ES 面临的主要障碍包括时间限制和课程负担过重、缺乏教学专业知识、缺乏支持教育工作者的实践指导、员工和学生的学习资源有限以及同事对 ES 在牙科中的相关性的抵制。特别兴趣小组的参与者提出了克服这些挑战的策略，这些策略集中在 14 个主题上。
本文报告了 ADEE“牙科可持续性”SiG 的近期学术活动。还讨论了克服嵌入课程中 ES 最常见挑战的关键策略。
