Human Patient Simulation for Teaching Medical Emergencies in the Dental Office

Abstract

Abstract Simulation in dentistry has been used to guide students through clinical experiences they may encounter in the dental field. Human patient simulation (HPS) utilizes a high-fidelity manikin in a realistic healthcare environment to portray a scenario involving a patient with a specific disease state and/or other medical, social, or behavioral conditions. HPS can benefit dental/dental hygiene curricula through improving communication, making a scenario lifelike and applicable to practice, and allowing students to practice critical thinking and experience low-occurrence, high-risk medical emergencies that may occur in the dental office. HPS can be more effective than case-based study because the situation can be modified to a particular clinic/office. Benefits to the students are that HPS addresses many different learning styles, engages students in active learning, includes prompt feedback through debriefing, and provides interaction and cooperation among students and faculty. The manikin has the ability to speak, answer questions, and respond appropriately to students' handling of the emergency, which addresses visual, auditory, verbal, and kinesthetic learning styles. Active learning is key to HPS due to the fact that students are able to apply what they have learned in a didactic setting and are encouraged to think reflectively during the debriefing portion of the scenario. We have prepared this resource to assist educators in the process of incorporating HPS into their dental/dental hygiene curricula. The included faculty guide focuses on the use of HPS in assessing students' ability to manage a medical emergency. We conduct medical emergency scenarios as part of the curriculum in our dental hygiene program. The purpose of this presentation is to provide information for other faculty based on our experiences. Results include positive feedback from two cohorts of dental hygiene students who have completed the “medical emergencies in the dental office” simulation as a required part of their curriculum. Students reported improved confidence and knowledge of medical emergencies.

Keywords

• Critical Thinking
• Graduate Medical Education
• Intro to Clinical Dentistry