Journal of dental education
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This article examines the impact of financial trends in state-supported dental schools on full-time clinical faculty; the diversity of dental students and their career choices; investments in physical facilities; and the place of dentistry in research universities. The findings of our study are the following: the number of students per full-time clinical faculty member increased; the three schools with the lowest revenue increases lost a third of their full-time clinical faculty; more students are from wealthier families; most schools are not able to adequately invest in their physical plant; and more than half of schools have substantial NIH-funded research programs. ⋯ Now is the time to build the political consensus needed to develop new and more effective strategies to educate the next generation of American dentists and to keep dental education primarily based in research universities. The future of the dental profession and the oral health of the American people depend on it.
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The number of vacant budgeted faculty positions in dental schools has continued to decline, dropping from 296 in 2003-04 to 275 in 2004-05. The number of lost positions declined to twenty-five, from 147 lost positions reported in 2003-04. While the average number of vacancies per dental school was just under five, three-quarters of these vacancies were considered usual and normal to the operation of the dental school. ⋯ In addition, nearly one in four new faculty members entered dental education directly following graduation from a dental or postdoctoral education program. While it may take longer to fill positions and it has become more difficult to fill some vacancies, overall, dental school deans indicated that the number of vacancies was not affecting the quality of dental education. However, between anticipated faculty retirements and current levels of faculty turnover, continued support for and development of faculty recruitment and retention programs remains essential to maintaining a quality dental education workforce.
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Students' views of their educational experience can be an important source of information for curriculum assessment. Although quantitative methods, particularly surveys, are frequently used to gather such data, fewer studies have employed qualitative methods to examine students' dental education experiences. The purpose of this study is to explore characteristics of effective learning experiences in dental school using a qualitative method. ⋯ The following characteristics of effective learning experiences were identified: 1) instructor characteristics (personal qualities, "checking-in" with students, and an interactive style); 2) characteristics of the learning process (focus on the "big picture," modeling and demonstrations, opportunities to apply new knowledge, high-quality feedback, focus, specificity and relevance, and peer interactions); and 3) learning environment (culture of the learning environment, technology). Common themes emerged across a wide variety of learning incidents. Although additional research is needed, the characteristics of effective learning experiences identified in this study may have implications for individual course design and for the dental school curriculum as a whole.
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This article describes several aspects of the University of Michigan Supreme Court cases regarding diversity in higher education. It provides a number of resources that are useful in shaping the rationale and institutional practices and policies for admissions and the recruitment and retention of diverse classes of students for the health professions.
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The aim of this review is to establish the effectiveness of stabilization splint (SS) therapy in reducing symptoms in patients with myofascial pain. Searching of electronic databases, handsearching of relevant key journals, and screening of reference lists of included studies were undertaken. There was no language restriction, and unpublished research was sought. ⋯ The authors suggested the need for well conducted RCTs that pay attention to method of allocation, blind outcome assessment, sample size, and duration of follow-up. Various measures were adopted to assess the outcomes of treatment. Standardization of the methods used to measure outcomes of the treatment of myofascial pain should be established in future RCTs.