(PO-139) Incorporation of Narrative Dentistry With Students in the Anatomy Course

Author: Nicole R. Herring, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, University of Louisville School of Dentistry
Author: Jennifer K. Brueckner-Collins, Ph.D. – Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Louisville School of Dentistry
Submitter: Nicole R. Herring, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, University of Louisville School of Dentistry

OBJECTIVES. The effective practice of medicine and within its scope, dentistry, requires narrative competence, which is the ability to acknowledge, absorb, interpret, and act on the stories of others. With narrative competence, dentists can reach their patients in illness, recognize their own personal journeys through dentistry and medicine, acknowledge kinship with and duties toward other health care professionals, and engage with the public about health care. By bridging the divides that separate healthcare providers from patients, themselves, colleagues, and society, narrative dentistry provides opportunities for respectful and empathic patient care. \

METHODS. Narrative dentistry was incorporated into the anatomy course during the spring semester of the first year of dental school at the University of Louisville. Dentistry-related patient care prompts & readings/videos were provided or students chose their own topics with faculty approval. Prompts and patient stories directly correlated with the anatomical topics currently studied including thoraco-abdominal cavity, neuroanatomy, embryology, and head and neck.
RESULTS. Students submitted a written reflection for each narrative dentistry prompt which was evaluated utilizing a modified version of The REFLECT Rubric for assessing reflecting writing.

CONCLUSION. Close reading of literature, insightful visual observation of patient story-telling, and reflective writing allowed dental students to examine dentistry's central narrative situations, including 1) dentist and patient, 2) dentist and self, 3) dentist and colleagues, and 4) dentists and society. In addition, incorporation of narrative dentistry into the basic sciences curriculum constructed a path for dental students to integrate the basic sciences into patient-centered dentistry