ADEA publication offers strategies for change

Jun 2, 2009

The American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) has published Beyond the Crossroads: Change and Innovation in Dental Education, the organization announced. The book compiles 22 papers commissioned by the ADEA CCI to stimulate dialogue about the future directions of dental education and help support curricular innovation.

ADEA formed the commission in 2005 to build consensus among stakeholders in dental education, research, and practice on beginning a systemic process of innovative change in the education of general dentists so they enter the profession competent to meet the oral health needs of the public and function as important members of a healthcare team. Beyond the Crossroads contains perspectives and research on the development and retention of faculty, student assessment measures, leadership in academic dentistry, and educational strategies such as problem-based learning and the creation of new curriculum that addresses an evolving healthcare system.

"ADEA recognized the entire oral healthcare community needed to start a collaborative dialogue to move forward in a dynamic higher education environment. As ADEA CCI's cumulative work to date, Beyond the Crossroads contains a wide range of topics, ideas, and strategies for improving educational processes and content and presents examples for educational reform," said ADEA President and ADEA CCI Committee Member Ronald Hunt, D.D.S., in a press release.

Beyond the Crossroads has already yielded important knowledge for specific change efforts, the ADEA said. It was used to develop Competencies for the New General Dentist, approved by the ADEA House of Delegates on April 2, 2008, that will be reflected in curricula changes at individual schools over the next few years.

The research was also used to inform the work of a joint ADEA and Commission on Dental Accreditation task force that worked in 2007 to revise predoctoral accreditation standards. In addition, it has been influential in developing new strategies for faculty development in key areas of teaching, learning, and assessment.

The papers in Beyond the Crossroads were published in the Journal of Dental Education (JDE) from 2005 to 2009. The Beyond the Crossroads volume is available for purchase on the ADEA Web site. ADEA members can access individual JDE articles online by logging in at www.adea.org.