| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3151381 | Journal of Evidence Based Dental Practice | 2014 | 9 Pages |
•Analysis of skills to assess an original clinically-relevant research article•4 h Em assessed mastery of Skills to Assess Professional Literature (SAPL)•Data consisted of 7 years of exam performance by 1st year dental students•Separate analyses for traditional (4-yr) vs advanced placement (3-yr) students•Dental students mastered EBD/SAPL skills via 60 h curriculum at high level
PurposeThe primary goal of this project was to describe the level of knowledge acquisition using detailed test performance outcomes of the EBD SAPL curriculum over its first 7-years of implementation at the NYU College of Dentistry. A secondary goal was to compare performance outcomes impact of the full 60 h base SAPL curriculum as taught to 4-year DDS students vs an abbreviated 30 h base SAPL curriculum as taught to 3-year Advanced Placement DDS students.MethodsThe findings for the period 2004–2010 are reported for 1647 dental students (63.6% 4-year DDS students, 36.3% 3-year Advanced Placement DDS students). The database consisted of the score earned by each student on each individual question of the SAPL course's 4 h final examination in which each student read an original research article and answered all questions on the Literature Analysis Form.ResultsThe major findings were overall high performance by both groups of students (SAPL exam scores of 85.8 vs 83.7, respectively) as well as very similar outcomes between these two student groups on: 1) recognizing research design elements and on interpreting those design elements for clinical application, 2) detailed performance of knowledge within the specific five traditional sections of research articles, and 3) detailed performance across 18 identified research design topics.ConclusionIn conclusion, both course formats appear to be highly effective for their respective student groups, but should not be interpreted as evidence favoring the shorter format given the different characteristics of the two student groups.
