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Introducing legislative advocacy into the dental school curriculum: A mixed‐methods evaluation
Author(s) -
Meyer Beau D.,
Fearnow Bethany,
Wolcott Michael D.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/jdd.12336
Subject(s) - curriculum , focus group , thematic analysis , medical education , legislature , experiential learning , medicine , psychology , pedagogy , political science , qualitative research , sociology , social science , anthropology , law
The aim of this project was to evaluate a legislative advocacy exercise in pediatric dentistry at 1 North American dental school. A mixed‐methods approach was employed using focus groups and questionnaires. All third‐year dental students (n = 84) participated in an exercise as part of the pediatric dentistry course. Participation in the program evaluation was voluntary. Questionnaires were administered to assess students’ advocacy beliefs, behaviors, self‐efficacy, and knowledge 1 week before and 1 week after the exercise. Six months later, a focus group with questionnaire non‐respondents (n = 9) was conducted to explore participants’ attitudes and beliefs about oral health advocacy within the dental school curriculum. The focus group followed a semi‐structured guide, and transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis. Questionnaires were returned from 27 students before (33% response rate) and 23 students (28% response rate) following the advocacy exercise. Students’ advocacy beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge showed no change, whereas self‐efficacy improved following the advocacy exercise. Students enjoyed the advocacy exercise and viewed it as a positive addition to the curriculum; however, they requested more exposure to advocacy across the curriculum. Students described the power of their collective voice rather than a single person as a major driver of policy change. These findings suggest that curricular changes should incorporate experiential advocacy activities more frequently to help students learn about and gain advocacy skills.