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Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants

INTRODUCTION: Whilst admission to dental school in many jurisdictions requires applicants to shadow dentists or undertake work experience at a dental practice, little is known about the impacts on professional learning when dental students work part‐time as dental assistants whilst concurrently stud...

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Autores principales: Leadbeatter, Delyse, Tjaya, Karen Cynthia, Li, Perline, Ma, Henry Stephen, Phan, Aaron Jay, Peck, Christopher
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10078695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35108442
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eje.12782
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author Leadbeatter, Delyse
Tjaya, Karen Cynthia
Li, Perline
Ma, Henry Stephen
Phan, Aaron Jay
Peck, Christopher
author_facet Leadbeatter, Delyse
Tjaya, Karen Cynthia
Li, Perline
Ma, Henry Stephen
Phan, Aaron Jay
Peck, Christopher
author_sort Leadbeatter, Delyse
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Whilst admission to dental school in many jurisdictions requires applicants to shadow dentists or undertake work experience at a dental practice, little is known about the impacts on professional learning when dental students work part‐time as dental assistants whilst concurrently studying dentistry. This paper explores what, how and from whom dental students who work as dental assistants acquire professional knowledges during employment. METHODS: This study draws on a qualitative analysis of interviews with sixteen senior dental students who have extra‐curricular part‐time employment as dental assistants in private dental practices. RESULTS: Analysis produced four themes that relate to students learning in the professional environment: students learn about the responsibilities, rhythms and routines of practice, as well as patient communication and interactions. Students embedded in the dental team noticed and related to the dispositions and the work of dentistry. Students learned from all members of the dental team including clinical and non‐clinical staff (reception, administration, laboratory and sterilisation). DISCUSSION: Students used their experiences in a practice setting to further their professional education. The ability to “read” a situation and formulate an appropriate response requires the integration of complex and actionable professional knowledges. CONCLUSION: This research study presents insight into the ways dental students employed as dental assistants are embedded in and learn from the dental team in a critically evaluative manner. Students professionally notice and make sense of complex practice environments whilst undertaking university studies to learn about practice routines, rhythms and responsibilities as well as advancing confidence in relating with patients. This study provides a stimulus for further research about the contribution of workplace experiences to dental education.
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spelling pubmed-100786952023-04-07 Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants Leadbeatter, Delyse Tjaya, Karen Cynthia Li, Perline Ma, Henry Stephen Phan, Aaron Jay Peck, Christopher Eur J Dent Educ Original Articles INTRODUCTION: Whilst admission to dental school in many jurisdictions requires applicants to shadow dentists or undertake work experience at a dental practice, little is known about the impacts on professional learning when dental students work part‐time as dental assistants whilst concurrently studying dentistry. This paper explores what, how and from whom dental students who work as dental assistants acquire professional knowledges during employment. METHODS: This study draws on a qualitative analysis of interviews with sixteen senior dental students who have extra‐curricular part‐time employment as dental assistants in private dental practices. RESULTS: Analysis produced four themes that relate to students learning in the professional environment: students learn about the responsibilities, rhythms and routines of practice, as well as patient communication and interactions. Students embedded in the dental team noticed and related to the dispositions and the work of dentistry. Students learned from all members of the dental team including clinical and non‐clinical staff (reception, administration, laboratory and sterilisation). DISCUSSION: Students used their experiences in a practice setting to further their professional education. The ability to “read” a situation and formulate an appropriate response requires the integration of complex and actionable professional knowledges. CONCLUSION: This research study presents insight into the ways dental students employed as dental assistants are embedded in and learn from the dental team in a critically evaluative manner. Students professionally notice and make sense of complex practice environments whilst undertaking university studies to learn about practice routines, rhythms and responsibilities as well as advancing confidence in relating with patients. This study provides a stimulus for further research about the contribution of workplace experiences to dental education. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-02-07 2023-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10078695/ /pubmed/35108442 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eje.12782 Text en © 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Dental Education published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Leadbeatter, Delyse
Tjaya, Karen Cynthia
Li, Perline
Ma, Henry Stephen
Phan, Aaron Jay
Peck, Christopher
Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title_full Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title_fullStr Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title_full_unstemmed Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title_short Professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
title_sort professional knowledge acquisition of dental students employed part‐time as dental assistants
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10078695/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35108442
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eje.12782
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