A randomised controlled trial of the effect of outreach placement on treatment planning by dental students.
Undergraduate dental students' curricula are being supplemented with primary care placements.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effect of outreach placement and traditional hospital-based training alone on students' treatment planning ability.


METHODS
Randomised controlled trial.Setting Four existing primary care placements in England during 2004.


METHODS
At follow-up the fourth-year students took a history from a standard 'patient' then recorded a treatment plan. Interview skill was scored. The history and plan were assessed by clinicians blind to the intervention.


METHODS
Five-week block outreach placements for 25 of 49 students.


METHODS
Interviewing skill, quality of dental and social histories, the appropriateness of planned treatments and the consideration of wider issues.


RESULTS
The two groups were similar in the scores for interviewing and taking a dental history. The outreach group scored higher for capturing a social history (outreach mean 4.4, SD = 2.1, n = 22 and hospital 2.8, SD = 1.9, n = 23; p = 0.01) and for developing an appropriate treatment plan (5.6 [SD = 2.1] and 3.9 [SD = 2.3]; p = 0.01). There were no differences in scores relating to the wider issues.


CONCLUSIONS
Dental outreach training was significantly more effective than traditional training alone in improving students' ability to capture relevant points of social history from a patient and to consider them when planning treatment.
Smith
M
M
Department of Oral Health and Development, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Claremont Crescent, Sheffield, S10 2TA. michael.smith@sheffield.ac.uk
Lennon
M A
MA
Brook
A H
AH
Blinkhorn
F A
FA
Blinkhorn
A S
AS
Robinson
P G
PG
D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003153:Community Health Services; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000193:education*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking / Q000592:standards; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000592:standards; D016544:Patient Simulation; D011231:Preceptorship