Dental Tribune Study Club develops clinicians’ skills via case studies database

For dentists, this type of knowledge sharing has been recognized as a key to improving their clinical decision making abilities.

Case studies:

• Allow the application of theoretical concepts to be demonstrated, thus bridging the gap between theory and practice.
• Encourage active learning. Dental professionals, who learn through colleagues’ experiences benefit from exposure to real-world data.
• Provide an opportunity for the development of key skills such as communication and problem solving.
• Increase dentists’ enjoyment of a particular topic, and hence their desire to learn and improve their skills.

However, the predominant benefits of sharing case studies are accelerated scientific progress, improved patient outcomes, reduced research costs and decreased time in moving discoveries from paper to actual practice.

A great case study consists of a problem, the implementation of a solution and the results. The problem should have significant practice impact for the reader. The implementation demonstrates how the practitioner resolved the problem. Finally, the case must be supported with measurable results: statistics, photos and even tables when appropriate.

Case Studies Database

Dental Tribune Study Club (DTSC) is an online educational platform where you can not only earn CE credits, but also share your own case studies and examine those submitted by other dental professionals from around the world. Dental Tribune welcomes case submissions for its online Case Study Database at www.DTStudyClub.com. The submission process is easy:

1. Become a member of www.DTStudyClub.com (it’s free!).
2. Access Discussion Groups and select the field of dentistry that applies to your case. From there, select Case Study Discussions and then select a new thread.
3. Now you will have the option of writing a case description; posting relevant photos, tables or charts; adding tags; creating a poll to encourage peer feedback; etc.
4. Congratulations! Posting cases couldn’t be easier.

The DTSC Case Studies Database is constantly growing, with many members contributing cases on a regular basis. These cases fall into several categories and reflect the broad scope of DTSC members’ clinical and diagnostic expertise. DTSC accepts case submissions in all areas of dentistry including general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, endodontics, implantology, periodontics, orthodontics, dental hygiene and practice management.

Become a winner this month!

Each month the DTSC Web site will select one case from its database and highlight it for site visitors. These highlighted cases are unique in terms of unusual symptoms, diagnostic findings or involve rare conditions. The authors of the selected cases receive free tuition to one CE accredited Webinar of his or her choice on DTSC Web site.

Have something else to say?

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on the DTSC Web site. Please visit www.DTStudyClub.com to send us your thoughts. For additional information about the site, or to forward your feedback directly, please contact Julia Wehkamp at j.wehkamp@dtstudyclub.com.