Can a Clinical Continuing Education Course Change Behavior in Dental Hygiene Practice?

Abstract

Can a clinical continuing education course impact practitioner provision of care in everyday practice? National recommendations call for continuing education that is closely linked to practitioner learning at the point of care and for outcome assessment that measures the effectiveness of learning activities on the learner's practice behavior. Educational research has shown that interactive learning with clinical participation and the opportunity to practice is one of the most effective educational interventions. This study used an interactive educational intervention during a 3-day clinical course designed for dental hygienists. A follow-up survey was sent to determine whether the knowledge and skills that were taught in the course were applied subsequently to patients in practice. Sixty-one of 97 surveys were returned for a 63% response rate. Descriptive data including frequencies, means, medians, and standard deviations were obtained for all survey items. The majority of respondents reported moderate to high gains in knowledge and skills as well as application to patients in practice. The majority also identified continuing education as the primary source of information used when making changes in practice.