Improving a Dental School's Clinic Operations Using Lean Process Improvement.

The term "lean production," also known as "Lean," describes a process of operations management pioneered at the Toyota Motor Company that contributed significantly to the success of the company. Although developed by Toyota, the Lean process has been implemented at many other organizations, including those in health care, and should be considered by dental schools in evaluating their clinical operations. Lean combines engineering principles with operations management and improvement tools to optimize business and operating processes.

Social Media in the Dental School Environment, Part B: Curricular Considerations.

The goal of this article is to describe the broad curricular constructs surrounding teaching and learning about social media in dental education. This analysis takes into account timing, development, and assessment of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to effectively use social media tools as a contemporary dentist. Three developmental stages in a student's path to becoming a competent professional are described: from undergraduate to dental student, from the classroom and preclinical simulation laboratory to the clinical setting, and from dental student to licensed practitioner.

Social Media in the Dental School Environment, Part A: Benefits, Challenges, and Recommendations for Use.

Social media consist of powerful tools that impact not only communication but relationships among people, thus posing an inherent challenge to the traditional standards of who we are as dental educators and what we can expect of each other. This article examines how the world of social media has changed dental education. Its goal is to outline the complex issues that social media use presents for academic dental institutions and to examine these issues from personal, professional, and legal perspectives.

Use of social media in dental schools: pluses, perils, and pitfalls from a legal perspective.

One of the ways dental education is changing the way it is preparing the next generation of learners is through efficient utilization of interactive social media. Social media, which facilitates interaction and sharing of new ideas, is being utilized to educate students, residents, and faculty. Unfortunately, as with most improvements in technology, there are growing pains.

A dental dean's perspective on ethical remediation of practitioners.

A dental dean reviews the recently reported work of Dr. Muriel Bebeau providing an ethics remediation program for dental professionals in Minnesota who have been referred by the Board of Dentistry for disciplinary reasons. Dean Turner notes that the program is grounded in evidence, theory, practical cases, and critical thinking--all important elements on effective professional pedagogy.

Dental education in a flat world: advocating for increased global collaboration and standardization.

Globalization is a broad term referring to the increasing connectivity, integration, and interdependence of economies, societies, technologies, cultures, and political and ecological spheres across the world. This position paper was developed by a working group of the 2007 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Leadership Institute. The authors explore the effect that globalization has had on dentistry and dental education to date and hypothesize what dental education could look like in the years ahead.

Strategic partnerships between academic dental institutions and communities: addressing disparities in oral health care.

Background: A landmark report from the U.S. surgeon general identified disparities in oral health care as an urgent and high-priority problem.

Enhancing academic integrity: formulating effective honor codes.

Academic integrity continues to be of concern in higher education as the data from undergraduate schools shows an increasing prevalence of cheating behaviors and changing values of students who are entering dental education. The use of honor codes has been reported to positively influence the attitudes and behaviors of students. This paper discusses the elements of an effective and valid honor code and its possible role in enhancing the dental school environment.