The joys of clinical teaching: Insights from a new dental hygiene instructor

After graduating from dental hygiene, many of us are happy to never return to a classroom. But I had a different experience. During school, I knew I wanted to eventually start a teaching career in dental hygiene.

In January 2023, my dream became a reality! I was hired as an adjunct clinical faculty member at my alma mater and started teaching clinical practice part time. As time progressed, I developed my teaching skills and own way of reaching students. Here I share my thoughts and perspectives for those considering a career in clinical teaching.

The importance of mentoring

Starting in a new role as a clinical instructor can be intimidating and overwhelming. As a student, you know that the instructors are there to guide, correct, and grade you. But you probably never contemplated the other responsibilities of instructors. I was lucky enough to have a seasoned clinical instructor mentor me from my first day. She guided me about the policies of the dental hygiene program clinic, how to properly complete the grading form, and shared tips to manage my time with students. As I gained experience, I developed my own method to work with students. But being able to have my mentor to share ideas with was imperative.

Preparation for clinical teaching

One of the main attributes of a clinical instructor is knowledge and effectiveness with clinical skills. But those skills need to be developed with an educational perspective to effectively teach them to students. Finding a resource specifically geared toward dental hygiene education is the best way to expand teaching methods. There are many online platforms that provide virtual classes and conferences that focus on dental hygiene education methods and pedagogy.

Articles related to dental hygiene education are important resources. Particularly useful are those related to effective and ineffective teaching qualities.^1,2 Vicki Pizanis’ article, “Effective and ineffective clinical teaching in dental hygiene education: a qualitative study,” discusses an effective feedback method called DOC (demonstrate, observe, correct).

With this method, an instructor demonstrates a technique, then observes the student as they attempt what’s been demonstrated, and then provides feedback to the student on their performance.¹ I’ve integrated the DOC method into my teaching strategy and found it to be very successful and appreciated by students.

Clinical instructors can seem intimidating, so to soften this perspective, it’s helpful to be able to relate with students. In “Dental hygiene faculty shortage: causes, solutions and recruitment tactics,” the authors discuss how student perceptions about faculty become their beliefs, and incidental learning about faculty life should be provided in a positive light.³ The article suggests that part-time faculty are viewed more as role models to students than full-time faculty.³

With this information, faculty should be encouraged to share parts of their life and what they enjoy about their career. Also, sharing experiences from their dental hygiene education when they were challenged, or made a mistake, and how they overcame the issue could help students persevere in their education.

To give a glimpse of what dental hygiene can be beyond clinical skills, share experiences you had in private practice that impacted you. Also, learning more about students on a personal level can show that you care for each of them as a person and you don’t see them as just as a student who needs to be graded. For students to be able to see you as a person and not just a grading machine helps ease tension and create a more effective learning environment.