Course overview
This course has been designed to introduce concepts of academic and research skill development to support study, the students' role as a graduate oral health professional and the requirement for continual professional development/research. Evidence-based dentistry will provide students with an appreciation of the nature and scope of epidemiology and statistics applied to dentistry. It will provide the students with an understanding of different study designs used in dental research and a working knowledge of basic statistics, interpretation and data analysis. Topics will be introduced in resource lectures, online learning mediums and workshops. Problem-based learning topics will be presented where applicable and student learning will be supported by independent and group research and discussion. The student is also required to monitor their own learning by providing feedback to each other as well as incorporating feedback from colleagues and staff.
Course learning outcomes
- Demonstrate skills and attitudes required of a self-directed learner, including the ability to: identify a researchable question, to find and generate reliable data, to evaluate collected material, to organise information, to analyse and synthesise that material then communicate messages / findings effectively.
- Understand the requirements for academic honesty and demonstrate an ability to use the contemporary Harvard Referencing system as a basic level for information source acknowledgment.
- Demonstrate the ability to plan and execute effective communication in a range of settings and describe ways in which effective communication is achieved.
- Evidence Based Dentistry Summary: Describe the main types of measures of effect according to outcome types in oral health epidemiology; Understand and interpret risk differences, risk ratios, prevalence ratios, odds ratios and mean differences; Explain the differences, applicability and magnitude of absolute and relative measures of effect for binary and continuous outcomes
- Population Health Summary: Discuss the concept of Public Health and its importance in preventing and managing health conditions; Describe the main methods for epidemiological case definitions of dental caries, periodontal diseases and tooth loss; Describe the global and Australian patterns of the most prevalent oral conditions; Discuss the concept and importance of Epidemiology for Public health
- Implement into practice the personal requirements for health professionals today (including cultural sensitivity and patient centered care) in an Australian context.