H.T. Van der Molen

Stress amongst dental students: a systematic review.

The present study was conducted to provide future researchers and dental educators with an overview of stress amongst undergraduate dental students reported in the literature. This overview is needed for the development of a new questionnaire measuring the level of stressors including students, staff and process of dental education. In addition, the review can be used to modify dental curricula to decrease such stress and produce better dentists. Our study consisted of a systematic review of 49 peer-reviewed articles published between 1966 till October 2008 in English, discussing different aspects of stress amongst undergraduate dental students. These aspects are demographic variables of stress, sources of stress, impact of stress, indicators of stress, instruments measuring stress level and management of stress. Major sources of reported stress were related to examinations, clinical requirements and dental supervisors. Studies suggest using signs and symptoms for early detection of stress and proper intervention.

Personality characteristics of engineers

Abstract The objective of the current study was to investigate the personality characteristics of a group of engineers with a variety of years of experience. It was executed to remedy shortcomings of the literature concerning this issue and to produce suggestions for a postgraduate training programme for engineers. A total of103 engineers were tested with the five-factor personality inventory (FFPI), a ‘big five’ personality test of Dutch origin. The engineers were shown to score lower on the factor agreeableness, and higher on the factors extraversion, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and autonomy than a national comparison group. The older the engineers, the more conscientious and autonomous they were. In addition, engineers with lower degrees were more conscientious than engineers with higher degrees. A practical implication of the findings for the postgraduate training of engineers is that more attention should be paid to the development of interpersonal skills.

Effectiveness of a communication skills training programme for the management of dental anxiety

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a communication skills training programme for the management of dental anxiety. The aims of the training were directed at the enhancement of knowledge and communication skills. The research design consisted of a pre-test—post-test—control group design. The instruments were a knowledge test, a behavioural role-play test and a learner report. Thirty-four graduate students participated in the study. The results showed that the communication skills training had an effect on the knowledge and a substantial effect on the behaviour of the students. Moreover, the results from the learner report showed that the students acquired important insights in their own capacities and limitations. The conclusions are that the course as a whole is effective for dealing with anxious patients. Finally, it is recommended that knowledge and behaviour examinations are introduced as a regular part of the curricula for dentistry students.

A Measure of Professional Identity Development for Professional Education.

The purpose of this study was to create a new scale with a validated construct to measure professional identity development in students being prepared to become new practitioners. Using the new survey instrument (named the Professional Identity Five-Factor Scale), data were collected from a polytechnic with students enrolled in a wide range of professions. The confirmatory factor analysis found the construct valid and stable across independent samples from the same student population. When the sample was divided into two groups (high and low scores) based on the overall Professional Identity score, the stronger professional identity group scored significantly higher than the other group in all five factors. Our analysis also found the measure reliable using coefficient H as the indicator. Besides a new scale to measure, the underlying construct can also be used as a general guide or framework for the development and evaluation of professional education programmes.