Few general dentists feel comfortable treating very young children 0-5-years old due to inadequate training and exposure. Over the past few years, there is an increasing demand on providers to be culturally competent and meet the health needs of the culturally diverse population. OBJECTIVE: Assess the gained knowledge, perception and confidence in providing clinical dental care to vulnerable populations, pregnant adolescents and to very young children 0-5-years old following the enhancement of the predoctoral pediatric dental curriculum and training which was aimed to prepare future practitioners to be culturally competent in providing pediatric dental care to the current culturally diverse population. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis conducted among the predoctoral students including the Doctor of Dental Medicine-(DMD) and Advanced Standing-(AS) who underwent pediatric dental training between 2017-2022 at Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. Predoctoral students participated in the pre/post training surveys of the implemented didactic training program in cultural competency and oral health literacy lectures. The students completed questionnaires on their knowledge and confidence level on treating children 0-5-years old following the novel simulation scenario discussion after the Haptic simulator training and following clinical training in the pediatric dental clinic. Descriptive statistics were calculated, univariate and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the differences in the level of knowledge gained by program type, year of training and demographic characteristics such as age and gender. Statistical significance was set at p-value<0.05. RESULTS: The cultural competency training improved the students’ knowledge and perception. DMD-students performed better to have a higher level of knowledge in the post training survey compared to AS-students (OR=4.724;p<0.001). Based on the post training questionnaires, the haptic simulator session and novel simulation scenarios increased the students’ knowledge and confidence to treat pediatric patients. Student’s confidence to treat children 0-5-years and pregnant adolescents improved after completing the trainings. CONCLUSION: The new enhanced training program increased the predoctoral students’ knowledge and confidence to treat children 0-5-years. This can be beneficial when used in dental departments to support predoctoral graduates to be culturally competent who can be better prepared to manage the diverse population.

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Although psychotherapy has been viewed historically as value-neutral, developments over the last half-century have led to the generally accepted position that values are inescapable in therapy. However, many questions remain as to how values should be managed in psychotherapy in order to protect client autonomy. These issues are of particular concern to training programs, which bear the responsibility of instructing new psychologists in ethical values management and of helping trainees manage personal values when those values are in conflict with those of their clients or with the values of the field in general. One aspect that has not previously been investigated is the perceptions of trainees around value-related issues. This study used qualitative research methods to investigate the perceptions of recent psychology graduates regarding the role of values, value management strategies, training in value-related areas, and the resolution of value-related dilemmas. Seventeen recent graduates from Counseling Psychology, Clinical Psychology, or Professional Psychology doctoral programs were interviewed. Their responses led to following nine themes: 1. Psychology graduates disagreed about appropriate roles for therapist values. 2. Value differences between therapist and client were seen as both potentially harmful and potentially helpful. 3. Participants reported using different strategies to manage value differences. 4. Most participants felt it might be acceptable to influence a client to change their values in certain situations. 5. Participants did not report preferences regarding the value similarity of their clients and reported varying reactions to value differences. 6. Participants disagreed on whether trainees should be required to see clients with very different values. 7. Participants generally felt positive about their training experiences, but recommended more practical instruction in values management. 8. Participants' experiences with race and religion suggested unique training concerns. 9. Value-related decisions were seen as contextually grounded and based primarily on perceptions of beneficence. It is hoped that these findings further the dialogue on appropriate value management strategies in therapy and assist training programs in evaluating the training they provide students in areas of value differences and value conflicts.

Implant dentistry has emerged as a very reliable and predictable option for replacing missing teeth. Implant education at the pre-doctoral level has been implemented in most parts of the world and is currently perceived as a fundamental discipline in dental education. Dental graduates today are expected to have knowledge and possess skills at the competence level in order to provide care for the growing number of patients seeking this treatment option, which may be the optimal option for the majority of their cases. However, very little is known about current trends, issues, and perspectives of implant dentistry education. This study builds a knowledge base about implant dentistry education in pre-doctoral dental education programs. It begins with an overview of the current state of implant dentistry education described in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 evaluates faculty perception in Kuwait University Faculty of Dentistry regarding case-based-learning, a pedagogy that has been recommended by multiple dental education institutions as the context within which pre-doctoral implant dentistry education should be taught. Chapter 3 presents an example of how case-based-learning pedagogy might be implemented in the form of a case report. Chapter 4 creates the link between faculty perception and student outcomes and presents an evaluation of students' competence level regarding pre-doctoral implant education. Finally, Chapter 5 provides a summary and synthesis of the three articles with a focus on placing this research within the larger body of scholarship on implant education and on identifying implications for policy, future scholarship, and practice.