Frequently Asked Questions

Curriculum Innovation - White Paper (pdf)

Why do we need to change the curriculum?

While we have an outstanding predoctoral curriculum, feedback from both faculty and students obtained during the Strategic Assessment process suggested that we could do even better. Dean Polverini set the direction for curriculum enhancement in his vision statement and Strategic Imperatives in 2008. For the past several months, the Vision Implementation Steering Committee has been working on broad-based methods to enhance the link between basic and clinical sciences in the curriculum to enable students to better apply advances in science to clinical care throughout their careers, allow flexibility in the delivery of curriculum, encourage students to explore enriched learning experiences to prepare for new oral health careers of tomorrow, and at the same time, respect the realities of the economic environment in which we must operate. Top

Will the DDS curriculum be longer?

A student following the “traditional” path to obtaining a DDS degree will complete the curriculum in four years. A student choosing pathways that incorporate additional educational or research opportunities may find that additional time is required depending on the requirements of those pathways. Top

When will the transition to changes officially start?

We will propose that most of the changes will be in place for the entering class of 2010. Top

Are economics a primary motivation for change?

While economics influence all of our decisions, our primary objective is to develop the best curriculum possible. Financial efficiencies may create opportunities to engage in some new initiatives. Top

Who is in charge of the curriculum?

The faculty are in charge of the curriculum. While there is a Vision Implementation Steering Committee overseeing the current process, there are also other sub-teams of faculty actively working on the curriculum now and all members of the faculty will be actively engaged in the process. Before significant changes are made to the curriculum, plans will be presented to the faculty for a vote to adopt them. Top

What is the role of the faculty members?

The faculty “own” the curriculum and it is their responsibility to provide leadership to maintain quality and to deliver contemporary content in a manner that supports best educational practices. It is their responsibility to be engaged in the curriculum. Top

What is the role of the Curriculum Committee?

The Curriculum Committee is a standing committee in the Bylaws of the School of Dentistry whose responsibility is to monitor and evaluate the curriculum to ensure that it supports the mission of the School. The Curriculum Committee reviews all proposed changes to the curriculum and makes recommendations for change to the entire faculty. Top

Is this the Dean’s vision or a faculty vision?

It is both. The Strategic Assessment process, in which all faculty, staff and students were invited to participate, codified values, weaknesses and goals. As part of that process, we engaged consultants from both within the University of Michigan and outside to comment on our findings. Based on all of this feedback, the Dean formulated a vision and presented it to the School as any leader is expected to do. During the process, it is the faculty who will decide how best to implement the vision, what measures will be used to assess outcomes, and what refinements will be needed to keep the curriculum contemporary. Top

Does this mean that we will be educating better dentists?

Each year, we make subtle and not so subtle changes to our curriculum designed to enhance the learning experience for our students and to better prepare them to practice dentistry. Our graduates must be able to meet both current and future challenges that they will encounter in practice. The changes we implement in the curriculum will better prepare our graduating dentists for their future practices. Top

How do I find out about what is happening with the proposals for all the different pieces of the plan for the curriculum?

In addition to the Convocation on August 28, we are planning two faculty retreats - on October 10 and following the end of clinics in December. We will also have several Town Hall meetings and updates will also be provided on the School of Dentistry Web site, on the TV monitors and via email. In addition, you should anticipate regular discussions and updates at faculty and department meetings. Should you have any questions that are still not answered, you may contact members of the Vision Implementation Steering Committee or its sub-teams (Committee membership is posted on the School Web site). Top

Will the nature of competencies change significantly?

The current list of competencies is periodically reviewed. Most likely the list will be basically the same but some provision needs to be made for the major curriculum goals in diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment planning, problem-solving, and critical thinking. These ideas could be incorporated within existing competencies or become additional ones. Top

How are the decisions being made on proposed changes to the preclinical courses?

The Vision Implementation Steering Committee has created several subcommittees and charged them with the responsibility to review current content and modes of delivery and make recommendations for models that would better serve the educational needs of our students. Each committee has been constituted with faculty members who have expertise in that curricular area. As part of the process, each committee has met with additional faculty, staff and students for advice and comments. In addition, there have been meetings between committees to support coordination of content and delivery. We are now engaging the entire School to ensure that all parties have had an opportunity to participate and weigh-in on the process. Since it is the faculty who “own” the curriculum, the current list of competencies is periodically reviewed. Most likely the list will be basically the same but some provision needs to be made for the major curriculum goals in diagnosis, risk assessment, treatment planning, problem-solving, and critical thinking. These ideas could be incorporated within existing competencies or become additional ones. Top

What role are online courses envisioned to play in the curriculum?

Implementation of online courses/content will take different forms depending on the topic. Some topics are highly amenable to online delivery; for example, delivery of basic, uncomplicated material, policies, or procedures. In other cases, online content may be used to establish a baseline understanding of material that will be addressed during more formal classroom-based activities or to help students review concepts or topics delivered in the classroom. Online delivery can also be used to provide course orientation information, quizzes, laboratory demonstrations, videos of clinical situations, and to enable students to access course content when they are off-site for any reason. We do not envision online delivery as a replacement for faculty-led educational activities but rather, as a tool that supports a more effective learning experience. Top

What content could go online?

Most course content will likely be accessible online; however, the intention is not to build an “online curriculum.” Rather, some of the content within individual courses could be delivered online. For example: the course orientation information, review proposed changes will be brought back to the faculty for vote and acceptance.Top

Will we be eliminating lectures?

No – there will still be classical lectures and we will also use other learning strategies, including interactive sessions, active learning, small groups, and/or learning within real-life situations. Top

Will we be using problem‐based learning approaches?

We are not focusing on problem-based learning (PBL) or developing a problem-based curriculum. We will use features of all types of learning approaches. Our goal is to help students develop the tools to become good problem-solvers. Top

Will the major preclinical courses change titles, curriculum positions, and/or directors?

The goal is to create the best learning situation for students. It is likely that significant reorganization of both course content and mode of delivery will occur that will result both in the creation of new courses and enhancement of the administrative structure that supports them. Top

When will the preclinical part of the curriculum be primarily completed?

After thoughtful discussion, we decided that it is more appropriate to refer to this aspect of the curriculum as the “clinical science curriculum”, since it supports student transition to actual clinical experiences. Some faculty members are already developing new content and delivery methods for implementation in the Fall 2009 term. Our goal, and a key feature of the next curriculum, is to enable earlier entrance of students into the clinics. To support this goal, “clinical science courses” will be staged to coordinate the “foundational experiences” with the actual patient experiences. Also, some experiences previously taught as “preclinical content” might be best taught as a “patient experience,” rather than through simulation. More advanced “clinical science” content might be delivered much later in the curriculum and require that the student dentist return to the simulation laboratory to learn a new procedure or technique. Additional supporting content may be delivered online to be available to the students as needed. You should begin to see subtle piloting and implementation of the features described above occurring during the 2009-10 academic year, with significant implementation of the model in the following year. It is also our expectation that the curriculum will continue to evolve and change as an ongoing process as we continuously review our experiences. Top

What is the team model and how will it be applied to our curriculum?

All students working in the clinic will be part of both large groups and smaller working teams within their groups. Groups and teams will include D1, D2, D3, D4 students and dental hygiene students. Although all clinic patients will have a primary dental student to whom they are assigned, some patient care procedures may be shared with other team members. This should facilitate group-learning activities, promote patient-centered care, and more effectively distribute experiences to students working toward competency. Management of the overall clinics may be very similar to the current system, but students will no longer be assigned permanent chairs and will not schedule the majority of their own patient appointments. The details of the management of patient care teams are being developed.Top

Will we still have comprehensive care approaches to patient management?

Yes…the same hybrid model of comprehensive care that currently exists will continue in the clinics. Except for initial clinical experiences, test cases, and complex procedures in periodontics and prosthodontics, all dental care procedures that would typically be provided in a general dental practice will also be undertaken in the general dentistry clinics. Separate treatment environments to provide the specialized instruments and equipment required for orthodontics, pediatric dentistry, and oral surgery procedures will continue to be maintained in a separate clinical environment.

Some system akin to having VIC directors will continue. Because of the earlier movement of some students into clinics and a number of proposed opportunities for more advanced practice downstream, management of the pieces of the system will need to be more sophisticated than in the past. A couple of different options are currently being explored. Top

Will we still have comp care seminars?

Yes…but current student-based or group-based patient care presentations will evolve to be focused in key case presentations that will feature programmed multidisciplinary and biomedical science content. In addition, a new set of “grand rounds” learning experiences will also be included on a special basis throughout the year. Top

Will we be using patient-focused or student-focused learning?

Both of these can co-exist well together. Students will be encouraged to collaborate with their peers to efficiently and comprehensively manage the needs of their patients, while also actively guiding and nurturing their own learning goals. Top

When will students first start in clinic?

Students will begin performing a number of different patient care procedures in various clinical disciplines during their D1 year – earlier and to a greater extent than in the past Top

When will the typical student finish their required participation in the clinics?

The proposed curriculum will be a 4-year one that contains a significant number of enhancements to produce an even more expert and confident new practitioner than in the past. Top

Will all students be able to do extended rotations during the 4-year dental school experience?

As students complete their competencies, they could qualify for additional experiences such as extended outreach or private practice rotations. Top

Will IMS be divided up into new courses?

Are we going back to the old way of presenting content?
IMS will be re-structured to a revised basic science foundation curriculum. New courses will be developed. Goals are for increased depth and excellence in a structure that optimizes content delivery and learning. Where applicable, courses will build on the science prerequisites for dental school admission. The curriculum will not only optimize teaching and learning in modern science but also will be assembled to provide flexibility that can accommodate new pathways in the overall dental curriculum. Top

What principle will guide the science foundation courses?

“Teaching what an excellent dentist needs to know” is one of the fundamental principles underlying the science foundation curriculum. This implies that new concepts will be integrated into the curriculum reflecting the continuous evolution of health sciences. Embedded in this principle is the concept that our students will be expected to access and apply new knowledge with the goal of making sound and ethical clinical decisions. Top

Who is going to make the decisions about changes in the basic science courses?

The Science Foundation Team and Vision Implementation Steering Committee will make recommendations to the faculty of the School after ample discussion and consultation with faculty and students. Consultation and reports will go forward through School standing committees, student class leadership and standing committees, and a series of retreats for discussions among the faculty. The final decision on the new curriculum will require approval by the voting faculty of our School. Top

If I were currently not teaching in the basic science curriculum, would I be teaching in the future?

It is possible. Faculty members in the School will teach in their broad areas of expertise. Teaching will include participation in basic science courses, in preclinical and clinic courses and seminars, and in ‘Grand Rounds’ presentations. School faculty members will be responsible for designing, directing and delivering courses, with fewer courses that include a more limited number of more highly engaged lecturers. Top

What are the new tracks or pathways open in the DDS curriculum?

Students will choose among a “DDS Plus” four-year option; a “DDS/MS/Year Off-Campus” five-year option; or a “DDS/OHS PhD Dual Degree” seven to eight year option. Most students will be in the DDS Plus pathway. The DDS Plus pathway will include options for selectives that include in-depth exposures to research; the Scholars Program; community based practice; pre-specialization; clinical dentistry; hospital based dentistry; private practice dentistry. Top

When would a student be able to elect these options?

Timing will vary according to pathway, with election ranging from time of admission or before entering the School through Year 3. Top

Will I still graduate on time?

Graduation will vary according to pathway, from a four year DDS, to five or more years. Top

Will this proposed curriculum help to prepare more students for graduate/specialty programs?

This is not a single curriculum but a set of pathways within our DDS curriculum. One of the pathways would provide experiences that could help a student in determining an interest in dental specialties. Students enrolled in the DDS Plus pathway might have the opportunity to participate in a pre-specialization experience that will enhance exposure to a selected specialty. Top

Are most of these opportunities focused in research experiences?

There is a mix of pathway options that include research-intensive time and experiences; clinical dentistry time and experiences; and, interdisciplinary study time and experiences. The mix of options reflects the School’s mission, the profession of dentistry and the Dean’s Vision. Top

What are the major advantages of the proposed program modifications for someone focused on clinical dentistry?

Because clinical dentistry is not practiced as an island or in isolation from modern health and patient care, the pathways would each enhance the practice of dentistry. Notably, with the re-structuring of the curriculum additional opportunities for exposure to dental specialties (pre-specialization), community-based dental service (e.g. outreach clinics), hospital-based and private practice-based will be available to students focused on clinical Dentistry Top

Basic Questions

Clinical Foundation Team

Clinic Implementation

Science Foundation

TRACKS: Pathways for Today’s Dentist