Enhancing students' oral mucosal screening skills through the integration of live patients and video within an oral medicine and pathology course

TitleEnhancing students' oral mucosal screening skills through the integration of live patients and video within an oral medicine and pathology course
Faculty/College/UnitDentistry
StatusCompleted
Duration3 Years
Initiation04/01/2018
Completion03/31/2021
Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2018/2019
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorDenise Laronde
Year 1: Funded Amount23,700
Year 1: Team Members

Denise Laronde, Associate Professor, Oral Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry
HsingChi von Bergmann, Associate Professor, Faculty of Dentistry
Leigha Rock, Graduate Student, Faculty of Dentistry
Zul Kanji, Director, Dental Hygiene Degree Program, Faculty of Dentistry
Charles Shuler, Professor, Faculty of Dentistry

Year 1: Summary

Presently DHYG 435: Oral Medicine and Pathology is an online, image-based course taken in the third-year of the dental hygiene degree program (DHDP). This project is intended to augment the current online learning with a clinical experience in an already existing high-risk oral mucosal disease clinic. The proposed experiential learning provides learners with experience to see oral pathologies first hand, as well as to observe and learn from practising clinical experts with an emphasis on communication, patient assessment, and follow-up. Although overall oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) have a low risk for malignant transformation, the challenge for clinicians still lies at reliably identifying and predicting which patients with OPMDs are at the highest risk for malignant transformation.

This three-year TLEF project could be the first to test the effectiveness of inserting live clinical rotations into current image-based instruction to enhance DHDP students’ ability to screen and identify OPMDs.

Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2019/2020
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorDenise Laronde
Year 2: Funded Amount19,200
Year 2: Team Members

Denise Laronde, Associate Professor, Oral Biological Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry
HsingChi von Bergmann, Associate Professor / Educational Specialist, Faculty of Dentistry
Charles F. Shuler, Professor / Oral Pathologist, Faculty of Dentistry
YiDan Zhu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Project Coordinator
Zul Kanji, Director, Dental Hygiene Degree Program, Faculty of Dentistry

Year 2: Summary

Based on experiential learning theory, we hypothesized that if dental hygiene students could access an enhanced experiential learning opportunity, they could apply the didactic knowledge to the clinical setting. Emerged from the project also is production of instructional videos that can help enhanced the degree-completion students’ online learning experiences as well as support to the entry-to-practice students’ enrichment experiences. Although overall oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) have a low risk for malignant transformation, the challenge for clinicians still lies at reliably identifying and predicting which patients with OPMDs are at the highest risk for malignant transformation. This three-year TLEF project offers students with experience to see oral pathologies first hand, as well as to observe and learn from practising clinical experts focusing on communication, patient assessment, and follow-up. We hope the project could enhance learning outcomes and DH students' future career.

Year 3: Project YearYear 3
Year 3: Funding Year2020/2021
Year 3: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 3: Principal InvestigatorDenise Laronde
Year 3: Funded Amount5,875
Year 3: Team Members

Denise Laronde, Associate Professor, Oral Biological Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry
HsingChi von Bergmann, Professor / Director, Dental Education Research Lab, Faculty of Dentistry
YiDan Zhu, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dental Education Research Lab, Faculty of Dentistry
Zul Kanji, Sr. Instructor / Co-Director, Dental Hygiene Degree Program, Faculty of Dentistry

Year 3: Summary

Based on experiential learning theory, we hypothesized that if dental hygiene students could access an enhanced experiential learning opportunity, they could apply the didactic knowledge to the clinical setting. This project will compare both instructional videos and clinical rotations as ways of instruction and evaluate students’ outcomes from both instructional methods. Although overall oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) have a low risk for malignant transformation, the challenge for clinicians still lies at reliably identifying and predicting which patients with OPMDs are at the highest risk for malignant transformation. This three-year TLEF project offers students with experience to see oral pathologies first hand, as well as to observe and learn from practising clinical experts focusing on communication, patient assessment, and follow-up. We hope the project could enhance learning outcomes and DH students' future career.

Project Report2020-TLEF-Final-Report-Laronde-WEB.pdf