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Students' Evaluations of Simulations in Dentistry: A Multiple Cohort Study at a U.S. Dental School
Carly T McKenzie1, Ken Tilashalski2, Ramzi Abou-Arraj2
1Carly T. McKenzie, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical and Community Sciences, Behavioral and Population Sciences Division, School of Dentistry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Ken Tilashalski, DMD, is Professor, Department of Restorative Sciences and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Dentistry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Ramzi Abou-Arraj, DDS, MS, is Associate Professor, Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; Dawn Taylor Peterson, PhD, is Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine and Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health Professions, as well as Director of Faculty Development and Training, Office of Interprofessional Simulation for Innovative Clinical Practice, The University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Marjorie Lee White, MD, MA, MPPM, is Professor, Departments of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Medical Education, School of Medicine and School of Health Professions, Assistant Dean for Clinical Simulation, and Director of Office of Interprofessional Simulation for Innovative Clinical Practice, The University of Alabama at Birmingham. cmckenzi@uab.edu.
Abstract:
Simulation may help translate didactic learning to patient care in areas such as communication skills and medical emergency management. The aims of this study were to investigate how multiple cohorts of dental students evaluated simulations utilizing standardized patients and manikins and to explore evaluations of a simulation that combined social determinants of health with oral health education. All approximately 600 second- and fourth-year dental students at one U.S. dental school participated in simulation activities for five years (2014-18). The activities involved clinical communication skills with an urgent care patient, medical emergency management, and communication skills with a parent with low income. After the simulations, students were invited to complete an evaluation of the experience. Questionnaire items addressed perceived applicability to patient care, value of the experience, and fulfillment of objectives; and open-ended questions asked for comments specific to the parent with low income simulation. A total of 497 responses from D2 and D4 students were collected over the five-year period, as well as from all 12 periodontics residents in 2017, for an overall 91.7% response rate. The vast majority (>90.6%) positively evaluated all items for each simulation. The positive ratings ranged from a mean of 99.3% for the urgent care simulation to 93.8% for the parent with low income simulation. Positive student comments often related to learning from/with others and effective practice of teach back and patient education tactics. Students' most frequent suggestions for improvement called for better preparation. In this study, simulations with both standardized patients and manikins led to positive evaluations as well as anticipated improvement of clinical performance. These results suggest that incorporating simulation into an already-crowded curriculum is worth it from the student perspective, especially for reinforcement of clinical skills not easily amenable to classroom instruction.