Introducing legislative advocacy into the dental school curriculum: A mixed-methods evaluation

The aim of this project was to evaluate a legislative advocacy exercise in pediatric dentistry at 1 North American dental school. A mixed-methods approach was employed using focus groups and questionnaires. All third-year dental students (n = 84) participated in an exercise as part of the pediatric dentistry course. Participation in the program evaluation was voluntary. Questionnaires were administered to assess students' advocacy beliefs, behaviors, self-efficacy, and knowledge 1 week before and 1 week after the exercise. Six months later, a focus group with questionnaire non-respondents (n = 9) was conducted to explore participants' attitudes and beliefs about oral health advocacy within the dental school curriculum. The focus group followed a semi-structured guide, and transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Questionnaires were returned from 27 students before (33% response rate) and 23 students (28% response rate) following the advocacy exercise. Students' advocacy beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge showed no change, whereas self-efficacy improved following the advocacy exercise. Students enjoyed the advocacy exercise and viewed it as a positive addition to the curriculum; however, they requested more exposure to advocacy across the curriculum. Students described the power of their collective voice rather than a single person as a major driver of policy change. These findings suggest that curricular changes should incorporate experiential advocacy activities more frequently to help students learn about and gain advocacy skills.