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Accuracy in Dental Medicine, A New Way to Measure Trueness and Precision
Published on: April 29, 2014
Advancing Paediatric Dentistry Faculty Calibration for Predoctoral Education Using Entrustable Professional
Jessica Y Lee1,2, William F Vann1, Miguel A Simancas-Pallares1
1Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Adams School of Dentistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Objective:
While faculty calibration efforts within predoctoral dental education are recognizable, no studies have addressed this issue among curricula using the entrustable professional activity (EPA) framework. In this study, we describe findings of a calibration program undertaken among a paediatric dentistry faculty/graduate teaching assistant cohort for a predoctoral program using EPAs.
Methods:
We analysed de-identified data from a calibration program within a paediatric dentistry department and among a cohort of six graduate teaching assistants and 10 faculty. The calibration program encompassed a diagnostic survey and four calibration sessions with post-assessments using an entrustment system (i.e., procedural skills [PS] and independence [IND]) for the EPAs: performing an exam, diagnosis and risk assessment, sealants, and stainless steel crowns. We descriptively compared the frequency of agreement and occurrence of a threshold effect across sessions. Finally, pooled weighted Kappa scores for each session were estimated.
Results:
Highest levels of disagreement were observed among neighbouring levels of entrustment for PS. Across calibration sessions, there was important improvement in observed agreement (23%-100%) and resolution of threshold effects (55%-100%) for PS. Notably, similar improvements were observed and reflected via Kappa scores (range 0.8-1.0). Since the initial session, independence showed the highest level of agreement and reliability.
Conclusions:
Results of this calibration program suggest possible resolution effects on disagreement among instructors in the context of a new clinical assessment framework in paediatric dentistry. Future studies integrating instructors' perspectives on this framework and validating these results in different disciplines should be undertaken.
