Level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students: the need to add ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination / 보건의료교육평가

Purpose@#This study aimed to evaluate the level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency in order to assess the potential need for ethics items to be included on the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination. @*Methods@#In total, 358 clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene students completed a structured questionnaire to evaluate their level of ethical awareness and medical ethics competency. The sub-factors of medical ethics were classified into relationships with patients, medical and social relations, and individual specialized fields. @*Results@#Only 32.1% of participants indicated that they had taken a course on professional ethics in the university curriculum, but 95.2% of respondents considered professional ethics to be important. The overall score for medical ethics competency was average (3.37 out of 5). The score for relationships with patients was 3.75 points, followed by medical and social relations (3.19 points) and individual specialized fields (3.16 points). The level of professional ethics awareness was higher among participants who had taken a course on professional ethics than among those who had not done so or who did not remember whether they had done so. @*Conclusion@#Dental hygienists were aware of the importance of professional ethics, but their medical ethics competency was moderate. Therefore, medical ethics should be treated as a required subject in the university curriculum, and medical ethics competency evaluations should be strengthened by adding ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination.

Level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students: the need to add ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination / 보건의료교육평가

Purpose@#This study aimed to evaluate the level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency in order to assess the potential need for ethics items to be included on the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination. @*Methods@#In total, 358 clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene students completed a structured questionnaire to evaluate their level of ethical awareness and medical ethics competency. The sub-factors of medical ethics were classified into relationships with patients, medical and social relations, and individual specialized fields. @*Results@#Only 32.1% of participants indicated that they had taken a course on professional ethics in the university curriculum, but 95.2% of respondents considered professional ethics to be important. The overall score for medical ethics competency was average (3.37 out of 5). The score for relationships with patients was 3.75 points, followed by medical and social relations (3.19 points) and individual specialized fields (3.16 points). The level of professional ethics awareness was higher among participants who had taken a course on professional ethics than among those who had not done so or who did not remember whether they had done so. @*Conclusion@#Dental hygienists were aware of the importance of professional ethics, but their medical ethics competency was moderate. Therefore, medical ethics should be treated as a required subject in the university curriculum, and medical ethics competency evaluations should be strengthened by adding ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination.

Educational effect of 3D applications as a teaching aid for anatomical practice for dental hygiene students / 대한해부학회지

Medication Use and Drug Expenditure in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: based on Korean National Health Insurance Claims Data (2010–2014)

BACKGROUNDS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) increased prevalence and economic burden. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate drug use pattern in IBD patients in a real world. METHODS: National Health Insurance claim data from 2010 to 2014 were used in this population-based study. All IBD patients diagnosed during study period were enrolled. IBD medications included 5-aminosalicylic acid (ASA), glucocorticoid, immunomodulator and anti-tumor necrosis factor-α agent(anti TNF-α). Growth rate of IBD prevalence, prescribed drug classes, duration of drug therapy and medication cost were analyzed. Number and percentage of patients for categorical variables, and mean and median for continuous variables were presented. RESULTS: Total numbers of patients were 131,158 and 57,286 during 5 years, and their annual growth rate were 3.2 and 5.7% for UC and CD. UC and CD were prevalent in the 40–50 (41.2%) and 20–30 age groups (36.0%). About 60% of IBD patients was prescribed any of medications. 5-ASA was the most frequently prescribed, followed by corticosteroid and immunomodulator. Anti TNF-α use was the lowest, but 5 times higher than UC in CD. Combination therapies with different class of drugs were in 29% for UC and 62% for CD. Mean prescription days per patient per year were 306 and 378, and the median medication cost per patient per year was KRW 420,000 (USD 383) and KRW 830,000 (USD755), for UC and CD, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Increasing prevalence of IBD requires further studies to contribute to achieve better clinical outcomes of drug therapy.

Current issues and areas for improvement in the Korean Dental Hygienist National Licensing Examination: an expert Delphi survey among dental hygienists / 보건의료교육평가

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate current issues and areas for improvement in the Korean Dental Hygienist National Licensing Examination (KDHNLE) through an expert Delphi survey. METHODS: A Delphi survey was conducted from May through August 2016 in Korea. This Delphi survey included 20 persons representing the field of dental hygiene (7 groups from various dental hygiene-related organizations). The Delphi survey was administered through e-mail as 3 rounds of questionnaire surveys regarding the issues facing the KDHNLE and potential solutions to those challenges. The primary Delphi survey was an open questionnaire. In each round, subjects' responses were categorized according to the detailed themes of their responses. The minimum value of the content validity ratio of the survey results was determined by the number of panels participating in the Delphi survey. RESULTS: Issues facing the KDHNLE were identified from the results of the Delphi survey. The following 4 items had an average importance score of 4.0 or higher and were considered as important by over 85% of the panels: the failure of the practical test to reflect actual clinical settings, the focus of the practical test on dental scaling, the gap between the items evaluated on the national examination and actual practical work, and insufficiency in strengthening the expertise of licensed dental hygienists. The following items were suggested for improvement: more rigorous rater training, adjustment of the difficulty of the licensing examination, the introduction of a specialized dental hygienist system, and more rigorous refresher training for licensed dental hygienists. CONCLUSION: Based on the above results, the KDHNLE should be improved according to the core competencies of dental hygienists, including on-site clinical practice experience.

A Survey of Pharmacy Students' Perceptions of National Drug Supply Strategy through Public Pharmaceutical Companies

BACKGROUND: Currently establishment of public pharmaceutical companies became an issue for securing stable supply of national essential drugs in order to respond appropriately to national public health crisis. Pharmacy students as future pharmacists need to be interested in drug related issues under the discussion in our society. This study aimed to investigate perceptions of pharmacy students on the national drug supply strategy through public pharmaceutical companies. METHODS: A 20-items questionnaire designed for this study was used. Pharmacy students nationwide were enrolled in July 2017. They responded to questions through on-line survey program. Data were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: 160 students from 26 pharmacy schools participated. 5th and 6th grade students accounted for two-thirds, and one third aspired future jobs in pharmaceutical industry. Among responders, 71.3% was unaware of current national essential drugs, 52.5% did not know the Rare and Essential Drug Center, and 91.9% was unaware of the legislation on the supply and management of essential drugs. 82.5% favored the establishment of public pharmaceutical companies. 80.6% agreed that government should intervene in pharmaceutical market for ensuring drug accessibilities, 73.8% agreed that public pharmaceutical companies make possible to reach a goal of stable supply of pharmaceuticals, and 85.1% agreed that active compulsory license by public pharmaceutical companies is necessary. CONCLUSION: We found that pharmacy students recognized the need for governmental control to achieve social values of pharmaceuticals. More attention and participation of the pharmacy students as well as pharmacists in the process of national debate on public pharmaceutical companies are expected.

Current Status and Suggestions for the Improvement of Gross Anatomy Education in Dental Hygiene Program / 체질인류학회지

Anatomy is an essential subject for dental hygienists. As such, in order to form academic systems for dental hygiene program, we cannot ignore research related to basic dental hygiene, which is related to the main competency of a dental hygienist. This research focused on the operation status of the curriculum related to gross anatomy of the head and neck led by the department of dental hygiene and was performed in order to propose a new direction regarding academics. This research analyzed the offering status of the anatomy curriculum using shared information, released by both the Association of Korean Dental Hygienist and the homepage website of the national dental hygiene, as a foundation. In addition, we conducted a survey of 21 (25.6%) professors out of 82 dental hygiene institutions in the nation. The fill-in survey was composed in order to obtain knowledge on each department's offering and operation system of the anatomy curriculum, general characteristics of professor and demand for the anatomy education. The SPSS 20.0 Program was used to analyze all of the materials with the exception of operation statuses of anatomic curriculums constructed via open questions. Nationally, the subject related to the gross anatomy was opened in Semester 2 during the first year 56.2% of the time, and the oral anatomy class recorded the highest percentage of 45.3%. The general trend of the professors who participated in this research was the highest recording of 85.0% for holders of dental hygiene license. Those who acquired doctoral degrees were found to be 17 individuals (85.0%) and 45.0% majored in health science. The operation methods of anatomic practices were revealed to be models, drawings, and audiovisuals while external practices failed to meet even the half-point of the study. The consensus opinion has indicated the need for a integrated education with clinical subjects, cadaver practices, developments of educational media, and standardization of anatomic terminology. Standardization of educational contents and systemization of practices are necessary for the improvement of anatomic studies of students studying dental hygiene. Cultivating anatomy specialists and sharing activities between academia are required for long-term development. We expect this research to contribute to overall quality improvement and the dental hygiene profession through the establishment of majors.

Reasons for extraction of permanent teeth in Korea / 대한구강보건학회지

OBJECTIVES: The object of this study was to determine the reasons for tooth extractions of permanent teeth in Korea. METHODS: 2009 National patient samples (NPS) data were obtained for patients from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA). We conducted a frequency analysis of the reasons for 93,176 permanent teeth extraction. RESULTS: Overall, periodontal disease was the most frequent reason for tooth extraction (54.9%), followed by dental caries (38.4%). The males lost more teeth, due to periodontal disease than the females. In the below 30 age groups, caries was the main reason for tooth extraction. However, periodontal disease was remarkably increasing in those aged that were 30 year old and over. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the permanent teeth are extracted, due to caries and periodontal disease. Furthermore, there has been no efficient way of prevention for periodontal disease in public health activities, which targeted the population of the middle age group. Such method might be required.