What is it about?
Basic biomedical sciences may lack direct relevance to the practice of dental medicine. We wanted to investigate if visual stimuli related to dental profession during a medical physiology seminar could make the topic appear clinically relevant for (future) dentists. The results of the survey indicated that dental students perceived the topic of the seminar (physiology of the respiratory system) as more important for them as future dentists when power-point presentation included pictures related to students’ future profession (e.g., dentist working on a patient, dental office, tooth brushing, sketches of teeth).
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Why is it important?
The results of this survey encourage physiology lecturers at dental schools to present, explain and discuss different physiological principles using cases and situations from dental practice as this could increase students’ interest in the subject and their motivation for learning. Such an approach could be particularly beneficial if there is a significant time gap between basic courses and involvement of students into clinical training for it could promote meaningful learning.
Perspectives
I believe that contextualised teaching, that is presenting physiology as relevant for patient care, can strengthen positive attitudes of dental students towards this extensive and demanding basic subject. In cases when a link between the topic and dental practice cannot be made, pictures related to dental profession might help lecturers capture students' attention :)
Dr Lea Vuletic
Sveuciliste u Zagrebu
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Visual presentation of a medical physiology seminar modifies dental students' perception of its clinical significance, European Journal Of Dental Education, December 2014, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/eje.12132.
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