Evaluation of the new Liverpool Dental Undergraduate Outreach Programme

Liverpool has a long tradition of outreach teaching through a local CDS-based programme. From September 2004 the existing programme was extended with each student working under supervision of a VT trainer in a PDS practice and with attachments in Access Centres and a District General Hospital. As part of the new programme, each student (n=53) attended a residential 4-week block attachment in East Lancashire. Objectives: To evaluate whether the new Dental Undergraduate Outreach Programme has a) enhanced students' clinical experience, skills and confidence; b) been acceptable to patients in general practice; c) identified any practicable difficulties in its execution; d) to provide recommendations for future programmes. Methods: Students, tutors delivering the programme and patients, are participating in the evaluation. Students are completing an anonymous evaluative questionnaire and undertaking exit tutorials with tutors not involved in their own attachment. Additionally information on clinical experiences is being collected from student's clinical logbook/ portfolios. Tutors delivering the programme have provided feedback. Dental School staff are visiting the programme and providing visit reports. A selection of patients are completing questionnaires. Results: Initial findings are available from the students. In general, they report outreach tutors to be knowledgeable; good quality teaching; experience of working with dental nurses and the wider dental team beneficial; and, suggested that the placements were good for building clinical skills and confidence. The placements provided a wider range of patients than had been seen in the dental school environment. Concerns were raised about the amount of travelling and accommodation on the distant placement. Conclusions: These initial findings confirm the GDC expectation that an “extended clinical environment and outreach teaching can potentially broaden the base of available clinical material and enhance the educational experience”.