Assessing Methodology on Teaching Clinical Head and Neck Examination

Objectives: The death rate pertaining to oral cancer is chiefly high because detection most often occurs in advanced stages. Improving competence of dentist to provide patients with regularly oral cancer screenings should result in earlier detection. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of two different methods for teaching head and neck examinations (HNE) to dental student participants.  Methods: Thirty sophomores at UFCD volunteered to participate. The participants had previously received coursework on HNE as part of the curriculum. A clinical psychomotor pretest on the procedure was given to determine the baseline.  The participants were then randomized into three groups: group 1 was given only videos to watch ; group 2 was given a hands-on interactive session with a faculty; and group 3 was given both videos and interactive hands-on session . After their instruction, all three groups practiced between themselves. Two weeks later, the participants were re-tested to determine recall of the information. The efficacy of the different teaching methods was assessed based on a clinical psychomotor posttest.  Results: Group 1 mean score increased from 13.4 to 28.7, with a total change of 15.3 (s.d 5.9). Group 2 mean score increased from 10.7 to 28.2, yielding a mean change of 17.5 (s.d 4.9).  Group 3 mean score increased from 9.8 to a 34.2, which results in a mean change of 24.4 (s.d 5.5). Overall comparison of mean change values for the three groups detected significant differences between groups (P= 0.0032).  Conclusions: Neither of the teaching methods alone had as positive an effect as the methods combined.  Dental schools may need to assess their HNE education to verify their education is effective.  If weakness is found, they should consider interactive and video training to improve students’ performance in HNE.