Assoc. Prof. Ina Schüler
Germany
Assoc. Prof. Upen Patel
United Kingdom
Dear ADEE members,
Since its foundation, almost 50 years ago, ADEE has always aspired for the European dental schools and programmes to be a guiding light in the delivery of best practice in education. Indeed the core aim of the European Journal of Dental Education is the sharing of research in the area of educational best practice as it applies to Dentistry and its allied professionals.
As the decades have evolved it has become increasingly important for dental educators to be appropriately qualified not only in evidence-based dentistry but also in evidenced based education. While there are many educational publications and resources application to medical education those that focus on dental and oral health professionals’ education are limited.
ADEE feels it is now well positioned to address this gap by the creation of a series of resources in evidenced based education and share these openly with members to improve their academic practices.
Upen Patel (Birmingham, UK) and Ina Schüler (Jena, Germany) have been appointed by the ADEE Executive Committee to lead on this strategic action plan on behalf of ADEE. The strategic action plan has two components:
- Strategic Action A: Strategic scoping of the need for evidence based education resources for oral health professionals
- Strategic Action B: Devising an ‘implementing evidence based academic guidance development process’ within ADEE that will be responsible for the development of ADEE evidence based education resources
At this time, Upen and Ina are asking for those individuals from the ADEE membership who are interested in being part of a working group to scope the existing evidence based education resources available that address oral health professionals’ education and to assess the need for such resources within its member population. Please contact them via email; Upen Patel (u.s.patel@bham.ac.uk) and Ina Schüler (ina.schueler@med.uni-jena.de).
The aim of this overall strategic priority is not to replicate what exists in other professions (e.g. medicine), rather to address specific needs identified by members in the area of evidence based dental education. Example may include competence assessment, use of bricolage in oral health profession education etc.
The working group will on completion of its strategic scoping work present a prioritised needs analysis for such resources, clearly outlining where and how ADEE can address a specific need.
Thank you for your interest and look forward to hearing from you.
Upen Patel & Ina Schüler
ADEE Executive Committee Members
