Video-Assisted Clinical Instruction in Dentistry (VACID) enhances real-time visualisation of clinical procedures

The use of Video-Assisted Clinical Instruction in Dentistry (VACID) in the training of dental students represents an innovative teaching medium. Despite the many advantages that this teaching medium promises to offer, little objective research has been published to substantiate its purported benefits. This article examines the students' response to the application of VACID to enhance real-time visualisation of clinical procedures while observing live clinical procedures in periodontics.

Forty third-year dental students, observing surgical procedures during their rotation in the Department of Periodontics, were invited to participate in a survey designed to examine perceptions relating to their learning experience to using conventional and video-assisted real-time visualisation of clinical procedures. Students' responses were obtained using a questionnaire administered immediately after the completion of the observational period. The survey employed attitude questions addressing both enabling and outcome criteria. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the student's responses. An open-ended question was also included in the survey to give students the opportunity to provide additional feedback regarding their experience and suggestions to improve on it.

Results suggest that the implementation of VACID in the clinical setting improves the student's learning experience, interest and satisfaction. Ninety per cent of students strongly agreed to have VACID implemented for their next clinical observation. Responses to the open-ended question indicated that improved visualisation was extremely helpful in understanding the progress of clinical procedures.

The implementation of VACID in the clinical setting enhances real-time visualisation of surgical procedures beyond what is offered by the conventional observational format.