Students' Perceptions of the Integration of Sexual and Gender Minority Constructs within the Dental Curriculum

Background and Objective@#The sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) are at risk for various health disparities. To address this, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for the training of healthcare providers who demonstrate cultural competence. To facilitate this, studies have suggested the inclusion of SGM-specific constructs in the curriculum that is complemented with campus climate-related efforts. This study aimed to determine the degree of coverage of cultural competence towards the SGM constructs in the required curriculum and describe the campus climate towards the SGM of a dental school in the Philippines from the students' perspective. @*Methodology@#A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed. A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to determine the coverage of SGM-specific constructs. This was followed by semi-structured interviews to discuss the campus climate towards the SGM. Data collection utilized a twostage stratified random sampling method for the survey while a purposive sampling method was used for interviewing dental students enrolled in a private, non-sectarian school. @*Results and Conclusion@#Survey results show that the most reported covered concepts are the oral manifestations of sexually transmitted diseases and the use of inclusive terminologies. Interview responses reveal instances of inadvertent perpetuation of heteronormative ideologies, however, the campus climate is perceived as neutral towards the SGM. The integration of the two datasets reveals incongruences between the curricular coverage and the perceived campus climate. Nevertheless, findings imply that the dental curriculum remains largely objective and asexual. Additionally, the integration underscores the importance of complementing curricular content with an inclusive campus climate in developing cultural competence among dental students.

Applying a mixed methods design for needs assessment of an international fellowship training program for Mongolian health professions / 한국의학교육

PURPOSE: Continuing professional development is essential for improving health care services, especially in developing countries. Most of the training programs in Mongolia were not based on a targeted needs assessment. Therefore, we aimed to apply a mixed methods design to assess the training needs of Mongolian health professions. METHODS: We conducted a needs assessment using a convergent parallel mixed methods design in two steps. The survey and interview questions were developed to identify priority areas, targeted trainees, and effective training methods. A survey on 60 respondents, 15 individual interviews, and a focus group interview with 14 participants were conducted in the first step. In the second step, 12 representatives of key stakeholders were invited to a second focus group interview. RESULTS: Current health policy areas, areas related to future national plans, and areas not currently receiving governmental or international support were suggested as the main priorities. The stakeholder suggested that trainees should be selected based on their professional experience and language level, as well as each hospital’s needs. Building teams including various professions, such as nurses, technicians, and biomedical engineers, was recommended as a way to exchange ideas with each other and to build teamwork for future collaboration. CONCLUSION: Medical training needs are dynamic and complex; therefore, a deep understanding of the context and setting is necessary. In this study, we assessed the targeted training needs of Mongolian health professions through a mixed methods design, which could be an effective way to conduct needs assessments for training programs.