Lisa Maxwell, Dentistry, Shannon Cooper, School of Medicine, Pamela Retting, School of Dentistry
Principal Investigator: Lisa Maxwell, professor, Department of Periodontics and Allied Dental Programs, School of Dentistry
Co-Principal Investigators: Shannon Cooper, instructional design manager, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine; Pamela Rettig, associate clinical professor, Department of Periodontics and Allied Dental Programs, School of Dentistry
Project Title: Incorporating Online Ethics Modules into the Dental Hygiene Curriculum Using Standardized Patients
Funding Level: $10,000
Abstract:
Incorporating online ethics modules into the dental hygiene curriculum using standardized patients is designed to enhance the dental hygiene student’s ability to treat patients based on seven ethical principles: autonomy, confidentiality, societal trust, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and veracity. Ethics is not a “black and white” subject, making it difficult for students to understand the subtle nuances between ethical principles and behavior. This project will create a self-paced online learning module that will allow students to apply the ethical principle of confidentiality to patient care. As an asynchronous tool, the learner controls the online patient encounter as he or she progresses through a module. At each step of the patient encounter, learners will be asked to select a course of action that advances the patient encounter. This project will allow the learner to “practice” their ethical thinking on a standardized patient in a cost-effective manner while providing a standardized clinical experience.