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.

The Effect and Suggestions for Operation of Cadaver Dissection Program for Dental Hygiene Students / 체질인류학회지

Cadaver dissection is an effective method for learning structure and function of the human body. However, division of health science is conducting an anatomy lecture lean toward theory because it is impossible to operate their own practice program. This study was performed to propose a customized anatomy practice program plan that reflects needs of students majoring dental hygiene. A survey was conducted to 138 students majoring dental hygiene at D university. We used a structured questionnaire to analyze general characteristics of a subject, opinions about cadaver dissection, educational method and the demands of a program. Then we acquired frequency, mean, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient value. Furthermore, we also performed independent t-test and variance analysis (ANOVA) by using R program (version 3.2.2). A majority of students responded positively in items of necessity, satisfaction and comprehension of cadaver dissection. Dissection using cadaver marked a highest response (48.6%) among the methods of anatomic education. As for an appropriate time required for education, 72 students (52.2%) responded 30 minutes for an orientation time and 46 students (33.3%) for an observation time. Students also responded head and neck area and skeletal system to be the top priority for observation. In order to operate systemic cadaver dissection program, practical institutions should provide an active system. Contents of a necessity and procedure of cadaver donation should be included in preliminary education, with a thoughtful consideration to minimize negative psychological response of students during educational process. In observation, we should organize program focused on head and neck region and a three-dimensional structure of skeletal system. We expect our study to provide useful information in composing cadaver dissection program for dental hygiene students in the future.