Contemporary issues in clinical dental teaching.

Aim: This research project sought to explore the issue of what constitutes effective clinical teaching in the minds of both students and teachers.

Background: As stakeholders of the dental clinical setting, teachers and students have valuable practical insights to share with the academic and professional community as to what constitutes effective dental teaching.

Case Description: An explorative qualitative study of dental teachers' and students' perceptions of clinical teaching was carried out at the Faculty of Dentistry of Sydney University. Thirty-one clinical teachers and 12 students participated in this case study through an online questionnaire survey and a focus group, respectively. Responses were categorized in three major clusters, namely, instructional, curricular or organizational.

Conclusion: The findings reveal that both groups hold similar opinions on what constitutes effective clinical instruction including a shared passion for learning and teaching, being clear and organized, demonstrating clinical competencies as well as engaging in professional self-reflection. Most of the issues fell into the instructional cluster where establishing a positive relationship with students including providing constructive feedback at the clinical session came up as key factors contributing to the student experience.

Clinical Significance: There is a demand from both students and teachers to standardize clinical procedures and protocols as well as having a greater synchronization in time and content between lectures and clinical work.