Association for Dental Education in Europe

Learning together to improve oral health and quality of life

Professionalism

Type: 
COP
Status: 
Active
Year established: 
2022

The current literature suggests there is no universal definition of professionalism in healthcare. Professionalism and assessment of Professionalism can be seen as learner specific phenomenon /a learner and team phenomenon/ a learner and society phenomenon. It is therefore complex and multifactorial both in its teaching and learning but also in its assessment and feedback.

The ADEE membership is undeniably diverse in terms of general language and culture but more specifically in terms of health systems, regulatory body, history of development of the oral health professions and the overarching health and educational cultures. This has a most significant impact on oral health education in general but on Professionalism and Ethics (PE) education in particular. The feedback from recent workshops on the Professionalism theme, has highlighted despite the common curricular requirements and challenges in PE we have members at very different growth and development of their curriculum in PE. Professionalism and Ethics is therefore a perfect domain for a Community of Practice to establish a shared culture, ethos and body of work to support ADEE members in establishing, developing and enhancing their PE curricula.

Chair
Melanie Nasseripour's picture

Melanie Nasseripour
United Kingdom

Co-chair(s)
Maria van Harten's picture

Maria van Harten
Ireland

Andreas Agouropoulos's picture

Andreas Agouropoulos
Greece

Maria Correia's picture

Maria Correia
Portugal

Corrado Paganelli's picture

Corrado Paganelli
Italy

Christina Gummesson's picture

Christina Gummesson
Sweden

Lydia Katrova's picture

Lydia Katrova
Bulgaria

Sessions: 
Session type: 
Conference workshop
Year: 
2022
Brief description and summary of outcome: 

Palma

Launch, and call for volunteers

Session type: 
Conference workshop
Year: 
2023
Brief description and summary of outcome: 

Liverpool

The purpose of this session is to share the results of the COP’s scholarly activity this past year establishing foundations essential for colleagues involved in the teaching of Professionalism for all members of the Dental Team.:

  • Definition of Professionalism
  • Definition of the effective practitioner in Professionalism
  • Mapping of current state of Professionalism teaching, share best practice and recommendation in Professionalism Curriculum
  • Challenges in Professionalism brought by the adoption of new software, media and technologies

Outcomes:
By the end of this session participants will be able to :

  • Discuss the shared definition of Professionalism and effective practitioner in Professionalism
  • Identify the current and the recommended Professionalism curriculum
  • Identify the impact of Digital, Social Media and Artificial Intelligence on Professionalism teaching
Session type: 
Conference workshop
Year: 
2024
Brief description and summary of outcome: 

Leuven

The purpose of this session is to share the results of the COP’s scholarly activity this past year establishing foundations essential for colleagues involved in the teaching of Professionalism for all members of the Dental Team:

  • Update on publications by the COP
  • Meta-ethnographic analysis of completed Professionalism Curriculum Literature review
  • Definition of the effective practitioner in Professionalism: workshop and consensus statement
  • AI and Oral Health Education:
    • challenges and opportunities for students and staff
    • impact on Professionalism specifically
    • guidance put in place to provide framework for the use of AI by staff and students in Oral Health Education Institutions

Outcomes:
By the end of this session participants will be able to:

  • Understand what is a meta-ethnographic analysis
  • Discuss and establish the shared definition of effective practitioner
  • Identify the Impact of AI on Professionalism
  • Appreciate undergraduate students AI practices
  • Appreciate the common strategies put in place by Governance bodies in response
Session type: 
Conference workshop
Year: 
2025
Brief description and summary of outcome: 

Barcelona

The aim of this session is to develop guidelines on AI use in Oral Health Education to assist academic institutions in best managing this challenging field, using a consensus method to develop recommendations.
Outcomes:

  • Change in approach of the learner to the solution of dental problems; corrections of outdated knowledge by looking at AI expert systems and predictive tools to enhance dental practice.
  • Provision of new knowledge in specific areas: establish new guidance on the place of AI in Oral health education.
  • Raise awareness on the potential / threats of AI tools in Dental Education
  • Alteration in the habits of the learner; accurate educational objectives succinctly describe the education that will result from attending the course.

The purpose of this session is to share the results of the COP’s scholarly activity this past year establishing foundations essential for colleagues involved in the teaching of Professionalism for all members of the Dental Team:

  • Update on 2024-25 projects
  • Meta-Ethnographic analysis of impact of interactions in fostering oral health professional practice
  • AI Guidance Consensus process/IADR
  • Safe Beginner in Professionalism

Outcomes:

  • Understand what is a meta-ethnographic analysis
  • Discuss and establish the shared definition of shared practitioner
  • Identify the Impact of AI on Professionalism
  • Discuss intergenerational interactions shaping our future graduates’ professionalism
  • Discuss positive and negative examples of Digital Social Media affecting Professionalism
Outputs: 
Material type: 
Published paper
Brief description: 

The paper provides valuable insights into the current state of professionalism education in dental curricula and offers directions for enhancing its effectiveness and relevance in preparing future dental professionals. Collaborative efforts among dental educators and institutions can contribute to the continuous improvement of professionalism education and practice in dentistry

Future plans: 
Action: 

We are working this year on completing and submitting for publication on the following research material form our past collaborations:

  • Safe beginner in Professionalism
  • AI use in Oral Health Education from a Professionalism perspective

We have also agreed at the ADEE Dublin Annual Conference meeting on the following 3 sub headings under the overarching research theme on the safe practitioner in Professionalism which also have been submitted and approved for a Kings' College Global Engagement Partnership Fund:

  1. Researching student and staff perspective on readiness as a soon to be newly graduate in terms of professionalism
  2. Research on current mechanism in institutions to verify that soon to be newly graduates are fit for practice in terms of professionalism
  3. Research on how we flag lapses in professionalism and remediate, here I will set up another meeting with us and John MacLachlan who was speaking at BARDES last week and presented the conscientious index as a measure of our students professionalism.
     
Target date: 
Monday, August 2, 2027