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Maragha, Tala

University of British Columbia

Background: Wellbeing is a complex multifaceted construct that gathered attention in oral health sciences education. Supporting students’ wellbeing is essential for their performance and quality of life. While many definitions and frameworks of wellbeing exist, their applicability to oral health sciences education remains unknown. Further, less is known about the elements that shape the pre-clinical students’ wellbeing in dentistry. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the students’ perspectives of their wellbeing in comparison with theoretical frameworks from other disciplines, and identify the role of learning environments, particularly the foreign ones with pre-clinical hands-on activities, in shaping their wellbeing. The second aim was to explore the students’ wellbeing management strategies and needs for support. Methods: A qualitative study that utilized Interpretive Description and Case Study methodological frameworks was conducted. Individual and group interviews were conducted with 68 pre-clinical dental and dental hygiene students at the University of British Columbia. Data was analyzed inductively and deductively. Quantitative data from the same institution collected separately in 2012/2013 survey were utilized as a form of triangulation. Results: Students identified six domains as relevant to their wellbeing: physical, psychological, eudaimonic, subjective, and social, and spiritual. Wellbeing threats included microaggressions in the learning environment, peer pressure, and transitions. Hands-on learning activities also contributed to students’ cognitive overload and impacted their physical, subjective, and psychological wellbeing. Most students utilized management strategies that targeted the consequences of wellbeing threats, rather than root causes. Students learning and wellbeing support needs in foreign learning environments were categorized as the TIPSS Support framework, which stands for Time, Instructor’s Capacity Building, Peer Learning, Safe Learning Spaces, and Spiralling Curriculum. Conclusions: Existing theoretical frameworks seemed to be useful to understand wellbeing in oral health sciences education but needed to be expanded to include a new domain, Spirituality. Given the threats to pre-clinical students’ wellbeing, interventions should focus on easing dental students’ transition into foreign learning environments and removing barriers preventing them from maintaining their wellbeing. The emerging TIPSS Support framework is a porotype that can guide future studies in exploring its applicability and effectiveness in supporting students’ learning and wellbeing.

Text

2024-04-16

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87847

Craniofacial Science

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/