Dental and Allied Dental Students’ Attitudes Towards and Perceptions of Intraprofessional Education

Abstract

Interprofessional and intraprofessional learning opportunities in health professions education are vital to emphasize evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and cost-effectiveness in patients' oral health care. The aim of this study was to assess dental, dental hygiene, and dental assisting students' readiness for intraprofessional education and to evaluate their attitudes towards and perceptions of intraprofessional teamwork, communication, respect, and understanding of professional roles. In 2013, students at one dental school (N=247) were surveyed, and focus groups were conducted for this convergent parallel mixed-methods study. Survey response rates were as follows: senior dental students 54.4% (N=43), senior dental hygiene students 100% (N=32), dental assisting students 95% (N=19), junior dental students 51.8% (N=42), and junior dental hygiene students 100% (N=33). The results showed that the dental hygiene students had more positive responses about intraprofessional education than the dental and dental assisting students (p<0.05). Most (94%, N=160) of the respondents in the combined groups agreed that intraprofessional learning would help them become more effective members of the oral health care team. The three focus group sessions (N=17) revealed consistency among the groups regarding the value of an integrated clinical design and intraprofessional education. These students were eager and positive about intraprofessional learning and agreed that a shared learning model can improve communication and respect among team members, provide a better understanding of roles, and ultimately enhance patient care.

Intraprofessional education with dental hygienists: The post training impact on dentists

“…The second survey was an adaptation of the validated Modified Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS), which has been used to evaluate IntraPE and IPE in multiple studies. [6][7][8]12,21 An expert panel -comprising 6 professors and dentists in the UWSOD, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the UWSOD, the EWU DH graduate faculty, and 1 EWU dentist -adapted the Modified RIPLS for this study. The end result was a 12-item questionnaire, using a 5-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).…”

“…2,[6][7][8] Recent research concludes IntraPE creates a better understanding of roles and responsibilities of different healthcare providers, 2,[8][9][10] and improves teams and teamwork. [6][7][12][13] For the purposes of this study, the definitions of teamwork and roles and responsibilities come from the Interprofessional Education Collaborative. 1 Teamwork is defined as the levels of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration characterizing the relationships between professions in delivering patient-centered care.…”

“…1 Currently, IntraPE does not exist at most dental and DH institutions. 13 Existing literature explores dental and allied dental (DH, dental assisting, or dental laboratory technician) students' attitudes toward IntraPE while they are in their programs 2,6,7,[15][16][17][18] ; however, a gap exists regarding attitudes participants carry with them as practicing healthcare professionals. Recent literature encourages longitudinal follow-up studies to evaluate shared learning outcomes.…”

Creating Opportunities for OT-OTA Student Learning Through Community Collaborations

“…They concluded that increased PT-PTA student education and interaction may facilitate preferred PT-PTA relationships in practice. Brame, Mitchell, Wilder, and Sams (2015) conducted a study with dental, dental hygiene, and dental assisting students to assess their attitudes towards and their perceptions of intraprofessional education. Survey data and focus group results indicated support for increased intraprofessional communication and revealed that their understanding of one another's roles was limited.…”

Análisis de la situación de los profesionales de la salud bucodental en las Islas Canarias 2015-2016

“…La higiene dental se ubica dentro de la rama sanitaria de la Formación Profesional de Grado Superior (con referente en la Clasificación Internacional Normalizada de la Educación CINE-5b). Esto supone un avance en la formación y una aproximación a la situación europea, en lo que a formación se refiere.Hubiese sido ideal integrar la formación, es decir, que el equipo de salud bucodental se formase conjuntamente, ya que se ha visto que se mejora la comunicación, la empatía, el trabajo en equipo y la atención al paciente(161). En 2005 el Dr. Castaño ya ponía en tela de juicio el hecho de que la formación de los higienistas no se realizara en la Facultad de Odontología, y se planteaba: "¿Por qué los higienistas dentales se forman ajenos a la Facultad de Odontología?…”