Effects of a dental Spanish educational intervention among predoctoral students at a US dental school

Purpose/objectives This study investigated the effects of an online module intended to educate dental students about Spanish terms and phrases relevant to a patient appointment. Effects investigated included perceived value of dental Spanish, confidence utilizing Spanish terms in a patient appointment, and degree of knowledge retention. Methods This study utilized pre- and postsurvey data collected from three classes at one US dental institution (D2-D4) via an online measure accompanying the virtual educational module. Questions assessed degree of accurate knowledge retained, level of confidence, perceived value of dental Spanish, language proficiency, and year in school. Results Predoctoral dental students in three cohorts participated in the study (97% and 87% pre/post-test response rate, respectively). Most students reported dental Spanish to be beneficial and necessary. However, the intervention did not influence students' perceived value of dental Spanish. Students who disagreed that dental Spanish was valuable performed significantly worse on the postintervention knowledge assessment when compared to those students who positively reported value of dental Spanish. The intervention significantly increased confidence levels overall regarding use of dental Spanish in a patient appointment. Significant knowledge acquisition occurred for each of the components assessed. Conclusion(s) A brief online educational intervention can effectively increase dental students' knowledge of and confidence utilizing Spanish terms commonly employed during a patient appointment. Perceived value of dental Spanish is high and impacts students' knowledge retention but is not affected by education alone.