Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE ORC3106

 
TITLE Patient Based Learning

 
UM LEVEL 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Oral Rehabilitation and Community Care

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit complements the clinical component of dental hygiene education. Students’ ability to apply evidence based dentistry in practice will be documented and showcased in a clinical practicum portfolio covering the whole academic year.

The main objective is to underline the importance of keeping abreast of new developments and making decisions based on reliable evidence thus providing the best possible dental hygiene care to the clients.

Study-unit Aims:

The aim of this study-unit is to develop and enhance clinical decision making skills to support safe practice across various dental health settings and with different patient populations with diverse health issues. This study unit will also equip the students with the necessary skills to integrate the best available evidence from research with expertise in dental hygiene clinical practice and oral health education for the benefit of the clients.

It serves as a guide to decision-making in practice:
- assess situations encountered in the students' clinical practice;
- access information;
- explain phenomena;
- predict outcomes;
- re-evaluate and advance dental hygiene services;
- collaborate with dental surgeons and other professionals in providing quality health care.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- identify clinical problems/oral health education misconceptions and define viable questions;
- comprehend the process of applying the appraised evidence to practice;
- understand possible barriers to the implementation of this evidence based approach to dentistry;
- demonstrate effective documentation of experiences, issues, ideas and reflections in a portfolio.

2. Skills
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- identify clinical problems/oral health education misconceptions;
- apply the appraised evidence to practice;
- explain possible barriers to the implementation of this evidence based approach to dentistry;
- demonstrate effective documentation of experiences, issues, ideas and reflections in a portfolio;
- develop their confidence and competence in accessing resources to facilitate clinical decision making skills in order to prepare for return to a practice setting wherein diverse forms of knowledge and decision making skills are required to provide quality dental health care;
- increase his/her capacity to assess, plan and evaluate client-centred care based on multiple ways of knowing, principles of evidence based decisions (evidence based practice) and current best-practices.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

- Clarkson, J., Harrison, J.E., Ismail, A.I., Needleman, I. and Worthington, H. (2002). Evidence based dentistry for effective practice. London: Martin Dunitz.
- Crombie, I.K. (1996). The pocket guide to critical appraisal: a handbook for health professionals (2nd Ed.) Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.
- Sackett, D.L., Rosenberg, W.M., Gray, J.A., Haynes, R.B., and Richardson, W.S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. British Medical Journal, 13 (312), 71-2.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Pre-requisite Study-units: ORC2002, ORC2113

Attendance to scheduled sessions, inclusive of lectures/tutorials, practical, laboratory and clinical components is compulsory. Students who do not attend at least 90% of the scheduled sessions will not be allowed to sit for any of the assessment components mentioned below.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM2 Yes 20%
Portfolio SEM2 Yes 80%

 
LECTURER/S Maria Luisa Gainza-Cirauqui
Nikolai Attard
Gabriella Gatt

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit