Abstract
Objective The aim of this paper is to examine the factors that vocational trainers regard as important in a 'good' dentist and to assess whether they think recent graduates were achieving these factors.
Design The study was based on a statistical analysis of returns from a postal questionnaire.
Setting Postal questionnaires were sent to all vocational advisors in England who then sent them on to a number of their vocational trainers.
Materials and methods The questionnaire was analysed using various statistical techniques including factor analysis. Analysis was undertaken to determine whether student or trainer characteristics influenced the trainer's responses.
Results The vocational trainers judged that the group of skills that contribute to technical ability are the most important component in making a 'good' dentist. However, the most important single skill is communication with patients, closely followed by diagnostic skills and communication with the dental team. The areas where trainees are most likely to fall short in terms of actual as compared to desired performance are in areas of technical ability.
Conclusion Overall, recent trainees scored rather well when compared with an idealised good dentist. However, it is clear that more evaluation of vocational training is needed. Recent studies, including this one have looked at several different aspects of vocational training. However, the time seems ripe for a full-scale prospective evaluation.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following people who helped and advised us during this research. First, we wish to express our gratitude to Penny Vasey, the Chairman of the Committee on Vocational Training for England And Wales for all her assistance. We also benefited from discussions with Lyndon Cabot. Thanks are due to those who attended a presentation of this research at the Department of Dental Public Health & Oral Health Services Research in March 1999 and also to all the VGDP advisors who distributed the questionnaires and the anonymous trainers who took the time to complete them. The anonymous referees' and educational adviser's comments improved the final paper. Finally, we would like to make it clear that the views expressed in this paper are ours alone and are not necessarily shared by any of those mentioned above.
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Buck, D., Malik, S., Murphy, N. et al. What makes a good dentist and do recent trainees make the grade? The views of vocational trainers.. Br Dent J 189, 563–566 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4800829
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4800829
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