Education

GOAL

All predoctoral dental graduates demonstrate critical thinking during the course of patient care.

Action

Agree upon definition of critical thinking that can be used across the school.

Success Measure

Definition agreed upon and posted on Academic Affairs website or MiTools.

Status

Completed: Jan 2015

Audit the Curriculum to determine where critical thinking is being taught and assessed.

The curriculum audit is documented in a report, and also in our 2016 accreditation self study.

2015 Curriculum Audit

Completed: Oct 2015

Map critical thinking skills development across the disciplines and vertically through the DDS curriculum.

Critical thinking skills are developed from D1-D4, in preclinics/clinics, biomedical sciences/oral medicine and vertically integrated through the foundation sciences and clinical didactic courses as measured by grading rubrics.

Completed: Dec 2015

Utilize clinical assessment to promote critical thinking by students in the course of patient care.

A standardized assessment, using a critical thinking rubric (a listing of assessment criteria, or what counts, and the levels of quality from excellent to poor), is implemented in the Comprehensive Care course.

A new clinical assessment tool is developed that measures a student’s ability to articulate their reasoning and provide evidence for their decisions in diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment planning and treatment delivery during the course of patient care.

100% of graduating dental students successfully articulate their reasoning and provide evidence for their decisions in diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment planning and treatment delivery during the course of patient care as measured by the new assessment instrument.

Completed: May 2017


GOAL

Incorporate time, flexibility, and guidance in the curriculum to cultivate personalized student development.

Action

Hire a director of Pathways Program, and Curriculum Assessment and Integration.

Success Measure

Hire a director.

Status

Completed: Oct 2015

Redefine the structure of Pathways and its associated projects, electives and time based on outcomes data from students, faculty and staff.

 

A centralized student and faculty dashboard supports the assessment of clinical competency throughout the curriculum.

New Pathways structure defined.

Faculty Retreat.

Implement the new Pathways model.

 

Software selected.

Dashboard implemented.

Completed: Jul 2016

Completed: Jan 2016

Completed: Sep 2016

 

Completed: Dec 2017

Completed: May 2018

Increase the number of dental students participating in the immersion pathway doing basic sciences research.

20% of the predoctoral dental students select immersion track in research with at least half of those (≥10%) in basic sciences research.

Completed: Dec 2020

Increase the number of selective courses that demonstrate integration of the basic sciences in the clinical setting allowing students a stronger capacity to diagnose and a greater armamentarium of treatment options.

Two new courses that integrate basic and clinical sciences are created.

Completed: Winter 2021

A centralized student and faculty dashboard supports the academic progression throughout the curriculum.

Dashboard implemented.

Completed: Jun 2020


GOAL

The Biomedical and Foundation Science curriculum is integrated, clinically relevant and uses a layered learning approach to develop competency in applying science to patient care.

Action

Conduct a series of Faculty Development Workshops that train faculty in engaged learning techniques.

Success Measure

Recruit a director of faculty development.

Status

Completed: Jun 2018

Conduct a series of Faculty Development Workshops that train faculty in engaged learning techniques.

Plan and conduct 3 faculty development courses:

  1. Introduction to teaching, clinical teaching and course directorship

  2. Inclusive teaching practices

  3. Clinical teaching and calibration of clinical competency in the School of Dentistry clinics and Community-Based Collaborative Care and Education sites

Completed: Jun 2019

Reevaluate the role of the medical school and dental faculty in design and implementation of the biomedical and foundation sciences curriculum.

Identify School of Dentistry faculty to direct the biomedical systems courses.

Completed: Sep 2019

 

Define a process for the School of Dentistry Biomedical Sciences co-directors to communicate with and facilitate the integration of biomedical systems courses including Pharmacology, histology, anatomy and I and I

Completed: Sep 2020


GOAL

Provide unique curricular and extracurricular opportunities for dental and dental hygiene students to participate in global initiatives programs.

These programs will be designed to enrich student’s understanding in global health, cultural intelligence, creating sustainable and responsible community-based preventive programs, different health education models and health care systems.

Action

Create at least four global initiative programs designed to provide a distinct learning experience for the students.

Success Measure

Four or more programs have been created and are operational.

Status

Completed: Mar 2018

Develop and implement a fair and effective system to select students for the programs.

Selection system has been developed and implemented with students for 2018 programs selected using the system.

Completed: Jan 2018

Create a new Pathways Elective Course to provide didactic material and allow for structured discussions with all the participating students.

Course is designed and approved by the UMSoD.

Completed: Feb 2018

 

Course is operational.

Completed: Sep 2018

Develop a multi-dimensional assessment system to evaluate the impact of the experience on students.

Assessment is developed and being used for all programs.

Completed: Feb 2018