Effectiveness of Interprofessional Mentoring Competence Education for Dental Health Care Professionals

Clinical practice is an integral part of dental and dental hygiene students' education. The curriculum for a degree is guided by best academic practices for European undergraduate dental education, published by the Association for Dental Education in Europé (ADEE), and the dental hygienist education is based on a European qualifications framework. Interprofessional education has been recognized as a means to improve oral health professional training due to the linked form of education with improved health outcomes. The interprofessional mentoring education is needed for the clinical practice, which has to be implemented in interprofessional teams. Clinical practice mentors need to have completed an interprofessional mentoring education. Different types of educational approaches have been previously affecting mentors' competence development in mentoring. Dental and dental hygiene students can experience team-based, interprofessional education by participating in clinical practice sessions offered in a communal learning environment. Traditional lectures can be transformed into modern, enhanced learning experiences that correspond to the new generation of students. Online learning methods are increasingly being incorporated into dental health care education. Online learning is designed to be able to support learners with technology supporting and facilitating student learning. Those methods can be used in dental health care continuous education. This study is designed to evaluate educational intervention's effectiveness of inter-professional mentoring education on mentors' competence development of dentists and dental hygienists mentors.