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Biomedical subjects

D W Chambers

Publications and source records attributed to D W Chambers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

The continuing education business.

The success and potential of school-based continuing dental education programs has been limited because they are based on an inappropriate model. The information needs of practicing professionals are quite different from the needs of students preparing for licensure. This article describes four purposes served by information: (a) education, (b) certification, (c) network building, and (d) decision support. Dental education focuses on the first two while a broader view with emphasis on the latter two is appropriate for continuing education. The business of educating professionals is different from the business of educating candidates for the profession. An alternative conception of continuing dental education is presented based on the needs of its clients.

Certification↗
PubMed1992

The search for a profile of aptitudes that characterize dentists.

This article is a reinterpretation of an unsuccessful attempt to develop a standard battery of aptitude measures to distinguish practicing dentists. Of 22 potential predictors used by a firm specializing in aptitude testing and career counseling, the national sample of 116 dentists tested showed few differences from the norm group, and some differences were counterintuitive. For example dentists performed no better than the norm on spatial visualization and worse than the norm on several measures of language skill and on finger dexterity. Based on these findings, this paper argues that a broad conceptualization is required when attempting to characterize the aptitudes necessary to complete dental education and to maintain a dental practice. The apparent inconsistency between these findings and successful prediction of performance in laboratory courses using available admissions instruments is explained.

Aptitude↗
PubMed1977

An expanded model for extramural dental clinics.

The extramural program at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry is described. The program is designed to facilitate the students' transition from a school clinic to dental practice after graduation. Management skills are taught by providing supervised experience in a model practice setting. Five major facilities are described along with the curriculum modifications made to permit all students to spend eight four-day weeks in these remote sites. The quality control mechanism is discussed as well as four key concepts developed in the six-year experience of operating this program.

California↗
PubMed1977

Faculty evaluation: review of the literature most pertinent to dental education.

Each dental school will fashion its own faculty evaluation system. The results will be a network of activities related to such questions as these: What are valid sources of information? Which aspects of instructors' responsibilities are most significant? Which questions need answers? How should the system be operated? This review has focused on what is currently being discussed and attempted in each of these critical areas. Faculty evaluation takes place in an essentially political context, and dental educators are now awakening to the political forces at work in the profession. Faculty evaluation is also a scientific process, or at least one capable of being greatly improved by rigorous, empirical study, which has yet to be performed. Finally, the exact form of faculty evaluation developed at each school will likely be unique, since it will depend on the institution's resources, size, funding base, academic affiliation, and the personal preferences of concerned individuals. The degree of success or failure of an evaluation system will depend on how the chosen combination of purposes, sources, objects of evaluation, and implementation strategy serves the needs of the school and its personnel.

Behavior↗