[three_fourth]Introduction
In their final semester of study, dental technology students work within the Griffith Dentistry and Oral Health Clinic under the supervision of an academic staff member. Each student takes part in, and provide services for, inter-professional teams of dentistry students (from a range of specialist areas). Students work together to develop treatment plans and dental technology students produce prostheses and orthodontics for patients. The teams are further supervised by practicing dental specialists, as well as tutors. The Clinic itself was established in 2005 to provide dental treatment to the local Southport and Gold Coast community as well as to offer a quality professional education facility for dental technicians, prosthetists, oral health therapists and general and specialist dentists.

Students enter the dental laboratory having had prior professional work place experiences – 8 weeks of placement are required. They have also undertaken significant laboratory practicum courses and work throughout their degree. The laboratory experience consolidates and extends students’ prior experience, knowledge and skills in an explicit transition to the profession. The aim is to ensure that students have a clear sense of workplace requirements and can meet professional benchmarks for the products of their work, as well as developing personal and professional confidence and strong professional networks. In 2010, the academic structure of the course was updated to remove simulated cases (all work is now client-based), improve and align assessment strategies and to support management of a balanced caseload for each student.

Delivery format
During the Professional Practice experience in the dental laboratory, students spend 24 hours per week for 16 weeks (384 hours) in the laboratory where they make prostheses on prescription for patients, and also take part in interdisciplinary treatment planning meetings with 3rd, 4th and 5th year dentistry students. During this time, students gain hands on experience in the production of prosthesis ranging from simple to complex, which need to be produced at the rates expected in professional laboratories. Turnaround times for products ranges from 24 hours to a week, and students are expected to maintain a quota and take on a variety of products. In practice, students often work for longer hours voluntarily. Students can also attend the clinic to observe the dentistry practice.

The course convenor and tutors supervise students on a daily basis, review products for quality and ensure that work is completed as expected, as well as providing mentoring support for students, managing the workload and acting as the laboratory manager.

Feedback and assessment
Assessment is broken into three primary components: development of products (60%); team work contributions (20%) and; a practical exam (20%). Students are also required to meet a series of criteria around professionalism in order to pass the capstone. Peer and self assessment is encouraged to increase familiarity of requirements but is not captured for assessment (reflective journals and peer and self assessment is used in previous Laboratory Practicum courses to develop reflective practice). The approach to assessment of product development work takes an unusual format in order to reflect the importance of professional output for patients. Students are expected to be present in the laboratory at all scheduled working hours and to meet quotas for development of a range of products. Each of the product types is allocated points. The baseline for gaining all points related to a particular product is completion of the product on time and to the required standard. Students can achieve more points (and higher grades) by completing more products in each category over the semester, but fewer points are given to a product if it does not meet professional quality standards or if a tutor has had to intervene. Points can also be removed for unprofessional behaviour, including late arrival.

Team contributions are assessed by supervisors of the inter-professional teams. Members of each team submit reports at various times throughout the semester and document the attendance and contribution of all students, decisions and design work. The practical exam takes place in the last week of the dental laboratory experience, and involves a set of product prescriptions on which students are given two days to work. This approach is used to balance the significant variation of tasks and products between students in the general clinic work.

More information on the way points are calculated can be found in the abridged handbook.

Resourcing
This is an intensive experience for both students and staff. Students spend significant time in the laboratory, and for them it is a significant investment. The critical nature of the work and the pressures of a professional laboratory also require time and resourcing. Materials and technical equipment are organized by Technical Services, but the coordinator is responsible for managing the material needs and logistics, including managing workload and priorities, and ensuring that the case mix is appropriate and fair for each student.

In this context, students have to be supervised throughout, which means that the convenor and tutors also need to be on-site throughout the student working hours and there is a need for a relatively high staff/student ratio (typically 1/10). The cost of this is offset by the fees patients pay for the work completed, which contributes to maintaining the Griffith Health Dental Clinic as an educational and community service. Staffing profiles also require careful consideration. Academic supervisors must be practitioners as well as having an understanding of the academic requirements and student needs, as they provide the interface (and ultimately some responsibility) for the quality of work being produced. Because this is a challenging and sometimes stressful experience for students, supervisors also need to be highly flexible and willing to be available to provide support to individual students, more than might be the case in a standard unit.

Outcomes
The real world intensity of the laboratory to clinic experience is both challenging and exciting for students. They are highly motivated in this context, and often work longer and later than required. They also report commencing the course apprehensive, but gaining significant confidence about their capabilities. This is reflected in employer feedback that the course provides students with a clear advantage in their understanding of the ways in which professional dental technicians operate, and the nature of professional standards.

Providing an `in context’ environment for students to carry out their capstone work develops students’ professional behaviour, critical evaluation of work practices, communication with health professionals and the application of teamwork. The course allows students to develop their time management and technical skills, developing capabilities in communicating with clinicians and their understanding of the financial and operational nature of a dental laboratory. For the Dental Technology students in particular, practical artistic skills are developed, improved and built on. Students also develop an understanding of the importance of relationships and build strong peer networks that transfer to professional environments.

More information
Course description – https://www148.griffith.edu.au/degree-career-finder/Course/Overview?CourseCode=3029DOH
About the clinic – http://www.griffith.edu.au/health/clinics/dentistry-oral-health-clinic

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Key characteristics
Supervised, intensive, work-based professional learning; inter-professional, one semester (16 weeks, 4 days per week, 1/4 fte), practical assessment
Student numbers: up to 25

Contacts
Dr Jane Evans, Program Convenor, Bachelor of Oral Health in Dental Technology [email_link email=”j.evans@griffith.edu.au”]Email Jane[/email_link]
Andrew Cameron, Course Convenor [email_link email=”a.cameron@griffith.edu.au”]Email Andrew[/email_link]

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