Journal of dental education
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The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Survey of Dental School Faculty is conducted annually to provide an overview of the hiring and retention activity of U. S. dental school faculty. The survey collects data on the dental faculty workforce, including vacant budgeted positions by appointment and discipline, number of new and lost positions, sources of new hires, and reasons for faculty separations. ⋯ The current average retirement age of dental school faculty members is 69.7 years. The percentage of full-time faculty members leaving for the private sector remained constant over the last three years at approximately 16%. Full-time faculty members were more likely to be recruited from other dental schools, while part-time faculty members were more likely to come from the private sector.
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Social media consist of powerful tools that impact not only communication but relationships among people, thus posing an inherent challenge to the traditional standards of who we are as dental educators and what we can expect of each other. This article examines how the world of social media has changed dental education. ⋯ Policies and legal issues of which academic dental institutions need to be aware from a compliance perspective are examined, along with considerations and resources needed to develop effective social media policies. The challenge facing dental educators is how to capitalize on the benefits that social media offer, while minimizing risks and complying with the various forms of legal constraint.
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This opinion article applauds the recent introduction of a new dental accreditation standard addressing critical thinking and problem-solving, but expresses a need for additional means for dental schools to demonstrate they are meeting the new standard because articulated outcomes, learning models, and assessments of competence are still being developed. Validated, research-based learning models are needed to define reference points against which schools can design and assess the education they provide to their students. This article presents one possible learning model for this purpose and calls for national experts from within and outside dental education to develop models that will help schools define outcomes and assess performance in educating their students to become practitioners who are effective critical thinkers and problem-solvers.
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To develop a profile of current U. S. dental school deans and report their perceptions, challenges, and opportunities that should be addressed in the leadership development programs of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), data were gathered using a web-based survey organized into seven content areas. In 2014, the deans of all accredited dental schools in the U. ⋯ They responded that finances and faculty recruitment and retention were their greatest challenges as a dean. Among these respondents, 98% (N=55) reported being satisfied to very satisfied with their job overall. The survey results will inform ADEA’s leadership development programs for the next five to seven years.
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Most dental school faculty members arrive on campus with a wealth of clinical experience but little to no teacher training. For the past two decades, there has been a call for schools to educate their faculty on a wide variety of topics including educational methodology and cutting-edge educational techniques through faculty development programs. Drawing on theories of general program evaluation as well as evaluation specific to educational programming, the aim of this study was to investigate outcomes of the Faculty Development Program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry between 2007 and 2014. ⋯ Focus group results indicated a need for a more formal new faculty orientation and better communication with all about the specific charge of faculty development within the school. Evaluation of faculty development activities in academic dental institutions is a necessary component of the ongoing improvement of dental education. Suggestions for future evaluations include the idea of collaborating with other dental schools to increase sample sizes, which would increase participants' perception of the level of confidentiality and make statistical analyses more robust.