Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
    • Past Issues
  • Info for
    • Authors
      • Resources
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Subscribing
  • About
    • About the JDE
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Alerts
    • My Saved Searches
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Other Publications

User menu

  • My Alerts
  • Log In
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Dental Education
Visit the American Dental Education Association's main website
  • My Alerts
  • Log In
  • My Cart
Journal of Dental Education

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Online Ahead of Print
    • Past Issues
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Subscribing
  • About
    • About the JDE
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Alerts
    • My Saved Searches
    • Feedback
    • Help
  • Visit jde Template on Facebook
  • Follow jde Template on Twitter
  • Follow jde Template on YouTube
  • View jde RSS feed
  • TOC Alerts
Research ArticlePredoctoral Dental Education

Students Don’t Know What They Don’t Know: Dental and Oral Health Students’ Perspectives on Developing Cultural Competence Regarding Indigenous Peoples

Cathryn Forsyth, Michelle Irving, Stephanie Short, Marc Tennant and John Gilroy
Journal of Dental Education June 2019, 83 (6) 679-686; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21815/JDE.019.078
Cathryn Forsyth
Cathryn Forsyth is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Michelle Irving is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Stephanie Short is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Marc Tennant is at International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia; and John Gilroy is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: cathryn.forsyth@sydney.edu.au
Michelle Irving
Cathryn Forsyth is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Michelle Irving is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Stephanie Short is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Marc Tennant is at International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia; and John Gilroy is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Stephanie Short
Cathryn Forsyth is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Michelle Irving is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Stephanie Short is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Marc Tennant is at International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia; and John Gilroy is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Marc Tennant
Cathryn Forsyth is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Michelle Irving is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Stephanie Short is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Marc Tennant is at International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia; and John Gilroy is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John Gilroy
Cathryn Forsyth is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Michelle Irving is at Sydney Dental School, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Stephanie Short is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Marc Tennant is at International Research Collaborative, Oral Health and Equity, School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia; and John Gilroy is at Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

GTranslate

English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Indigenous Australians experience poorer oral health than non-Indigenous Australians despite closing-the-gap initiatives. Cultural competence is an important skill in the delivery of oral health care. The need for academic institutions to incorporate Indigenous culture more widely into their curricula to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous peoples and to increase cultural competence for all students has been recognized. The aims of this study were to identify students’ perceptions of Indigenous content in current dental and oral health curricula; perceived barriers and supports for developing students’ Indigenous cultural competence; and recommended strategies to inform future education in Indigenous culture. Students in the Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) and Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) programs at the University of Sydney participated in semi-structured interviews to explore barriers and supports to students’ becoming more competent in Indigenous culture. Thematic analysis was used to synthesize the students’ responses. Fifteen students participated in interviews. In analysis of the data, five key themes emerged: defining Indigenous cultural competence; current Indigenous cultural content; barriers to incorporating Indigenous education; future Indigenous curricular content and strategies; and diversity within student cohorts. These findings suggest that increasing Indigenous cultural competence among dental and oral health students requires an informed history of Indigenous Australians, engagement with Indigenous communities, and reflection on these experiences. Additionally, recruitment of Indigenous staff and students in the school will facilitate culturally appropriate ways to redress Indigenous health disparities and increase the overall health of Indigenous peoples.

Keywords
  • dental education
  • cultural competence
  • access to health care
  • health care disparities
  • attitude of health personnel
  • underserved patients
  • indigenous peoples
  • aboriginal populations
  • social determinants of health
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Please log in using your adea.org credentials. The JDE website is no longer issuing separate usernames for journal access. Don't know your username?

Before logging in with your ADEA.org credentials the first time, we recommend clearing your browser cache and cookies.

Subscribers and ADEA members:

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Join or Renew ADEA/JDE Membership

Log in through your institution

You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your library if you do not have a username and password.
If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.

For more Information:

Check ADEA's website to learn about JDE subscriptions or ADEA membership and member benefits.
Contact us at publications@adea.org or (US) 202-962-9113.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Dental Education: 83 (6)
Journal of Dental Education
Vol. 83, Issue 6
1 Jun 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author

GTranslate

English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Dental Education.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Students Don’t Know What They Don’t Know: Dental and Oral Health Students’ Perspectives on Developing Cultural Competence Regarding Indigenous Peoples
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Dental Education
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Dental Education web site.
Citation Tools
Students Don’t Know What They Don’t Know: Dental and Oral Health Students’ Perspectives on Developing Cultural Competence Regarding Indigenous Peoples
Cathryn Forsyth, Michelle Irving, Stephanie Short, Marc Tennant, John Gilroy
Journal of Dental Education Jun 2019, 83 (6) 679-686; DOI: 10.21815/JDE.019.078

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Request Permissions

Share
Students Don’t Know What They Don’t Know: Dental and Oral Health Students’ Perspectives on Developing Cultural Competence Regarding Indigenous Peoples
Cathryn Forsyth, Michelle Irving, Stephanie Short, Marc Tennant, John Gilroy
Journal of Dental Education Jun 2019, 83 (6) 679-686; DOI: 10.21815/JDE.019.078
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Linkedin Share Button

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusion
    • Acknowledgments
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Scopus
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The Multiple Mini Interview as a Dental School Admission Tool: Can It Predict Noncognitive Traits Associated with Professional Behaviors?
  • Examining the Preferred Learning Styles of U.S. Dental Students with Learning Disabilities
  • Impact of Collaborative Leadership in Dental School Team Clinics
Show more Predoctoral Dental Education

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • dental education
  • cultural competence
  • access to health care
  • health care disparities
  • attitude of health personnel
  • underserved patients
  • indigenous peoples
  • aboriginal populations
  • social determinants of health

About

  • About ADEA
  • About the JDE
  • Editorial Review Board
  • Contact Us

Author Information

  • Submit a Paper
  • Submission Information
  • FAQ for Authors
  • Reprint Policies

More Information

  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Email Alerts
  • My Saved Searches
  • Help

© 2019 Journal of Dental Education

Powered by HighWire