Online courses for dentist continuing education: A new trend after the COVID-19 pandemic

Feng-Chou Cheng; Li-Hua Tang; Kou-Jung Lee; Yuh-Fen Wei; Bo-Lin Liu; Mu-Hsiung Chen; Chun-Pin Chiang

Journal of Dental Sciences (Oct 2023)

Online courses for dentist continuing education: A new trend after the COVID-19 pandemic

Feng-Chou Cheng,
Li-Hua Tang,
Kou-Jung Lee,
Yuh-Fen Wei,
Bo-Lin Liu,
Mu-Hsiung Chen,
Chun-Pin Chiang

Affiliations

Feng-Chou Cheng: Chia-Te Dental Clinic, New Taipei City, Taiwan; School of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan; Science Education Center, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
Li-Hua Tang: Department of Nuclear Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Kou-Jung Lee: Hong-Yuan Dental Clinic, Chiayi County, Taiwan; Dental Radiation Safety Committee, Taiwan Dental Association, Taipei, Taiwan
Yuh-Fen Wei: Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu County, Taiwan
Bo-Lin Liu: Department of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Mu-Hsiung Chen: Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Chang-Te Street, Taipei, 10048, Taiwan.
Chun-Pin Chiang: Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Department of Dentistry, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, No. 707, Section 3, Chung-Yang Road, Hualien, 970, Taiwan.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 18, no. 4
pp. 1812 – 1821

Abstract

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Background/purpose: Online courses have been widely used in all levels of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored the effectiveness of a dentist continuing education (DCE) course through the online devices in Taiwan. Materials and methods: The practicing dentists who participated in the online course of dental radiation technology for DCE offered by the Taiwan Dental Association (TWDA) in October 2022 and in March 2023 were enrolled in this study. The composition of participating dentists was confirmed by the public inquiry system and their learning effectiveness was evaluated by a questionnaire-based survey after the online DCE class. Results: All participating dentists (132 in October 2022 and 117 in March 2023) obtained consistent good learning outcomes in this online DCE course. Of these 249 dentists, there were 170 (68.27%) males and 79 (31.73%) females, 127 (51.00%) dental specialists and 122 (49.00%) general dentists, as well as 50 (20.08%) hospital dentists and 199 (79.92%) clinic dentists. The participation rates for this course of practicing dentists in non-municipalities (4.70%), counties (3.88%), eastern region (8.08%), and outlying islands (3.60%) were much higher than those in municipalities (0.79%), cities (1.16%), and the western region including the northern region (0.88%), central region (1.96%), and southern region (1.94%), respectively. Conclusion: The participating dentists express positive feedback on the online DCE courses, and the online DCE courses can reduce the urban-rural gap in dental education resources. The use of online DCE courses in dental education will be a future trend.

Published in Journal of Dental Sciences

ISSN: 1991-7902 (Print)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Taiwan, Province of China
LCC subjects: Medicine: Dentistry
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-dental-sciences/

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