Interdisciplinary tutorial. Skills lab training in oral health as a strategy for promoting interdisciplinary skills.

OBJECTIVE

Trained student tutors instruct medical and dentistry students in the methodology of structured intraoral diagnosis, the identification of common oral pathologies, and the fundamental treatment concepts. The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a peer teaching-based interdisciplinary tutorial and a training program for tutors designed for this purpose.

METHODS

The present study describes the feasibility, evaluation, and implementation of an interdisciplinary tutorial for medical and dental students at the University Medical Center Göttingen. The development of tutorial contents, monitored by experts, and structured training of the tutors formed the foundation for the implementation of the tutorial. The concepts for the tutor training and the tutorial were evaluated by the participants. The efficacy of the tutorial in enhancing the participants' clinical skills was assessed through analysis of their performance in a mini-clinical evaluation exercise on intraoral diagnosis and a mini-quiz comprising nine questions.

RESULTS

The structured training program enabled tutors to enhance their theoretical and practical abilities, as well as their educational competencies. The peer teaching tutorial, conducted in accordance with the training program, facilitated the advancement of the participating students' clinical knowledge and practical skills.

CONCLUSION

The interdisciplinary student tutorial equipped medical and dentistry students with pertinent interdisciplinary competencies drawn from the medical and dental learning objectives catalogues on oral health topics, thereby raising awareness of their future relevance in the context of medical and dental practice. Both the student tutors and the students participating in the tutorial benefited from the educational approaches delineated as part of the study. Other medical skills laboratory teams may use and adapt these approaches.