Contemporary issues in clinical dental teaching

This research project sought to explore the issue of what constitutes effective clinical teaching in the minds of both students and teachers.

As stakeholders of the dental clinical setting, teachers and students have valuable practical insights to share with the academic and professional community as to what constitutes effective dental teaching.

An explorative qualitative study of dental teachers' and students' perceptions of clinical teaching was carried out at the Faculty of Dentistry of Sydney University. Thirty-one clinical teachers and 12 students participated in this case study through an online questionnaire survey and a focus group, respectively. Responses were categorized in three major clusters, namely, instructional, curricular or organizational.

The findings reveal that both groups hold similar opinions on what constitutes effective clinical instruction including a shared passion for learning and teaching, being clear and organized, demonstrating clinical competencies as well as engaging in professional self-reflection. Most of the issues fell into the instructional cluster where establishing a positive relationship with students including providing constructive feedback at the clinical session came up as key factors contributing to the student experience.

There is a demand from both students and teachers to standardize clinical procedures and protocols as well as having a greater synchronization in time and content between lectures and clinical work.