How do U.S. and Canadian dental schools teach interpersonal communication skills?

Full Abstract

The status of instruction in interpersonal communication was surveyed in forty U.S and Canadian dental schools. Key faculty members were identified, and syllabi and course descriptions were collected and content-analyzed. The following findings were obtained for responding schools:
1) only one-third of schools had courses specifically focusing on interpersonal communication; 2) more than half of the schools offered these types of courses only during the first two years; 3) the most common topics were communication skills, patient interviewing, and patient education/consultation; 4) the most frequently used method of teaching was lectures; active practice was used less often; 5) written examination was the primary instructional evaluation tool, whereas more sophisticated performance-oriented assessments were used less often; and 6) about half of the teachers did not have a D.D.S. degree; those not dentists were primarily psychologists. At least eight of the forty dental schools surveyed do not appear to meet the accreditation guidelines for predoctoral programs in this area of instruction. Some could not identify a faculty member responsible for such instruction. Schools offering more extensive instruction were more likely to offer active rather than passive teaching and use more sophisticated student evaluation strategies. This research suggests a need for reevaluation of teaching in this subject area.

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Author information

Author/s: Yoshida, Toshiko (T); Milgrom, Peter (P); Coldwell, Susan (S);

Affiliation: Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of dental education (J Dent Educ), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Nov; vol 66 (issue 11) : pp 1281-8

Dates: Created 2002/12/17; Completed 2003/01/02; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 12484681, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Faculty, Dental
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Patient Education as Topic
Program Evaluation
Psychology
Schools, Dental
Teaching - methods
United States

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