Abstract:

Introduction:
The subject "Practicum I for Paediatric Patients" is a mandatory course taken in the fifth year of the Dentistry Degree at the University of Valencia. It encompasses the clinical part of the basic concepts acquired in the paediatric dentistry subject of the fourth year, providing the necessary theoretical content to learn about the basic knowledge of dental pathologies in children. The objective of the subject is to learn to diagnose oral pathologies in children and adolescents that may affect their systemic development and quality of life. Thus, through a correct diagnosis, the student is expected to be able to diagnose any oral pathology in paediatric patients and perform the necessary dental treatment.

The objective of this innovative project is to actively engage students in their learning process, which is why we encourage them to prepare and present supervised theoretical-practical clinical sessions. Simultaneously, the aim is to analyse students' opinions after each session.

Methodology:
A common and standardized structure was designed for presenting clinical cases. All cases included the patient's age and reason for consultation. The first slides (1st-2nd) contain the patient's medical history, the following slides (3rd-5th) present clinical images and complementary radiographs, the 6th slide outlines the proposed treatment plan, and the 7th slide provides long-term recommendations for the patient. Additionally, an evaluation tool for clinical sessions based on the Likert scale, the "student evaluation survey", was developed. It was completed through the virtual classroom platform at the end of each session.

Results:
After analysing the questionnaires, positive results were obtained from the majority of students. The evaluation obtained from the 2023-24 cohort was slightly better than the previous one. This indicates that the modifications made have been appropriate and adapted to the students' needs.

Conclusions:
The results obtained show that the different teaching methodologies by students promote the standardization of criteria while fostering an active attitude, allowing students to participate in their own learning process.

Keywords:

Education, technology, dentistry.