Evaluation of a General Dental Practice Pregraduation Placement Scheme

Methods: Final year dental students were given the opportunity to work within a General Dental Practice. The study investigated students' skills, relationships with patients, understanding of the NHS, team working, time management, management of complaints and knowledge of the role of external bodies in relation to their exposure to general dental practice via focus groups and questionnaires. Students and host practitioner responses were matched, so that student insight into their own performance in practice could be analysed.

Results: All students reported that the GDP placement had improved their clinical skills. The majority stated that their understanding of the experience of NHS dental patients had improved greatly, and all felt that they understood NHS dentistry better for having been on the placement. Knowledge of health and safety and financial management were key learning areas for almost all students. All students reported considerable improvement in their time management skills and were more confident about being a VDP having been in practice as an undergraduate.

The host practitioners were entirely positive about the experience. Equally, the students felt that the scheme enhanced their ‘preparedness' for practice to a significant degree. A number of practitioners mentioned that patients had also seen the students as a positive attribute to the practice rather than as a negative.

The logistical difficulties of accepting a student were seen by practitioners to be counterbalanced by the positive effects. Students ubiquitously perceived the experience as a good one.

Conclusions:Placement of students in a general practice setting prior to graduation is a complex organisational challenge. However, the benefits accrued by the students and the practices appear to outweigh the process challenges.