Interactive multimedia dental education: the next five years and beyond

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Multimedia Technology
• Continuing Professional Development

Background:

• Interactive multimedia is poised to significantly impact dental education.
• Current delivery methods include CD-ROM, with future integration of virtual reality, interactive television, and internet applications.
• Numerous dental organizations and companies are actively developing multimedia educational content.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present ten compelling reasons for adopting interactive multimedia in dental education.
• To outline the anticipated evolution of multimedia platforms in the coming years.
• To provide guidance for multimedia content creation and publication.

Main Methods:

• The presentation outlines key advantages of interactive multimedia for dental curricula.
• It discusses the technological progression of multimedia delivery systems.
• It offers guidelines for publishing multimedia educational materials.

Main Results:

• Interactive multimedia provides significant benefits for undergraduate and graduate dental education.
• Technological advancements will drive the adoption of multimedia systems in dental schools.
• The development and availability of dental multimedia titles are rapidly increasing.

Conclusions:

• Interactive multimedia is essential for the future of dental education and continuing education.
• Dental professionals will soon require multimedia-capable systems.
• Guidelines are provided for effective multimedia content creation and dissemination.