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'The dental nurse played a vital role in helping to manage the patient': a thematic analysis of undergraduate dental students' reflective journals from outreach placements

British Dental Journal volume 234, pages 527–533 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Introduction Community-based dental education, or 'outreach', forms a key part of dental courses in some high-income countries. Its educational benefits are well-established and once graduated, participants feel better prepared for their early career. Yet, it is less clear what students actually learn while on placements.

Materials and method Qualitative document and thematic analysis of a convenience sample of anonymised dental student reflective journals (n = 51).

Results The reflective journals described varied and broadly positive learning experiences. Analysis identified a number of themes of learning. Most related to the process and outcomes of care, but two key themes - dental anxiety and teamworking - were interrelated with both. Within teamworking, dental nurses appeared important in students' learning. Three process interrelated themes of learning were identified in the data. These were: tailoring your approach; communication and time; and evidence-based dentistry and minimising risk. Two broad interrelated themes relating to outcomes for patients and students were also identified: trust and confidence; and professionalism and personal development.

Conclusion This research identified important and potentially transformative learning from outreach placements. This included how dental anxiety impacts patients and the dental team, the importance of teamworking, and the role of dental nurses in students' experiential learning.

Key points

  • Evaluations of outreach have identified educational benefits for students, but few have identified what they actually learn. This paper reports the first UK thematic analysis of dental students' reflective journals which aimed to identify areas of learning.

  • Amongst many other areas of learning, it supports the findings of a recent review that qualified dental nurses are important in student learning.

  • It also identifies that dental anxiety has profound impacts on the learning process and reinforces the continued emphasis on communication skills and patient management techniques in undergraduate education.

  • The experiences reported in the study suggest outreach provides transformative learning experiences for dental students.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Adrian Jowett, Professor Barry Gibson and Professor Chris Stokes for their comments on a draft of the report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senior Clinical Teacher, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, 19 Claremont Crescent, Sheffield, S10 2TA, UK

    Thomas A. Dyer

  2. Academic Development Adviser, Academic Development Team, The Elevate Hub, University of Sheffield, 210 Portobello, Sheffield, S1 4AE, UK

    Briana Chapple

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Contributions

Thomas Dyer conceived, designed the work that led to the submission, acquired data, and played an important role in interpreting the results, drafted the manuscript and approved the final version. Brianna Chapple designed the work that let to submission and played an important part in interpreting the results, revised the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas A. Dyer.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval of the study was provided by the University of Sheffield Research Ethics Committee (ref: 023032).

Participant information sheets were distributed to interested students as, at the time of journal submission, they were unaware that they would be analysed for research purposes. Following this, consent forms were signed, and if a student consented, there was a three-week 'cooling off' period before journals were anonymised and included in the analysis.

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Dyer, T., Chapple, B. 'The dental nurse played a vital role in helping to manage the patient': a thematic analysis of undergraduate dental students' reflective journals from outreach placements. Br Dent J 234, 527–533 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-023-5688-x

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