Assessment of Graduate Orthodontic Programs in North America

Abstract

This study collected information on four main aspects of U.S. and Canadian orthodontic programs: demographic proiles of residents, requirements for graduation, graduate curriculum, and number of faculty and staff members. Program directors at seventy U.S. and Canadian orthodontic programs were invited to participate in a twenty-question survey and to distribute a tenquestion survey to their residents. Twenty program directors and eighty-four residents completed the anonymous, online surveys on Qualtrics.com in July-August 2010. The average age of surveyed residents was 29.6 years of age; 73 percent were non-Hispanic white, with 14 percent Asian/Asian-American, 5 percent Hispanic, and 1 percent African American. A small percentage of residents (13 percent) were foreign-trained. The majority of residents (64 percent) were male. There was a wide variety of clinical and didactic requirements in the programs. Almost all programs emphasized treatment with functional appliances and clear aligners. An average of three full-time and ten part-time faculty members were dedicated to each residency program. This survey reveals a potential shortage of minority orthodontic residents currently being trained in orthodontic programs, in addition to several commonalities and differences among the programs' curricula, graduation requirements, and numbers of faculty and staff members. This preliminary survey will hopefully inspire measures to address the discrepancies revealed, particularly the lack of minority students and full-time faculty members.

Expert Consensus on Growth and Development Curricula for Predoctoral and Advanced Education Orthodontic Programs

“…Consensus on the level of cognition for each subtopic may be used to identify the appropriate learning objectives and instructional and assessment methods 6, 7 . Because programs have a varying number of curriculum hours devoted to orthodontic education, 4, 5 adjustment of hours and/or modification of didactic approaches may be necessary to achieve the Bloom's level of cognition deemed essential for learner competence.…”

“…According to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), to be deemed competent, a graduating dental student or resident must possess “knowledge, skills, and values necessary to begin independent, unsupervised [or specialty] practice.” 1, 2 However, CODA's definition of competence is broad and is interpreted independently by each academic program. Consequently, there are differences in curricular content and hours 3 – 5 and, presumably, in competencies and outcomes assessments in the predoctoral and advanced education programs in orthodontics in the U.S. and Canada. CODA's broad definition also presents a challenge in determining the level of cognition required in orthodontics for learners to demonstrate competence.…”

U.S. and Canadian Orthodontic Faculty Professional Satisfaction: A Survey Study

“…Acquiring skills to become a successful orthodontic educator is an integral part of faculty success in academia. New faculty members will need to learn about many aspects of the academic environment, from educational methodologies and technologies to student learning styles 11 – 13 . For academicians without a background in education, training to acquire teaching skills is a necessity.…”

“…Peterson recommended that policies regarding tenure be reviewed for clarification at the institutional level and that multiple faculty tracks, such as clinical tracks and non‐tenure tracks, be implemented so that faculty members can have designated functions and expectations regarding promotion or tenure 18 . Creating flexibility in academic standards to improve these promotion tracks and mentor individual faculty members for success can provide promotion criteria that reflect the value of each's contribution 7 , 11 …”

Longitudinal effects of utilising photography on the accuracy of ergonomic self‐assessments amongst dental hygiene students

“…Self‐assessment is the accurate judgment of one's performance using specified criteria and having realistic agreement with a validated measure of performance . The development of self‐assessment skills is not only required for the accreditation of dental and dental hygiene educational programmes, but also have been linked to many benefits in clinical practice .…”