Undergraduate education in gerodontology in Germany: the Leipzig Programme

To evaluate students' attitude towards the clinical component of the Leipzig Programme of undergraduate Education in Gerodontology (LPEG).

Undergraduate student education has long been recognised as a mainstay of fostering the aims of gerodontology. Extramural clinical education with direct exposure to various groups of vulnerable elderly is known to contribute to the formation of positive attitudes. LPEG has been designed to include didactic components and six visits to a long-term care facility (LTC) spread over 4 of the 5 years of the dental course.

A structured questionnaire with 10 items was administered to 230 students (60.9% female) on three occasions in 2004-05. Total return was 411 questionnaires. The mean age of respondents was 24.3 (SD 2.67) years. Students were asked to indicate the degree of their agreement with seven statements presented using a 5-point scale. A choice of responses which characterised the course was offered to mark all those deemed agreeable.

The vast majority of students responded positively. In the students perception there was no significant difference (Kruskal-Wallis p = 0.24) in the amount of knowledge acquired between subjects participating once, twice or three times. 'Interesting' and 'feel pity for patients' were the two items that received the most support. Respondents expressed the wish to accompany up to 10 patients during their course with a mean of 3.5 (SD 2.9) but 31 (7.5%) subjects did not wish to see any frail elderly patients at all.

The LPEG is well received by dental students. A complex subject including overarching social skills has been integrated seamlessly into the dental curriculum.