COVID 19 and Dental Education: Transitioning from a Well-established Synchronous Format and Face to Face Teaching to an Asynchronous Format of Dental Clinical Teaching and Learning
Melanie Nasseripour, Jonathan Turner, Susha Rajadurai, Jonathan San Diego, Barry Quinn, Anitha Bartlett, Ana Angelova Volponi
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to adopt and establish complete or partial online delivery of our clinical teaching and learning. We developed an alternative approach with a combination of Problem based Learning asynchronous fora and Teacher-facilitated synchronous online discussions. Our aim is to share our educational practice and highlight the requirements and constraints, advantages and challenges of such an approach. It allowed a more student-centred experience, but clinical simulation and face-to-face patient care remain necessary. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of dental education for the foreseeable future, with a reduced number of patients in dental clinics. Further study is therefore necessary to understand the lived experience of students and teachers to the adopted online teaching and learning approach.