Dental and Dental Hygiene Intraprofessional Education: A Pilot Program and Assessment of Students' and Patients' Satisfaction

Vickie E Jones; Anastasios Karydis; Timothy L Hottel

doi:10.21815/JDE.017.058

Dental and Dental Hygiene Intraprofessional Education: A Pilot Program and Assessment of Students' and Patients' Satisfaction

J Dent Educ. 2017 Oct;81(10):1203-1212. doi: 10.21815/JDE.017.058.

Authors

Vickie E Jones¹, Anastasios Karydis², Timothy L Hottel²

Affiliations

¹ Prof. Jones is Assistant Professor and Administrative Director, Predoctoral Clinical Program in Periodontology, Department of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Dr. Karydis is Associate Professor, Department of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; and Dr. Hottel is Professor and Dean, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center. vjones17@uthsc.edu.
² Prof. Jones is Assistant Professor and Administrative Director, Predoctoral Clinical Program in Periodontology, Department of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Dr. Karydis is Associate Professor, Department of Periodontology, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; and Dr. Hottel is Professor and Dean, College of Dentistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

PMID: 28966185
DOI: 10.21815/JDE.017.058

Abstract

Interprofessional and intraprofessional education (when students from two or more professions or within the same profession, respectively, learn about, from, and/or with each other) is crucial for effective interdisciplinary collaboration. The aims of this study were to assess the effectiveness of a clinical intraprofessional education program for dental and dental hygiene students, based on students' expectations and satisfaction with the program and patients' satisfaction with the team-based care. The pilot program was developed at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, where dental hygiene students were paired randomly with dental students scheduled for prophylaxis, scaling and root planing, or periodontal maintenance. Surveys with questions about the students' expectations and satisfaction were distributed to 89 senior dental students and 27 senior dental hygiene students before and after team-based procedures. Another survey was distributed to 17 patients asking about their satisfaction with the team-based care. All 27 dental hygiene students (100% response rate), 51 dental students (57.3% response rate), and all 17 patients (100% response rate) participated in the surveys. The results showed that both the dental and dental hygiene students had high expectations and were overall satisfied with the intraprofessional education. The students' expectations and perceived educational gap (difference between expectations and satisfaction) differed for the dental and dental hygiene students (p<0.001). The male dental students were also more satisfied than the female dental students (p<0.01). Overall, the program met or exceeded the students' expectations, and the patients were overwhelmingly satisfied with the team-based care. These results suggest that this intraprofessional practice model provided an effective educational experience for both dental and dental hygiene students and patients. The differences between the dental hygiene and dental students' expectations will help in the design of more effective training that promotes intraprofessional and interprofessional teamwork.

Keywords: allied dental education; dental education; dental hygiene education; intraprofessional education.

MeSH terms

Dental Hygienists / education*
Dental Prophylaxis*
Education, Dental / methods*
Female
Humans
Interdisciplinary Communication*
Male
Patient Satisfaction*
Personal Satisfaction*
Pilot Projects