South Carolina (SC) has the highest oral cancer (OC) mortality rate among the fifty states; therefore it is critical that SC dental students be proficient in their OC prevention and detection skills. It is equally important that these skills be utilized with the state's adult population. This proposal addresses several objectives of Healthy People 2010 which aim to reduce oral cancer mortality and increase oral cancer prevention and early detection. Currently, multimedia resources exist for instructing health care providers in these areas. However, few studies have examined the relation between oral cancer education and the oral cancer skills of dental students. The predoctoral fellow proposes a pretest/post-test randomized controlled study to examine the association between multimedia-based training and OC prevention and detection skills among pre-doctoral dental students enrolled at the Medical University of South Carolina. This proposal hypothesizes that multimedia-based training plus standard instruction improves OC skills when compared with only standard instruction in OC prevention and early detection. Thus, the specific aims of this study are to: 1) compare competency in OC prevention and detection between the intervention and control groups; 2) compare changes in OC knowledge, attitudes, and practices between the intervention and control groups; 3) determine and compare the baseline prevalence and cumulative incidence of OC examinations provided by the intervention and control groups; and 4) determine factors related to the current rates of OC examinations in SC. Competency will be determined by an Objective Structured Clinical Examination, and change in competency before and after the intervention will be compared for the intervention and control groups. Measurements of knowledge, attitudes, and practices will be obtained before and after the intervention using self-administered questionnaires. Data abstraction from patient charts will determine prevalence and incidence of OC examinations provided by each group. Secondary data analysis using the 2002 SC BRFSS will determine factors related to the current rates of OC examinations in SC.
| Cannick, Gabrielle F; Horowitz, Alice M; Garr, David R et al. (2007) Use of the OSCE to evaluate brief communication skills training for dental students. J Dent Educ 71:1203-9 |
| Cannick, Gabrielle F; Horowitz, Alice M; Garr, David R et al. (2007) Oral cancer prevention and early detection: using the PRECEDE-PROCEED framework to guide the training of health professional students. J Cancer Educ 22:250-3 |
