title: Teaching and assessing behavioural techniques of applied relaxation for reduction of dental fear using a controlled chairside simulation model.
abstract: This paper describes a novel method of teaching and assessing relaxation techniques using a controlled chairside simulation model. 50 pre-clinical dental undergraduates provided an evaluation of the teaching model as part of their basic clinical skills teaching. Students were required to demonstrate applied relaxation techniques according to 2 pre-selected clinical vignettes. Inter-observer reliability of assessing student competence was calculated on a varied sample (n=9) using 2 independent observers and found to be adequate. The majority of the students viewed the teaching and assessment method as interesting and clinically relevant. However, a few students reported that the method was less advantageous than using a real patient. It is concluded that using vignettes as part of clinical training accompanied by video-based feedback provides a resourceful learning tool for pre-clinical teaching in the absence of patient contact.
authors.affiliation: Dental Public Health and Health Psychology Section, University of Dundee Dental School, Park Place, Dundee DD1 4HR, Scotland, UK. p.m.mcgoldrick@dundee.ac.uk
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: McGoldrick
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pine
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D017145:Models, Educational; D016544:Patient Simulation; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012064:Relaxation Therapy / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*