COVID 19 and Dental Education: Transitioning from a Well-established Synchronous Format and Face to Face Teaching to an Asynchronous Format of Dental Clinical Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic made it necessary to adopt and establish complete or partial online delivery of our clinical teaching and learning. We developed an alternative approach with a combination of Problem based Learning asynchronous fora and Teacher-facilitated synchronous online discussions. Our aim is to share our educational practice and highlight the requirements and constraints, advantages and challenges of such an approach. It allowed a more student-centred experience, but clinical simulation and face-to-face patient care remain necessary. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of dental education for the foreseeable future, with a reduced number of patients in dental clinics. Further study is therefore necessary to understand the lived experience of students and teachers to the adopted online teaching and learning approach.