Jan J. Reinders

Extracurricular research experience of medical students and their scientific output after graduation

graduation compared with peers without such experience. The subjects of this study were graduates (n ¼ 318) who were admitted for medical training in 1982 and 1983. Data concerning extracurricular research and articles published before graduation were collected by structured interviews in 1997 (n ¼ 274). Data concerning scientific output after graduation were gathered by a literature search in MEDLINE in 2002. The articles were traced by searching on author name and other clues such as publication year, co-authors and subject. Students who gained extracurricular research experience publish more articles after graduation (average ¼ 4 articles) than students without such experience (average ¼ 1 article). Of students who gained extracurricular research experience (n ¼ 103) approximately 50% (n ¼ 51) also published an article before graduation. The latter published an average of six articles after graduation compared to an average of two articles published after graduation by students who did not publish before graduation.

The predictive validity of grade point average scores in a partial lottery medical school admission system

Purposeu2002 To ascertain whether the grade point average (GPA) of school‐leaving examinations is related to study success, career development and scientific performance. The problem of restriction of range was expected to be partially reduced due to the use of a national lottery system weighted in favour of students with higher GPAs.

Direct access: lessons learnt from the Netherlands

Objective To use a qualitative approach to examine the perceptions of policy makers, general dental practitioners, dental hygienists, dental students and dental hygiene students in the Netherlands following the introduction of a direct access policy in 2006.Methods Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were undertaken with a variety of policy makers and clinicians in the Netherlands. These were recorded and transcribed verbatim into MS Word documents. The transcripts were line numbered and subjected to thematic analysis to develop a coding frame using NVivo.Results Four main themes are reported, which represent a subset of a policy analysis of direct access in the Netherlands. These were entitled: The narrative of implementation, Working models of direct access, Relationship between old- and new-style hygienists and Public attitudes.Conclusions Working relationships within integrated practices in the Netherlands are positive, but attitudes towards independent practice are mixed. Good examples of collaborative working across practices were observed, but relationships between the professional bodies remain difficult seven years on since the introduction of the policy.

De relatie tussen specialisme van keuzeco-schap en vervolgopleiding

Inleiding: nIn de Nederlandse discussie over het medisch opleidingscontinuum wordt de mogelijkheid van een individueel in te vullen schakeljaar als overgang tussen de basis- en de vervolgopleiding genoemd. In het Groningse curriculum vormt het keuzeco-schap reeds een dergelijke overgang. Daarom werd de relatie tussen specialisatiekeuzes voor het keuzeco- schap en de vervolgopleiding geanalyseerd.

Written case reports as assessment of the elective student clerkship: consistency of central grading and comparison with ratings of clinical performance

The assessment of the elective clerkship at the University of Groningen consists of a written case report, graded by one of four independent reviewers, and a rating of clinical performance by the students’ supervisors. This study analyses the grades of 710 case reports and 189 ratings. The grades were found to be normally distributed, similar for the reviewers and consistent over the years, but inter- or intra-observer variation was not studied. The ratings of clinical performance were skewed towards ‘excellent’. There was a low correlation between the two assessments (Spearmans r = 0.25; p = 0.001). This may be attributed among other things to the large number of supervisors and the face-to-face assessment of clinical performance versus the distant assessment of a written document. A more relevant explanation, however, is that the case reports measure primarily cognitive aspects, as compared with overall clinical performance.

Attitudes among dentists and dental hygienists towards extended scope and independent practice of dental hygienists.

AIMSnAttitudes of dentists and dental hygienists towards extended scope and independent dental hygiene practice are described in several studies, but the results are heterogenous. The purpose of this systematic review was to compare the attitudes of dentists and dental hygienists towards extended scope and independent dental hygiene practice.nnnMETHODSnPubMed, AMED and CINAHL were screened by two independent assessors to identify relevant studies. Only quantitative studies that reported the percentages of dentists and dental hygienists attitude towards extended scope and independent dental hygiene practice were included. The random-effects model was used to synthesise possible heterogenous influences.nnnRESULTSnMeta proportions with regard to a positive attitude towards extended scope of practice are 0.54 for dentists and 0.81 for dental hygienists. Meta proportions of a positive attitude towards independent practice are 0.14 for dentists and 0.59 for dental hygienists. A meta analysis with regard to negative attitudes could only be performed on extended scope of practice and did not reveal a difference between the two professions. We obtained homogeneous outcomes of the studies included regarding negative attitudes of dentists . A minority of dentists hold negative attitudes towards extended scope of dental hygiene practice. Study outcomes regarding negative attitudes of dental hygienists were heterogeneous.nnnCONCLUSIONSnPositive attitudes are present among a majority of dentists and dental hygienists with regard to extended scope of dental hygiene practice, while for independent dental hygiene practice this holds for a minority of dentists and a majority of dental hygienists.

Perceived dentist and dental hygienist task distribution after dental and dental hygiene students' team intervention

Attitudes of dental students regarding the provision of treatment tend to be dentist-centered; however, facilitating mixed student group formation could change such perceptions. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived scope of practice of dental and dental hygiene students and whether their perceptions of task distribution between dentists and dental hygienists would change following an educational intervention consisting of feedback, intergroup comparison, and competition between mixed-group teams. The study employed a pretest-posttest single group design. Third-year dental students and second-year dental hygiene students at a university in The Netherlands were randomly assigned to intraprofessional teams (four or five members) and received team-based performance feedback and comparison. The intervention was finalized with an award ceremony for the best intraprofessional team. Before and after the intervention, students completed a questionnaire measuring their perceived distribution of ten tasks between dentists and dental hygienists. A total of 38 dental students and 32 dental hygiene students participated in the intervention-all 70 of those eligible. Questionnaires were completed by a total 88.4% (n=61) of the participants: 34 dental (89.5%) and 27 dental hygiene students (84.4%). Dental and dental hygiene students had similar perceptions regarding teeth cleaning (prophylaxis) (p=0.372, p=0.404) and, after the intervention, preventive tasks (p=0.078). Following the intervention, dental students considered four out of ten tasks as less dentist-centered: radiograph for periodontal diagnosis (p=0.003), local anesthesia (p=0.037), teeth cleaning (p=0.037), and periodontal treatment (p=0.045). Dental hygiene students perceived one task as being less dentist-centered after the intervention: radiograph for cariologic diagnosis (p=0.041). This study found that these dental and dental hygiene students had different opinions regarding the scope of practice for dentistry and dental hygiene. The number of redistributed tasks after the intervention was especially substantial among the dental students, although the amount of change per task was minimal. Half of all tasks were perceived as less dentist-centered as a result of the intervention.

Perceived Dentist and Dental Hygienist Task Distribution After Dental and Dental Hygiene Students' Team Intervention

Attitudes of dental students regarding the provision of treatment tend to be dentist-centered; however, facilitating mixed student group formation could change such perceptions. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceived scope of practice of dental and dental hygiene students and whether their perceptions of task distribution between dentists and dental hygienists would change following an educational intervention consisting of feedback, intergroup comparison, and competition between mixed-group teams. The study employed a pretest-posttest single group design. Third-year dental students and second-year dental hygiene students at a university in The Netherlands were randomly assigned to intraprofessional teams (four or five members) and received team-based performance feedback and comparison. The intervention was finalized with an award ceremony for the best intraprofessional team. Before and after the intervention, students completed a questionnaire measuring their perceived distribution of ten tasks between dentists and dental hygienists. A total of 38 dental students and 32 dental hygiene students participated in the intervention-all 70 of those eligible. Questionnaires were completed by a total 88.4% (n=61) of the participants: 34 dental (89.5%) and 27 dental hygiene students (84.4%). Dental and dental hygiene students had similar perceptions regarding teeth cleaning (prophylaxis) (p=0.372, p=0.404) and, after the intervention, preventive tasks (p=0.078). Following the intervention, dental students considered four out of ten tasks as less dentist-centered: radiograph for periodontal diagnosis (p=0.003), local anesthesia (p=0.037), teeth cleaning (p=0.037), and periodontal treatment (p=0.045). Dental hygiene students perceived one task as being less dentist-centered after the intervention: radiograph for cariologic diagnosis (p=0.041). This study found that these dental and dental hygiene students had different opinions regarding the scope of practice for dentistry and dental hygiene. The number of redistributed tasks after the intervention was especially substantial among the dental students, although the amount of change per task was minimal. Half of all tasks were perceived as less dentist-centered as a result of the intervention.

Changing dominance in mixed profession groups: putting theory into practice

ABSTRACT An extended professional identity theory is proposed to enhance interprofessional collaboration. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether comparative feedback on interprofessional interaction can decrease the degree of profession-based dominance and general dominance in mixed profession groups. This observational study comprised a randomized double-blind pretest-posttest control group design with 19 mixed profession groups (10 intervention and nine control groups, each with three dental and three dental hygiene students). All groups received reflective feedback during two consecutive two hour team development meetings. Intervention groups also received comparative feedback. Profession-based dominance concerned the sum of three observation items (conversational turn-taking, dominance and contributing ideas) with a three-point scale: −1 = dental dominance, 0 = no dominance, +1 = dental hygiene dominance. Polychoric correlations confirmed positive associations with the latent trait and an unidimensional underlying structure. Observation items were internally consistent (α > .70). General dominance concerned the sum of absolute values of observation items with a minimum value of zero (no dominance) and the maximum value of three (strong dominance). A two-way factorial ANOVA was performed. The results revealed a significant interaction effect with regard to general dominance, F(1,17) = 6.630, p = 0.020 and large effect size (partial eta squared = 0.28). Comparative feedback on interprofessional interaction decreases general dominance in mixed profession groups.

De ontwikkeling van een feedbacksysteem voor toetsvragenmakers

Door de Groningse Faculteit der Medische Wetenschappen is een feedbacksysteem voor toetsvragenmakers ontwikkeld. Het systeem is onder andere gebaseerd op een statistische analyse van de toetsresultaten. Uit een eerste peiling onder toetsvragenmakers blijken de respondenten overwegend positief te zijn over het ontvangen van feedback. Het ontwikkelde feedbacksysteem is echter nog voor verbetering vatbaar. Om het te kunnen optimaliseren, worden de suggesties van de respondenten als handvat gebruikt. Het specificeren van de feedbackinformatie en het verhelderen van de procedures rond de eliminatie van toetsvragen zijn daarbij twee van de belangrijkste aandachtspunten. (Reinders JJ, Cohen-Schotanus J, Molenaar WM. De ontwikkeling van een feedbacksysteem voor toetsvragenmakers. Tijdschrift voor Medisch Onderwijs 2005;24(1):14-23.)