Training for legal dental expert witnesses in Germany: an instrument for professional development

Lawsuits in dentistry are increasing, and often a legal dental expert witness is called to provide an expert opinion. The appointment of the expert witness is rather arbitrary since special requirements for expert witnesses do not exist. Qualified written expert opinions, however, are particularly relevant for the dental profession. The Karlsruhe Training for Legal Dental Expert Witnesses (KT) was introduced as the German approach to this problem. The KT is a training program based on the principles of continuing professional development (CPD) that trains dentists to give written expert opinions and to act as expert witnesses in all types of legal matters. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of the KT according to the requirements of CPD. A written survey was conducted among the 161 participants in the KT between 2004 and 2009. It contained questions to assess the quality of the program and to evaluate its impact on the professional performance of the participants. The return rate was 51.6 percent (n=83). The analysis shows that the KT achieved its main goal to train the dentist as a legal dental expert witness and that the KT does not only transfer formal knowledge but stimulates changes in personal development as described in the concept of CPD.