Experience of surgical dentistry seminars with trainee doctors of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education.

State Institution “Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy of Health Ministry of Ukraine”.

Department of Dentistry. Faculty of Postgraduate Education.

Boiko G.G. Semenov K. A.

Seminar is one of active training sessions that can deepen and consolidate the received information, the covered material, develop thinking, report the received information and join the scientific work.

Keywords: trainee doctor, seminar, discussion, conference, analysis of patients, exchange of experience.

Seminar is a kind of systematic training sessions in which trainee doctors study one or another section of a certain scientific discipline, which is a part of the curriculum. This is one of the effective types of training sessions that contribute to a deeper and more detailed mastering of the subject, skills of independent work with literary sources and participation in scientific work.

The main objective of seminars while studying sections of surgical dentistry is to increase activity of students in their study of the subject, encourage them to work independently with literary sources, under the guidance of their teacher, as the information related to issues of surgical dentistry is quite voluminous and its transition during training process is quite time-consuming. Therefore, we use preliminary independent preparation of trainees for seminars under guidance of a teacher at extracurricular time, thus reducing training time spent on the subject.

When conducting seminars in surgical dentistry, we aim to deepen and consolidate the information learned by our trainees, repeat studied material, develop their thinking and their ability to reproduce the learned information.

At the surgical dentistry training sessions we conduct the following seminars with our trainee doctors:

- discussion seminar;

- conference seminar;

- seminar on clinical analysis of patients;

- seminar on exchange of experience.

We conduct preliminary training and develop a seminar plan for each of these seminars.

Each of them has its objective, methodology and form of organization, but their volume and subject are determined by the curriculum and the cycle program.

Seminar usually involves 2 or 3 groups of trainees, and the management of seminars is entrusted to the teachers who are the most experienced in teaching and methodology. When composing a schedule, we specify types of seminars, which will be used in this cycle.

When we conduct a discussion seminar, we pursue the informational and research objective. Trainees are preliminarily provided with some section, topical tasks and recommended literature. Then the issues of a problematic nature are set before the trainees at the seminar. Trainees join the discussion under the guidance of a teacher. In preparation for this seminar you can give the trainees some scientific task. For example, to carry out a statistical analysis of the prevalence of odontogenic inflammatory processes in maxillofacial area. And use these data of scientific research in discussion during a seminar. Thus, a discussion seminar involves all trainees into work, makes it possible to discuss controversial issues, involves into scientific activity. At the end of the seminar the teacher makes a conclusion, in which the conducted work gets summarized and analyzed.

A conference seminar is generally an informational seminar, partially having a controlling nature. Such seminar is conducted as follows: 2 or 3 students prepare a report on a given topic, present it and the rest are involved in the discussion. The main objectives of such seminar are deepening and consolidation of information, teaching the trainees to think correctly, to present their opinions and defend them, and assessment of knowledge as well.

The teacher’s task in this case is to engage students into discussion of the reports by probing questions, to get them to express their opinions on the given subject.

In conclusion of such seminar a teacher logically sums up the correctness of understanding the subject by the trainees.

The objective of a seminar on clinical analysis of patients is the development of trainees’ clinical thinking and their ability to apply their knowledge in practice.

The seminar is conducted when consulting patients, after visit of a professor or associate professor, after the trainees’ reports on their duty shift in a hospital department or analysis of the patients sent to planned or urgent surgery.

When conducting a clinical analysis of the patient, it is important to guide the trainees through a certain logical scheme: the progressive analysis of medical history of the patient, the disease, the complaints, and the clinical course of the process. Particularly important is a discussion of the results of the patient’s examinations, both basic and additional. All this leads to the main point which is the correct establishment of the diagnosis and the choice of treatment. If the patient will have surgery, you should discuss all the details of this surgery, justifying the method and technique of the upcoming surgery to the smallest detail: from the type of cutting to suturing. This detailed analysis of the patient allows us to bring the trainee doctors to logically correct thinking, since work with the patient contributes the most to the best understanding of material, remembering clinical cases; it has been well said that “what you once see you remember better than what you once hear.”

Seminars on exchange of experiences by their objective are more suitable for trainee doctors who already have certain work experience. The theme of such seminar is elected according to the schedule.

The teacher gives some trainees a preliminary task to prepare reports on medical history of the patients in their practice, targeting them so that the patients should have a particular difficulty in their diagnoses or cause the doctor’s doubts in diagnosis, examination or treatment. Trainee doctor presents his report, expresses his doubts, motivation in actions regarding such patient. The teacher’s task is to engage all present trainees into discussion, to give them an opportunity to express their opinions, share some examples from their own practices and argue. In conclusion, the teacher should elaborate on positive aspects of the discussion, analyze errors and prove correct position of the subject.

There are methodological developments specially designed for conducting seminars at the department; these developments contain work schedule, list of issues for discussion and list of basic and additional literature for preparation.

Thus, in our opinion, the above-listed types of seminars provide clinicians with an opportunity to improve their knowledge on surgical dentistry, to consolidate the information, to develop logical thinking, to join research activities, and what is the most important – to work with patients, i.e. to participate in clinical analyses, to learn how to reasonably establish a diagnosis and prescribe treatment, to properly choose method of surgery, to develop measures for prevention of possible complications.

List of References:

1. Glazunov O.A. Principles of the Bologna process in the integrated teaching of dental disciplines at the Department of Dentistry of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education of Dnipropetrovsk State Medical Academy / O.A. Glazunov // In the book “Achievements and Prospects of Postgraduate Education”, dedicated to the 35^th anniversary of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education of Dnipropetrovsk State Medical Academy. – 2008. – P.24.

2. Gordіiuk M.M. Organization of educational process with internship doctors at the Department of Dentistry of the Faculty of Postgraduate Education / M.M. Gordіiuk, G.G. Boiko // Materials of applied science conference “Theoretical and clinical aspects of medical and social expertise and rehabilitation”, dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the Department of Medical and Social Expertise.

3. Timofeev A. A. Independent work of students // Modern Dentistry. – 2009. – No. 1. – P. 143-145.

4. O.V. Gromov, R.A. Kotelevsky. Information technologies in the educational process: problems and prospects of development (invitation to discussion) // Modern Dentistry. -2010. – No. 5. – P. 108-110.