Maintaining the quality of dental undergraduates for general dental practice: a performance management study

An investigation and survey explored the effect of the display of dental undergraduates clinical performance by a process termed silent monitoring. The study measured the effect of silent monitoring on the quality of patients' treatment and the frequency of non-attendance at appointments for patients arranged by undergraduates. A cross-sectional study also estimated the impact of silent monitoring on undergraduates' clinic time use. Both enquiries revealed that silent monitoring motivated students. It significantly increased the number of patients treated and reduced the non-attendance of appointments. However, there was an increase in the incidence of patients informing undergraduates that they could not attend appointments. This phenomenon allowed the rescheduling of appointments and better use of clinic time. Silent monitoring increased the time undergraduates spent preparing for the patients' treatment. it also improved the patients punctuality. Evaluation of the procedure by questionnaires showed approval of the method, although some undergraduates felt that aspects of their assessment were unfair. A survey revealed that other United Kingdom dental schools do not use silent monitoring. If they adopted such a method, it could have similar positive influences on their undergraduates' management of clinical practice and improve the quality for dental practice.