D1 Cameron Shoemaker registers a temperature of 97.1 when he is checked while entering the dental school building in early September. Everyone entering the building is screened for a high temperature.
willing and feel safe returning to the school to receive care.”
STUDENTS
Glad to Be Back In-person When students returned this summer to the School of Dentistry after several months of distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they said they found new appreciation for the opportunity to work alongside classmates, treat patients and interact closely with faculty. After in-person instruction abruptly ended in March, faculty and administrators converted coursework to virtual courses online in order to finish the winter term. As pandemic restrictions eased and stringent infection control protocols were established, students began returning to the school in phases in June, with the first-year DDS students arriving last, on Aug. 31. Faculty, students and staff have successfully worked through the new protocols for health and safety that include daily health screenings, mandatory mask wearing and social distancing, and training in the proper wearing and disposal of personal protection equipment for those working in the patient clinics. Faculty and administrators have developed a mix of online and in-person instruction for dental and dental hygiene students. Upper tier students have returned to clinics to treat patients while first- and second-year students spend time in the school’s Simulation Lab to practice dental procedures on typodonts or perform other exercises. This mix of online 18 STUDENTS M Dentistry | Fall 2020
and in-person will be the new normal at the dental school for the foreseeable future. Parker Wilson, in the DDS Class of 2022, said being back in-person has helped him regain motivation. “The face-to-face interaction with faculty is arguably the most important component of our dental education,” he said. “Regaining the ability to discuss problems, concepts and theories in-person with faculty has been re-energizing and has helped provide some sense of normalcy.” Long Zhang, DDS Class of 2022, said there is no way to substitute for in-person learning experience in the clinic. “We can watch a video on how to prep a crown a hundred times, but it is never going to be real until we actually prep a tooth on a patient,” he said. Students also appreciate how they are contributing to the health of the community. “I am thankful for the opportunity to begin providing care to our patient population, many of whom have gone so long without dental treatment due to COVID-19,” said Lisa Walker, a Class of 2021 Dental Hygiene student. “The dental school is a pivotal aspect of our community’s oral health here in southeast Michigan, and I am so happy to see that our patients are eager, D4 Randon Campbell creates a digital image of typodont teeth with an intraoral scanner in Sim Lab in early September.
Dr. Elisabeta Karl, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences and Endodontics (CRSE), has found positives in the changes. “The asynchronous lectures work much better in my opinion in the sense that students can watch the lectures when convenient for them. Some brains work better at night, some others early mornings,” she said. “In the Sim Lab, with only half as many students because of social distancing, we are more efficient, there is less crowding, the sound level is significantly reduced, and most of the students report to me that they feel more relaxed.” Dr. Stephen Sterlitz, a clinical assistant professor in CRSE, said the majority of didactic foundational material can be delivered remotely using online lectures and videos, but very important parts of that early instruction need to be in-person. “Due to the precision required of these early exercises designed to develop dexterity, practice without feedback could result in the students getting very good at bad habits,” he said. “In-person feedback is structured to help the students progress from the application of principles to developing a ‘professional vision’ of what clinical excellence looks like.”
