William Dennis Hendricson

This article was developed for the Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (CCI), established by the American Dental Education Association. CCI was created because numerous organizations within organized dentistry and the educational community have initiated studies or proposed modifications to the process of dental education, often...

In spite of efforts by many dental schools to provide information technology resources for students, only a handful of studies have been conducted to determine what dental students think about these initiatives. There are no reports in the literature describing students' perceptions of mandatory laptop programs, which are now being implemented by a...

With the virtual explosion of biomedical information, the medical educator regularly faces a quandary regarding how much to include in the medical curriculum. Opinions differ regarding how much of the available information on a particular topic should be presented in a medical school lecture. To understand better the effect of lecture information d...

This article discusses methodological issues confronting health professionals using questionnaires to study health care variables among populations with limited literacy in English, and suggests techniques for minimizing problems that plague questionnaire-based research among these populations. A recent effort to validate a questionnaire for Rheuma...

This article reports the validation of an assessment instrument designed to measure the outcomes of training in evidence-based practice (EBP) in the context of dentistry. Four EBP dimensions are measured by this instrument: 1) understanding of EBP concepts, 2) attitudes about EBP, 3) evidence-accessing methods, and 4) confidence in critical apprais...

Purpose/objective: To assess the impact of local anesthesia (LA) course for physician assistant (PA) and adult gerontology-acute care nurse practitioner (NP) program students on knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and intention to incorporate skills in clinical practice. Methods: The course was conducted by dental faculty for forty-eight PA and se...

This paper describes an assessment pertinent to oral health care in remote rural areas known as the Residents' Online Activity Report (ROAR). The ROAR provides immediate data to monitor primary care dental residents' clinical activities at rural community health centers (CHCs), which allows fine-tuning of training, and issue resolution. Via the ROA...

Purpose/objectives: The School of Dentistry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSA-SoD) implemented an SoD Emerging Leaders Program (SoDELP) in 2020-2021. This case report describes the leadership training needs of junior faculty that stimulated SoDELP development, the inter-institutional collaboration that facilita...

The southern region of the State of Texas (U.S.) is a vast area, which by itself, is larger than 16 U.S. states in landmass. South Texas is also a region with profound shortages of health care providers including primary care dentists, and consequently, is an area with extensive oral health care needs. In response to this situation, the University...

This article describes issues and challenges related to oral health care access in the state of Texas in the U.S. Inequities in access to oral healthcare in Texas are fueled by rapid population growth in relation to dental workforce, lack of oral health services in specific geographic regions, high proportion of uninsured/underinsured, limited dent...

This case report describes a Teaching Honors Program (THP) at the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry and presents findings from an outcomes assessment covering the initial 11 years of the program. The program goals are to enhance dental students' awareness of academic career options, promote student and faculty collaboration on educational d...

Dental students' clinical learning is dictated by patients' needs. Thus, not all students have identical educational experiences. Even routine treatment can require different approaches depending on concurrent dental problems, patients' health status, or unexpected complications. No curriculum can expose students to all treatment alternatives when...

The goal of this paper is to stimulate discussion within the dental education community concerning teaching / learning strategies employed during the initial injection experience for dental students. To gather information about approaches to teaching local anesthesia injection technique, we developed a survey that requested information from United...

To date, there has been a lack of published studies examining the validity of the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) to assess critical thinking among dental students. The aim of this study was to examine the construct validity of the HSRT using a novice-expert model consisting of first-year dental students as novices and experienced general den...

This conference paper reports the outcomes of a study that analyzed the effectiveness of presentations by university-based scientists for communicating biological concepts and research findings to lay audiences (non-scientists) focusing on the topic of alcohol addiction. An interactive style of presentation that engaged the audience through questio...

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between personality preferences of incoming fourth-year dental students at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as measured by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II and their third-year clinical productivity and percentage of broken appointments. All 105 incoming fourth-year d...

This perspective paper reviews cognitive, psychological and environmental factors that hinder and promote a commitment to professional growth and then reviews four strategies that dental schools can employ to enhance students' readiness to be active learners after graduation: adjusting faculty composition toward the classic "triple threat" model, e...

This study assessed whether personality preferences of third-year dental students at one U.S. dental school predicted success in the clinical phase of dental school, as measured by (1) production points, which students earn by performing various types of dental treatment to resolve patients' oral health problems, and (2) percentages of appointments...

This paper reviews the ten year outcomes of a program designed to enhance dental student interest in academic careers during dental school - the Teaching Honors Program (THP) at the UT Health San Antonio School of Dentistry. The THP curriculum is described, benefits to participating students and their faculty mentors are reviewed and various outcom...

Historically, predoctoral dental education programs have focused on the restoration of implants in the clinical environment; however, given the increase in dental implant therapy being performed by general dentists, the need to incorporate surgical implant training is becoming evident. This article describes a predoctoral surgical implant selective...

The conference presentation describes the results of an evaluation of the instructional effectiveness of dental student instructors (participants in a Teaching Honors Program) who provided lab, classroom, seminar and clinical teaching for incoming first year (matriculating) students in a three week intensive pre-matriculation program and also for s...

Creating a learning environment that fosters student acquisition of self-assessment behaviors and skills is critically important in the education and training of health professionals. Self-assessment is a vital component of competent practice and lifelong learning. This article proposes applying a version of confidence scoring of multiple-choice qu...

This paper reviews student behaviors and attitudes that may be interpreted as being signs of low motivation. Sometimes these signs may be indicative of other issues the student is encountered, including a reaction to a dysfunctional educational environment or social concerns.

The purpose of this study was to test whether an interactive, web-based training program is more effective than an existing, flat-text, e-learning program at improving oral health students' knowledge, motivation, and self-efficacy to address signs of disordered eating behaviors with patients. Eighteen oral health classes of dental and dental hygien...

How many incorrect response options (known as distractors) to use in multiple-choice questions has been the source of considerable debate in the assessment literature, especially relative to influence on the likelihood of students' guessing the correct answer. This study compared distractor use by second-year dental students in three successive ora...

Oral Health Providers have an opportunity for early detection of disordered eating behaviors as they are often the first health professionals to observe overt signs. An intervention was developed, based on the Information Motivation Behavior (IMB) and Health Belief (HBM) Models, aimed at increasing secondary prevention (SP) behaviors among oral hea...

Academic dentistry, as a career track, is not attracting sufficient numbers of new recruits to maintain a corps of skilled dental educators. The Faculty Development Program (FDP) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School received federal funds to institute a 7-component program to enhance faculty recruitment and...

There is nothing worse than having a great idea for studying a research problem and not enough money to do the investigation. This is a big barrier at every level of academia, from cash-strapped students in a lab to any faculty member who desires to undertake an expensive investigation that simply outstrips the financial capacity of the program, de...

Oral healthcare providers have a clinical opportunity for early detection of disordered eating behaviors because they are often the first health professionals to observe overt oral and physical signs. Curricula regarding early recognition of this oral/systemic medical condition are limited in oral health educational programs. Web-based learning can...

This report describes the implementation and evaluation of the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Dental Faculty Development Program (DFDP) for fifteen participants: five advanced dental education faculty members and ten residents. The 100-hour DFDP, designed in the longitudinal immersion model for faculty development, was conducted in four phases at th...

Oral healthcare providers are likely to encounter a number of sensitive oral/systemic health issues whilst interacting with patients. The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate a framework aimed at oral healthcare providers to engage in active secondary prevention of eating disorders (i.e. early detection of oral manifestations of...

Introduction: Eating disorders represent a significant public health problem with specific effects on oral tissue. These effects provide the oral health care provider (OHP) with a clinical opportunity for eating disorder- specific secondary prevention (i.e., early detection of oral signs, oral treatment, and referral). The purpose of this study was...

Introduction: A long-standing challenge in oral health (OH) education is preparing students to address oral/systemic health issues with their patients. Whether OH providers address signs of disordered eating (DE) behaviors is strongly associated with related knowledge, attitudes and psychosocial factors. To gain broader insights into educational ne...

OBJECTIVE: Visual acuity is critical in dentistry but no longitudinal assessment of dental students’ vision has been reported. The study purpose is to longitudinally assess dental students’ vision to determine incidence of deficiencies in pre-matriculation students, characterize visual problems, and determine changes in students’ vision during dent...

Case-based learning offers exposure to clinical situations that health professions students may not encounter in their training. The purposes of this study were to apply the Diffusion of Innovations conceptual framework to 1) identify characteristics of case studies that would increase their adoption among dental and dental hygiene faculty members...

Paper reports findings and implications of a multi-institutional evaluation of the effectiveness of online training modules on disordered eating behaviors, which were completed by health professions students at 12 U.S. health education institutions. The outcomes indicate that online education may enhance the capacity of oral healthcare providers to...

Objectives: Oral health providers (OHPs; i.e. dentists and dental hygienists) have a clinical opportunity for early detection of oral signs of disordered eating behaviors followed by referral for treatment (i.e., secondary prevention) as they are often the first health professional to observe overt health effects. To evaluate the efficacy of a theo...

This article describes the evolution of thinking, primarily over the past fifteen years, within the academic dentistry community concerning teaching and learning strategies to facilitate students' acquisition of competence. Readers are encouraged to consider four issues. First, looking back to the time of the Institute of Medicine report Dental Edu...

This article describes the introduction of an implant surgical selective into a predoctoral dental curriculum. It outlines the various challenges encountered in developing the program and the methods used to overcome those challenges. The article also discusses the outcomes of the first year of the program.

The incorporation of web-based learning into the dental curriculum has been consistently recommended in the literature on reform in dental education. There has been growing support for web-based learning in dental and dental hygiene education as demonstrated by deans' identifying this as a planned curricular innovation. The purpose of our study was...

Objective: Previous studies have shown the KACE questionnaire (Hendricson et. al., 2010) to be a valid instrument to detect changes in knowledge following an evidence-based practice (EBP) course (Wallmann et. al., 2010). These studies considered the I Don’t Know response as incorrect. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if exclusion of th...

The overarching goal of the Evidence-Based Practice Program at San Antonio is to provide our graduates with life-long learning skills that will enable them to keep up-to-date and equip them with the best possible patient care skills during their 30-40 years of practice. Students are taught to (1) ask focused clinical questions, (2) search the biome...

This paper describes the pilot testing and preliminary outcomes of an academic detailing program that involves dental school students who introduce evidence-based innovations to dentists in private practice.

The incorporation of web-based learning into the dental curriculum has been strongly encouraged by the ADEA. Computer-assisted and web-based learning (e-curriculum) can supplement and reinforce more traditional learning and it has the potential to develop skills as well as knowledge. There has been growing support for e-curriculum in dental and den...

This article describes a quality improvement (QI) initiative that is in process at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Dental School and the website that grew out of this effort. The process of screening and assignment of patients was selected for improvement in 2006. QI methods were used to develop a website that...

This manual provides an overview of the fundamental steps and processes in writing grant applications, with focus on avoiding common errors, or "Red Flags" that minimize the chances of an application being strongly considered for funding. The grant writer's goals in each component of the application are emphasized and examples are provided to illus...

The objectives of this study were to determine the relationships between dental students’ knowledge of evidence-based practice (EBP), attitudes toward EBP, and confidence in critically appraising evidence.

Objective: Sophomore dental students at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio participate in a 16-hour evidence-based practice (EBP) course. The objective of this analysis was to determine if students' knowledge of EBP, attitudes toward EBP, and confidence in critically appraising evidence are increased following completion o...

This 2009 study of North American dental school curricula follows a similar investigation conducted in 2002. The authors gathered information from dental schools about: (a) trends in curricular change over the past seven years; (b) curriculum changes currently underway; (c) perceived challenges to curriculum innovation; and (d) projected, or desire...

There is evidence from medicine that schools and practitioners are slow to adopt new and proven effective treatments while marketing efforts lead practitioners to too quickly adopt unproven modalities. To address these problems, the dental school at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio, has developed a program designed to t...

This 2009 study of dental school curricula follows a similar one conducted in 2002-03. Through a web-based survey, the authors gathered information from dental schools about 1) past trends in curricular change over seven years; 2) current changes under way in dental school curricula; 3) significant challenges to curricular innovation; and 4) projec...

Objective: One objective of teaching research methods in dental schools is to increase the student's understanding of, confidence in and use of evidence-based sources of information as opposed to personal experience and opinion. This abstract reports an assessment of dental residents' confidence in several sources of information before and after co...

This conference paper describes an initial assessment, conducted in 2010 at a U.S. dental school, of the test-retest reliability and the internal scale consistency of a new instrument that was created to measure outcomes of evidence-based practice (EBP) training. This instrument is known as the KACE: Knowledge, Attitudes, Access and Confidence Eval...

In 2009, we reported the pilot testing of an Academic Detailing Elective involving dental student visits to practitioners’ private offices to discuss evidence-based Critically Appraised Topics (CATs). Student evaluations of the pilot identified impediments to practitioner visits. The objective of this paper is to report the impact of three program...

Advances in information and communication technology continually offer innovations to assist faculty in their efforts to help students learn new information or develop new skills. However, faculty members are often hesitant to incorporate these innovations into their courses out of fear that these new methods may not provide the anticipated outcome...

This report summarizes the history and curriculum of the American Dental Education Association/Academy for Academic Leadership Institute for Teaching and Learning (ADEA/AAL ITL) Program for Dental School Faculty, describes participant feedback, and reviews how the program serves the faculty development initiatives of the American Dental Education A...

Objectives: This abstract describes the development, implementation and initial assessment of an academic detailing program in which dental school students participated to bring evidence-based messages to dentists in private practice. Methods: Eighteen dental students received a two-day academic detailing and evidence-based practice training cour...

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between dental school faculty knowledge of evidence-based practice (EBP), attitudes toward EBP, methods for accessing evidence, and confidence in their own critical appraisal skills using a modified version of the KACE questionnaire that we reported on last year. Our hypothesis...

This Powerpoint presentation is a brief overview of the principles of competency-based curriculum design and methods for assessment in a competency-based educational (CBE) program. The presentation is used in faculty development courses and workshops in association with the following publications, also available on Researchgate. Albino, Young, Ne...

This article reviews the leadership, purposes, activities and outcomes of an initiative known as the Commission on Change and Innovation (CCI) within dental education which promoted, conducted or sponsored a number of efforts to modernize the educational experience of dental students in the first decade of the 2000s. One of the initiatives was a se...

Assessment is not a unitary concept when it comes to methodology. There are any number of methods that can be used, to monitor and measure students' progression of learning, depending on the competencies being assessed. Using only one or two methods to assess students’ attainment of the wide variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities supporting de...

In this article, the Task Force on Student Outcomes Assessment of the American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education describes the current status of student outcomes assessment in U.S. dental education. This review is divided into six sections. The first summarizes the literature on assessment of den...

This paper reviews the triangulation model for competency assessment, also known as the P-A-R-K model. The pinnacle of the model represents Performance (P), including process (human factors including communication, diligence, organization, compassion, ethical behavior); product (outcomes of patient care); and procedure (technical skills necessary t...

This report is the third in a series of articles on the dental school work environment commissioned by the American Dental Education Association's Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education. The report is based on the most extensive research to date on faculty satisfaction in the dental school environment. The purpose of the study was...

Academic dentists and members of the practice community have been hearing, for more than a decade, that our educational system is in trouble and that the profession has lost its vision and may be wavering in the achievement of its goals. A core of consistently recommended reforms has framed the discussion of future directions for dental education,...

A consistent theme in the national dialogue about future directions for the educational arm of dentistry is how best to cultivate a school environment that will be seen as attractive by members of the dental community who desire to serve their profession as teachers and scholars. As a first step toward stimulating broad-based reflection on the work...

This conference presentation begins with a review of catalysts for curriculum change, the level of complexity of 3 frequently employed change strategies, and the typical phases of a major change initiative. Next, strategies are described for making a data-driven appraisal of the outcomes of a major curriculum change. Conference participants learn c...

Dental students have little input into the selection of course topics and subject matter included in their dental curricula. Curriculum requirements are framed by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, which has stipulated competencies and associated biomedical and clinical knowledge that must be addressed during dental school. Although these comp...

The second in a series of perspectives from the ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (CCI), this article presents the CCI's view of the dental education environment necessary for effective change. The article states that the CCI's purpose is related to leading and building consensus in the dental community to foster a contin...

This article introduces a series of white papers developed by the ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation (CCI) to explore the case for change in dental education. This preamble to the series argues that there is a compelling need for rethinking the approach to dental education in the United States. Three issues facing dental education are explore...

There are many categories of grants in the biomedical sciences and health professions education including training grants designed to support educational programs for health care providers, program development grants designed to help institutions establish centers of excellence that promote research, education and community service in focused areas...

Many North American dental schools face the challenge of replacing the majority of their "boomer generation" clinical instructors over the next ten years as this cohort of faculty reaches retirement age. Developing a new cadre of clinical instructors poses a substantial faculty development challenge: what instructional techniques should be integrat...

The majority of studies examining dental school curriculum have addressed organization, structure, and content issues from the perspectives of administrators, faculty, practitioners/alumni, and professional organizations. However, few studies have focused on students' opinions of dental school. The purpose of this study was to determine students' p...

The purpose of this presentation is to review the available evidence (as of 2005) supporting best practices for helping dental students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to function as entry-level general dentists upon graduation, with focus on strategies for “teaching with the student’s brain in mind.” The presentation addresses: evidence fo...

Electronic curriculum, or E-curriculum, refers to computer-based learning including educational materials available on CD or DVD, online courses, electronic mechanisms to search the literature, email, and various applications of instructional technology including providing laptops to students, multimedia projection systems, and Internet-compatible...

This study examined the current format of curricula at North American dental schools, determined curriculum evaluation strategies, and identified recently implemented changes as well as planned future innovations. The academic affairs deans of sixty-four North American dental schools received an email survey in August 2002; a second, follow-up surv...

In this presentation, we’ll consider the grant reviewer’s perspectives and priorities. We’ll start with an examination of the grant reviewers’ world and explore the factors that frame their approach to the review process. Next, we’ll discuss how to produce a “reviewer-friendly” proposal that helps reviewers do their job efficiently, focusing on six...

This paper explains the differences between qualitative and qualitative research and describes potential applications of qualitative techniques to knowledge gaps in health services delivery, provider behaviors and education of future health care professionals. A process for identifying research questions that can be addressed by qualitative techniq...

PURPOSE: The objective of this article is to help faculty recognize potential underlying causes of a student's learning problems. BACKGROUND: When students struggle with routine assignments and fall behind classmates, a busy teacher may pigeonhole them as slow, give up on them, or become frustrated from failed efforts to bring them up to speed. Wel...

The past decade has been turbulent for dental education, marked by debate about the future directions of the curriculum and the profession itself. The bulk of the dental school curriculum is still devoted to tooth restoration or replacement techniques, although the need for these procedures has declined. Some dental educators now advocate an oral p...

In addition to helping students acquire knowledge, skills and professional values, the goals of health professions education include development of students' independence, critical thinking, communication skills, self-reliance and ability to function within teams. One place to develop these skills is the small group. Participation in collaborative...

Participants in educational research (ER) workshops and courses use this step-by-step ER Planner to design studies that explore educational issues, controversies and techniques. The ER Planner has been adopted for use by universities in more than 60 nations, and it has been translated into a variety of languages. I originally developed the ER Plann...

Efforts to reform the predoctoral curriculum are examined in light of the public's past and future oral health needs. Three directions that may make a difference in the preparation of dentists for their professional roles are discussed: competency-based curriculum, blending dental education into the broader system of health professions education, a...

This manual is used in problem-based learning (PBL) case writing workshops. It provides a structured, by-the-numbers, approach to preparing a PBL case for faculty members who are already familiar with PBL concepts, but who have not yet written a case themselves. The manual was originally developed between 1991 – 1993. Over the years, the case writi...

Education of nonscientists by scientists is assumed to be beneficial for enhancing public understanding of the research process and increasing public excitement about science. However, evaluation of audience response to receiving such information has rarely been performed. In particular, the effectiveness of communicating new research on alcohol ab...

Competency-based dental education is grounded in three questions that frame and guide curriculum design: (1) what knowledge, skills and values, which comprise a set of competencies, should the entry-level general practitioner possess on the first day "on-the-job"? (2) What curriculum structure and learning experiences will best help dental students...

This paper addresses student attitude issues that may hinder the effectiveness of teacher – student communication and thus reduce the overall quality of the learning environment. There are numerous issues related to the complex interpersonal dynamics of the student – teacher relationship. Today’s session begins by exploring the concept of safety be...

It is critical that alcohol scientists be accountable to those who provide research funding, and that scientists speak to the public frequently about the significance of their findings. Often it is better to speak directly to the public rather than letting reporters describe the findings This paper describes the results of several 1-3 hour presenta...

An educational program known as the Childhood Asthma Project (CAP) was implemented to reduce morbidity among Hispanic children with chronic asthma. Seventy-three children, ages 6-16, participated in 4 program phases: baseline assessment, one-on-one child-centered education, application, and maintenance. During baseline assessment, child and parent...

This presentation explores two ways in which students may vary in their approach and capacity for learning in the dense, cognitively challenging curricula of the health professions: differences in information processing, which is the use of environmental cues for detecting, making sense and sorting of incoming stimuli, and metacognition, which is t...

In spite of advocacy for various alternative teaching and learning methods, the lecture remains the most frequently used, and also the most frequently abused, method of instruction in higher education. A strong lecture, well developed and well presented, can provide an enriching and stimulating experience for both teacher and students. However, a p...

This report describes a case-based, student-centered instructional model designed to mimic orthodontic problem-solving and decision-making in dental general practice. Groups of ten junior students meet in a series of one-hour seminars. One week prior to each seminar, a set of diagnostic data is distributed to every student and instructor for advanc...

To increase pediatric residents' knowledge of the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (GDMA) developed by the Expert Panel of the National Asthma Education Program and to increase the residents' confidence in their ability to implement these guidelines. Emphasis was placed on the diagnosis and treatment of Hispanic children with a...

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effect of a dental clinical education program driven by solely by patients' oral health care needs (versus procedural completion requirements dictated by the school) upon students' productivity, attitudes, perceptions of stress and clinical performance as evaluated by their instructors. METHODS: A group of eight...

A problem-based predoctoral implantology course was implemented for dental students at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Students met in small tutorial groups three times a week to analyze patient cases, examples of which are displayed in the paper. As students explored the patient's problems, they identified areas where...

A problem‐based predoctoral implantology course was implemented for ten senior dental students at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Students met in small tutorial groups three times a week to analyze patient cases developed for the course. As students explored the patient's problems, they identified areas where their kno...

This paper describes the process and outcomes of an assessment to measure the impact of a multi-component educational intervention upon pediatric residents' knowledge of pulmonary diseases, and residents' confidence in assessing and managing therapeutic and patient education strategies.

BACKGROUND: Numerous study commissions have contended that departmental territoriality and lack of coordinated planning are stagnating contemporary medical education. As a cure, these commissions have recommended the creation of centralized academic management units empowered to oversee revitalization of the curriculum through a series of reforms,...