Premium
Dental students' reflections about long‐term care experiences through an existing model of oral health
Author(s) -
Brondani Mario,
Pattanaporn Komkham
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
gerodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1741-2358
pISSN - 0734-0664
DOI - 10.1111/ger.12269
Subject(s) - thematic analysis , medicine , geriatric dentistry , perspective (graphical) , curriculum , meaning (existential) , population , constructive , health care , term (time) , long term care , oral health , geriatrics , medical education , nursing , qualitative research , psychology , family medicine , pedagogy , psychotherapist , social science , process (computing) , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , economic growth , environmental health , sociology , computer science , operating system , quantum mechanics , physics , economics
Objective The aim of this study was to explore students' reflective thinking about long‐term care experiences from the perspective of a model of oral health. Materials and methods A total of 186 reflections from 193 second‐year undergraduate dental students enrolled between 2011/12 and 2014/15 at the University of British Columbia were explored qualitatively. Reflections had a word limit of 300, and students were asked to relate an existing model of oral health to their long‐term care experiences. We have identified the main ideas via a thematic analysis related to the geriatric dentistry experience in long‐term care. Results The thematic analysis revealed that students attempted to demystify their pre‐conceived ideas about older people and long‐term care facilities, to think outside the box , for example away from a typical dental office, and to consider caring for elderly people from an interprofessional lens . According to some students, not all domains from the existing model of oral health were directly relevant to their geriatric experience while other domains, including interprofessionalism and cognition, were missing. While some participants had a positive attitude towards caring for this cohort of the population, others did not take this educational activity as a constructive experience. Conclusions The nature of most students' reflective thinking within a long‐term care experience showed to be related to an existing model of oral health. This model can help to give meaning to the dental geriatric experience of an undergraduate curriculum. Such experience has been instrumental in overcoming potential misconceptions about long‐term care and geriatric dentistry.