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Cultural competence skills in a dental curriculum: A review
Author(s) -
Mariño R. J.,
Ghanim A.,
Barrow S. L.,
Morgan M. V.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
european journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1600-0579
pISSN - 1396-5883
DOI - 10.1111/eje.12263
Subject(s) - curriculum , bachelor , medical education , competence (human resources) , ethnic group , cultural competence , medicine , nursing , psychology , pedagogy , sociology , political science , social psychology , anthropology , law
This study aimed to analyse and evaluate the extent of transcultural content in the current curricula of the Doctor of Dental Surgery ( DDS ), Bachelor of Oral Health ( BOH ) and Master of Nursing Science ( MNS c) courses at the University of Melbourne. Methods: The study was conducted in two phases: a quantitative review and assessment of the current DDS , BOH and MNS c curricula at the University of Melbourne, and interviews with various staff from the University of Melbourne who were responsible for curriculum development for these courses. Results: Staff from the DDS , BOH and MNS c courses concurred on the importance of transcultural skills, the necessity of covering cultural issues relevant to the main ethnic groups in Australia, obstacles faced and the lack of evaluation methods for cultural competency. The nursing curriculum had the most extensive coverage of transcultural content throughout both years of the course (total 71 formal contact hours; mean 36 formal contact hours per year). In contrast, modules on transcultural skills were limited to the first two of the 3‐year BOH course (54 hours; 18 hours) and only the first of the 4‐year dental curriculum (40 hours; 10 hours). Conclusion: The DDS course showed less time devoted to formal teaching of these concepts compared to the nursing and BOH courses despite showing a noticeable improvement from a previous assessment conducted in 2006. It is hoped that the DDS course continues to further increase the transcultural content and find ways to incorporate more transcultural education.