Dental students' perception of a blended learning approach to clinic orientation

The pandemic presented a big challenge to dental education: rapid conversion of a hands-on, experiential learning program to a virtual environment. The objectives of this study are to examine the conventional approaches of facilitating the transition from pre-clinic to clinic, to analyze how a blended learning approach including virtual learning modules facilitated this transition, and to assess the benefits of virtual learning in the future of dental school curriculum.

Rising third-year dental students in 2020 (n = 134) were engaged in a three-month (from the end of May to the end of August 2020) clinic orientation consisting of virtual didactic and clinic simulated activities. Part I consisted of didactic courses presented virtually. Part II consisted of simulated clinical activities for operative and radiology along with 3-week virtual treatment planning (TP) sessions with quizzes for each week. Part III consisted of clinical assisting and shadowing activities in the clinic on restorative procedures and TP sessions with senior students. Surveys were administered before and after each part of the orientation program.

Data confirmed that 1) virtually-delivered didactic materials increased students' knowledge in learning relevant key topics of clinic transition and 2) virtual TP sessions increased students' perceived confidence and knowledge in assessment and TP.

Despite challenges faced during school closure, most dental students positively valued the virtual orientation methods of learning. Integrating a virtual mode of didactic can serve as a new methodology of the dental school curriculum in preparation for the clinic.