RCT of the effects of block absence for outreach placements on dental students' finals grades.
Undergraduate dental curricula are being supplemented with primary care placements requiring periods away from the dental school. These absences may impact negatively on students' other studies.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the effect of outreach placement and traditional hospital-based training alone on students' final examination scores. Existing primary care placements in northern England about one year from students' qualification.


METHODS
Analysis of secondary outcomes in a randomised controlled trial with students' final examination marks being compared on qualification. To reduce Type I error only 4 of 24 available scores were considered and multiple testing correction applied. Five-week block outreach placements for 25 of 49 students. Honours awarded and examination scores for children's dentistry, overall clinical work and theory.


RESULTS
Groups' final exam scores were similar: children's dentistry - outreach 64.9 (SD 2.1), hospital-based 65.0 (3.0); overall clinical work 58.3 (3.4) cf 60.7 (4.8) and theory 54.6 (3.5) cf 56.5 (4.0). The numbers of students awarded honours (outreach 1, hospital 4) showed no significant difference (Fisher's exact text P = 0.19).


CONCLUSIONS
Dental outreach training involving several weeks' absence from the school had no negative impact on students' finals scores.
Smith
M
M
Department of Oral Health and Development, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, Claremont Crescent, Sheffield, UK. michael.smith@sheffield.ac.uk
Lennon
M A
MA
Robinson
P G
PG
D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004497:Education, Dental; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000193:education; D011231:Preceptorship; D011320:Primary Health Care; D013335:Students, Dental