3
Attitude Testing of Dental School Applicants RATIONALE FOR AN ADDITIONAL CRITERION FOR DENTAL SCHOOL CONSIDERATION
CALMAN KURTZMAN, D.D.S., M.P.H.,
University o f California at Los Angeles Community Dentistry
DR.P.H.
School
o f Dentistry, Department o f
Preventive and
over the potential effects of National Health Insurance proposals in the States has polarized support and opposition of the present health care system in that country. This has led to controversy, with supporters of the system emphasizing high technical quality and opposition to major alterations,’ 22 while critics counter with statistics indicating underserved populations and demands fox.,new programmes for the delivery of care As this issue pertains to dental care, there are two measures by which quality can be evaluated: (i) the quality of the dental work provided for those’ actually receiving treatment; and (ii) the overall quality of care for the entire population. In order to ascertain the second measurement, some weighted average must be computed between those who do and those who do not receive dental services. The question of the role of the dental school within the overall picture has led to increased interest in the obligation to expose the dental student directly to the community in which he will practice.9 Interest generated in the attitudes of dental students in this regard has resulted in questions concerning criteria by which applicants are judged for admission to dental schools.&dquo;
ONTROVERSY
C United
RATIONALE FOR CRITERION CHANGES SCHONFELD DEVELOPED a concept of oral health, embracing the entire oral care system, consisting of three input stages which can potentially mesh with other health systems to produce a final output of general good health for the individual. 15 Criticism of the United States dental delivery system is usually aimed at shortages occurring in the third stage of Schonfeld’s scheme the delivery of oral care services. Data published concern the many people who, because of failure to receive adequate dental care, face early loss of their natural dentition, accompanied by discomfort and psychological trauma,&dquo; as well as a very large financial burden if prothesis is to be provided. It may be forgotten that the shortages are the culmination of deficiencies in prior states of the Schonfeld scheme. If there are to be changes within the system, alterations must be considered as early in the continuum as possible. One logical point is the selection of students for admission to dental school. The type of applicant accepted by a dental school will affect the type of dentist to be graduated. The dentist’s attitude concern-
-
ing his role in the community may, in turn, have an effect on the resolution of previously mentioned dental care shortages. Interest in changes should be promoted as early as possible in the oral care model, starting with an investigation of methods by which applicants are encouraged and selected by dental schools. UNDERGRADUATE ACHIEVEMENT - ITS RELATION TO DENTAL SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE IN A study of five dental schools on the West Coast,* it was clear that undergraduate academic achievement was the most important criterion for acceptance.&dquo; These same schools had between 18 and 25 applicants for each available class position. Table I contains information showing that 50 per cent of the first-year students at these five schools had overall undergraduate gradepoint averages ranging between 3.1 and 3.5, based on a 0-4 basis. Because of the increasing number of applicants, the number whose undergraduate grades are clustered at the mid-range will also increase. Therefore, it can be anticipated that undergraduate academic achievement will provide less information by which to distinguish between dental school applicants. It will be necessary to develop other criteria to determine applicant acceptance. ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA As MILGRAM, Nash and Rovin pointed out, &dquo;Future leaders of the dental profession must be able to transcend expertise in their particular health field, and bring with them skills and sophistication in such key areas as social and community action, economics, organization and interpersonal behaviour and politics. &dquo;Social, governmental and national pressures will demand a philosophy of integration and co-operation, not one of resistance and antagonism. We will need strong and sensitive spokesmen motivated by the conviction and commitment to the best possible health care for the public, not by the political-economic interests of the private, or any other, sector.&dquo;&dquo; One field that has not been explored has been examination of community attitudes of potential dental students. The House of Delegates of the American Dental Association defeated the following resolution, which was introduced by the Indiana State Dental Association in January, 1975: &dquo;RESOLVED, that the American Dental Association
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
4 TABLEI PERCENT OF STUDENTS AND PRE-PROFESSIONAL GRADE POINT AVERAGES ACCORING TO DENTAL SCHOOL (BASED ON 0-4 RANGE)
UCSF-University of California, San Francisco UOP-University of The Pacific USC-University of Southern California UCLA-University of California, Los Angeles Council on Dental Education continue to study the feasibility of adding to the Dental Admission Testing Programme a personality test which would indicate personality characteristics and traits.&dquo; This decision on the part of the House of Delegates does not, however, prevent individual schools from
examining attitudes of applicants. As Crowley stated, &dquo; ... applicants not admitted to professional schools do not differ significantly on general academic aptitudes
from those admitted. Selection committees could influence the supply of health personnel who are more likely to choose jobs within these professions that offer the opportunity to serve the specific needs of society; for example, general practice in rural areas or inner cities. &dquo;3 It has been argued that attitude testing is a non-exact science and that attitudes and actions may differ. 12 15 24 However, Roberts, in an article evaluating the trend of increased community based programmes in schools of dentistry, concluded that, &dquo;Community programmes are intended to develop sensitivity to the social problems that are associated with health care delivery and to develop student awareness that will be carried outside the dental school. A combination of community related experiences and clinical experiences enables the student to better understand the social, economic and political-cultural factors that affect the distribution of dental disease. Once the student has this understanding it may help broaden his outlook in estab-
lishing
a
private practice.&dquo;2~
As educators have become more willing to attempt to change attitudes of dental students, it should be expected that they will wish to examine these attitudes prior to their acceptance. If dentists do not feel they are qualified to administer attitude tests, people can be employed who are expert in the field.
ATTITUDE TESTING AND TESTING FOR DEXTERITY IT HAS been hypothesized that, among other potential factors to be considered, attitude testing is too inconclusive and inaccurate to be used as a criterion for dental school admission. An analogy can be made to another controversial entrance requirement the manual portion of the dental aptitude test, which is mandatory for all applicants to dental schools in the United States. There was considerable controversy over the manual dexterity test instrument introduced into the dental aptitude test in 1944 and its subsequent -
replacement by a perceptual-motor ability test 1973.~ ~ Although there is enough disagreement
in to
cast doubt about its value, some manual test is considered mandatory because of the general belief that manual dexterity is one of the prerequisites of successful dentistry. The same rationale can be used to justify attitude testing. Although there may be differences in the mode of implementation, few in the profession feel that a dentist needs to be unconcerned about his community. If that is true, some educators are advocating attitude testing as one device to search for that trait. There is no question about the inexact qualities of such attitude studies. Regardless of possible shortcomings, however, they present one more dimension by which an applicant to the profession may be judged. One attitude test, that was originally developed to examine community attitudes of community psychiatry residents, seems particularly adaptable to the dental setting. The Community Mental Health Scale, developed in 1967 by Doctors Frank Baker and Herbert Schulberg, has been used in settings in and out of the health field and can be utilized to evaluate dental school applicants.’I The administration of this instrument to entering students at the five West Coast dental schools, in 1974, provided information by which differences in community orientation among students could be recognized and measured. This served as a vehicle by which a cohort of entering dental students was identified for further investigation later in the course of their dental education.
MISPLACED EMPHASIS ON TECHNICAL COMPETENCE MENTION WAS made of the possible discrepancy between attitudes and actions and the negative connotations this may have on the value of attitude testing. It should be recognized, however, that there is also a discrepancy between the technical competence of a dentist and the quality of care he may deliver. Even though there have been efforts to introduce community-oriented programmes into dental curricula, those efforts continue to be overshadowed by a traditional interest in educating graduate dentists capable of adequately performing the technical aspects of dental care. 2 13 19 20 26 The rationale for this technical emphasis is that, if a dentist has the manual skills, he will deliver adequate dental care. As Feldstein pointed out, however, &dquo;Measurement of quality and the availability of those findings on an ’outcome’ basis are not encouraged by the dental profession. The process for producing high quality dental care involves minimum educational requirements, licensing examinations, and limitations
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
5 in the tasks that ’lesser educated’ persons may perform. &dquo;Once the majority of dentists have successfully completed all these process requirements, there is virtually no monitoring of their quality of care as a practis-
ing
dentist.&dquo;6
ATTITUDE TESTING Feldstein also indicated that it is not possible to infer that
lengthy, precise educational requirements and restrictions on task capability will insure that dental care practiced will be of high quality.
That is not to say that technical aspects of a dental education are unimportant. Obviously, technical competence is one prerequisite for the delivery of adequate dental care. However, it should be re-emphasized that this affects only one of the quality measurements-that relating to the population actually receiving care. With regard to the dental education process, it might be concluded that technical competence is of greater importance than a positive attitude toward the community. This hypothesis is based on the concept that the school’s primary role is to teach dental procedures to students, and not to deliver care to patients. It should be clear, however, that dental schools are obligated to consider the impact of their graduates on the community in which they will practise. Articles concerning the relation between manual dexterity and dental quality concentrate on the ability of a student to successfully complete his dental education, not on his ability to produce adequate patient care.45 16 18 21 27 28 The only attempt to relate technical ability with high quality care after graduation is one of &dquo;process&dquo;. It has been questioned whether this is any more valid than equating attitudes to potential actions.
CONCLUSIONS In the past few years the number of highly qualified applicants to dental schools has increased enormously. Under these circumstances undergraduate academic achievement diminishes in importance as a relative measure. There should be recognition that test instruments are available with which to evaluate applicants concerning their orientation to the community where they will eventually practice. This study should be viewed in a holistic perspective. It is not the claim of supporters of this new criterion that, if a dental student’s attitudes are &dquo;in the right place&dquo; in regard to the community, there will be any basic changes in the role of the dental practitioner within the society. Those types of changes cannot take place without alterations in the entire mode of the private practice of dentis-
try-a prospect
not
easily envisaged.
Nor is it meant as a call to eliminate academic success as an entrance factor to dental school, and the grade point average will probably remain the single most important criterion. It does, however, seem important to consider other factors, especially as the number of applicants increases. Dental school faculties have begun to recognize their obligation to the community to be as interested in the social responsiveness of a graduate who will be practising for many decades as they are in the ability of the potential student to perform adequately during his three or four years in school. They are reasoning that, if changes in the system are desirable, there ought to be changes in the method by which individuals are selected to enter the dental profession. *Schools participating in the study were the Umversity of Southern California, the University of California at Los Angeles and San Francisco, the University of the Pacific and the University of Oregon.
REFERENCES BAKER, F. and SCHULBERG. H. " The ctevelopment ot a community 1 mental health ideology scale." Community Mental Health Journal, :216-225, Fall, 1967. 3 2 BLUNT, J. S. "The mobile dental facility; an adjunct in a dental school’s program of community health." Journal of Dental Educa:761-763, December, 1971. tion, 35 CROWLEY. A. E., et al. "A longitudinal study of the career 3 development of health professionals." ERIC Document 063-500, American Educational Research Association, April, 1972. DEREVERE, R. E. "Comparison of dental aptitude tests with 4 achievement in operative dentistry." Journal of Dental Education, :50-56, March, 1961. 25 DWORKIN, S. F. "Dental aptitude test as performance predictor 5 over four years of dental school: analysis and interpretations." Journal of Dental Education, 34 :28-38, March, 1970. 6 FELDSTEIN, P. J. "Finding and payment of dental care: an analysis of possible alternatives." Oral Health Dentistry and The American Public. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 193-
244, 1974.
FRANCIS, S. R. "Cautions on capitation practice." Journal of The 7 :34-37, June, 1975. California Dental Association, 3(6) 8 GRAHAM, J. W. "Substitution of perceptual-motor ability test for chalk-carving in dental admission testing programs." Journal of Dental Education, :9-14, 36(11) November, 1972. 9HENRY, J. L. and SINKI-ORD, J. C. "Trends in dental education." Journal of Dental Education, 27 :197-200, September, 1960. 10 INGLE, J. "A plan to deliver preventive and therapeutic dental care to the children of America"—paper presented at the Conference of Dental Examiners and Dental Educators. Chicago, February 1-12, 1972. 22 pages duplicated. 11 KELLY, J. E., VAN KIR, L. E. and GRASST, C. Total loss of teeth in adults; United States. 1960-1962 Pitts Publication No. 1000, Ser. 11; Washington Government Printing Office, 1967. 23 pages. 12 KELMAN, H. C. "Attitudes are alive and well and gainfully em:310ployed in the sphere of action." American Psychologist, 28 324, May, 1974. 13 KURTLMAN, C.; FREED, J. and GOLDSTEIN, C. M. "Evaluation of treatment provided through two universities’ mobile dental pro:74-79, Spring, jects." Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 34(2) 1974.
KURTZMAN, C. "Concepts of social responsibility among entering students at five dental schools." Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California at Los Angeles, 1975. 15 LA PIERE, R. T. "Attitudes versus actions." Social Forces, 13:230237, December 1934. 16 MANHOLD. J. H.; VINTON. P. H. and MANHOLD, B. S. "Preliminary study of the efficacy of the dental aptitude test in predicting fouryear performance in a dental school." Journal of Dental Education, 27:84-87, March, 1963. 17 MILGROM, P.; NASH, J. and ROVIN. S. "Identifying leadership careers in the dental profession." Journal of Dental Education, 14
38(3): 140-146, March, 18 PARKIN, G. L. "Report
1974. the results of
on
aptitude testing program."
:9-32, January, 1958. Journal of Dental Education, 22
19
PEMERSON. E. O. and SHEA. N. "Interaction of dental students with the educational environments provided by preventive and community dentistry: realism and reasonableness of the educational planning and implementation." Journal of Public Health :2-11, Winter, 1972. Dentistry, 32 20 PHAIR. W. P. and SIEELE. D. K. "The University of Iowa mobile dental project." Iowa Dental Journal, 57 :44-46, August, 1971. 21 PYSKACEK. P. A. "The dental admissions testing program and proposed changes." Journal of Dental Education, 35 :237-242, April, 1971. 21
RILEY, LINCOLN, "Disadvantages of HMO’s and capitation." Jour:40-47, September, California Dental Association, 1(3)
nal of The 1973.
23 R. A. "Community dentistry now; progress in dental ROBERTS, school programs." Journal of the American Dental Association, :918-930, May, 1974. 88 24
SCHOHELD, J. W. "A framework for viewing the relationship between attitude and action." Doctoral dissertation, Howard Univer-
sity, Washington, D.C., 1972. SCHONFELD, H. K. "Evaluation of the quality of oral care systems." Oral Health, Dentistry and The American Public. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, pages 230-278, 1974. 26 :2-4, STARK, M. M. "Mobile clinic for Israel." Cal Magazine, 34
25
October, 27
1971.
ZULLO, T. G. "A factor analysis of perceptual and of dental students." Journal
June, 1971. 28
of
Dental
motor
abilities
Education, 35 :356-361,
ZULLO, T. G. "Principal components analysis of the dental aptitude test battery." Journal of Dental Education, 35 :144-148, March, 1971.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
Attitude Testing of Dental School Applicants RATIONALE FOR AN ADDITIONAL CRITERION FOR DENTAL SCHOOL CONSIDERATION
CALMAN KURTZMAN, D.D.S., M.P.H.,
University o f California at Los Angeles Community Dentistry
DR.P.H.
School
o f Dentistry, Department o f
Preventive and
over the potential effects of National Health Insurance proposals in the States has polarized support and opposition of the present health care system in that country. This has led to controversy, with supporters of the system emphasizing high technical quality and opposition to major alterations,’ 22 while critics counter with statistics indicating underserved populations and demands fox.,new programmes for the delivery of care As this issue pertains to dental care, there are two measures by which quality can be evaluated: (i) the quality of the dental work provided for those’ actually receiving treatment; and (ii) the overall quality of care for the entire population. In order to ascertain the second measurement, some weighted average must be computed between those who do and those who do not receive dental services. The question of the role of the dental school within the overall picture has led to increased interest in the obligation to expose the dental student directly to the community in which he will practice.9 Interest generated in the attitudes of dental students in this regard has resulted in questions concerning criteria by which applicants are judged for admission to dental schools.&dquo;
ONTROVERSY
C United
RATIONALE FOR CRITERION CHANGES SCHONFELD DEVELOPED a concept of oral health, embracing the entire oral care system, consisting of three input stages which can potentially mesh with other health systems to produce a final output of general good health for the individual. 15 Criticism of the United States dental delivery system is usually aimed at shortages occurring in the third stage of Schonfeld’s scheme the delivery of oral care services. Data published concern the many people who, because of failure to receive adequate dental care, face early loss of their natural dentition, accompanied by discomfort and psychological trauma,&dquo; as well as a very large financial burden if prothesis is to be provided. It may be forgotten that the shortages are the culmination of deficiencies in prior states of the Schonfeld scheme. If there are to be changes within the system, alterations must be considered as early in the continuum as possible. One logical point is the selection of students for admission to dental school. The type of applicant accepted by a dental school will affect the type of dentist to be graduated. The dentist’s attitude concern-
-
ing his role in the community may, in turn, have an effect on the resolution of previously mentioned dental care shortages. Interest in changes should be promoted as early as possible in the oral care model, starting with an investigation of methods by which applicants are encouraged and selected by dental schools. UNDERGRADUATE ACHIEVEMENT - ITS RELATION TO DENTAL SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE IN A study of five dental schools on the West Coast,* it was clear that undergraduate academic achievement was the most important criterion for acceptance.&dquo; These same schools had between 18 and 25 applicants for each available class position. Table I contains information showing that 50 per cent of the first-year students at these five schools had overall undergraduate gradepoint averages ranging between 3.1 and 3.5, based on a 0-4 basis. Because of the increasing number of applicants, the number whose undergraduate grades are clustered at the mid-range will also increase. Therefore, it can be anticipated that undergraduate academic achievement will provide less information by which to distinguish between dental school applicants. It will be necessary to develop other criteria to determine applicant acceptance. ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA As MILGRAM, Nash and Rovin pointed out, &dquo;Future leaders of the dental profession must be able to transcend expertise in their particular health field, and bring with them skills and sophistication in such key areas as social and community action, economics, organization and interpersonal behaviour and politics. &dquo;Social, governmental and national pressures will demand a philosophy of integration and co-operation, not one of resistance and antagonism. We will need strong and sensitive spokesmen motivated by the conviction and commitment to the best possible health care for the public, not by the political-economic interests of the private, or any other, sector.&dquo;&dquo; One field that has not been explored has been examination of community attitudes of potential dental students. The House of Delegates of the American Dental Association defeated the following resolution, which was introduced by the Indiana State Dental Association in January, 1975: &dquo;RESOLVED, that the American Dental Association
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
4 TABLEI PERCENT OF STUDENTS AND PRE-PROFESSIONAL GRADE POINT AVERAGES ACCORING TO DENTAL SCHOOL (BASED ON 0-4 RANGE)
UCSF-University of California, San Francisco UOP-University of The Pacific USC-University of Southern California UCLA-University of California, Los Angeles Council on Dental Education continue to study the feasibility of adding to the Dental Admission Testing Programme a personality test which would indicate personality characteristics and traits.&dquo; This decision on the part of the House of Delegates does not, however, prevent individual schools from
examining attitudes of applicants. As Crowley stated, &dquo; ... applicants not admitted to professional schools do not differ significantly on general academic aptitudes
from those admitted. Selection committees could influence the supply of health personnel who are more likely to choose jobs within these professions that offer the opportunity to serve the specific needs of society; for example, general practice in rural areas or inner cities. &dquo;3 It has been argued that attitude testing is a non-exact science and that attitudes and actions may differ. 12 15 24 However, Roberts, in an article evaluating the trend of increased community based programmes in schools of dentistry, concluded that, &dquo;Community programmes are intended to develop sensitivity to the social problems that are associated with health care delivery and to develop student awareness that will be carried outside the dental school. A combination of community related experiences and clinical experiences enables the student to better understand the social, economic and political-cultural factors that affect the distribution of dental disease. Once the student has this understanding it may help broaden his outlook in estab-
lishing
a
private practice.&dquo;2~
As educators have become more willing to attempt to change attitudes of dental students, it should be expected that they will wish to examine these attitudes prior to their acceptance. If dentists do not feel they are qualified to administer attitude tests, people can be employed who are expert in the field.
ATTITUDE TESTING AND TESTING FOR DEXTERITY IT HAS been hypothesized that, among other potential factors to be considered, attitude testing is too inconclusive and inaccurate to be used as a criterion for dental school admission. An analogy can be made to another controversial entrance requirement the manual portion of the dental aptitude test, which is mandatory for all applicants to dental schools in the United States. There was considerable controversy over the manual dexterity test instrument introduced into the dental aptitude test in 1944 and its subsequent -
replacement by a perceptual-motor ability test 1973.~ ~ Although there is enough disagreement
in to
cast doubt about its value, some manual test is considered mandatory because of the general belief that manual dexterity is one of the prerequisites of successful dentistry. The same rationale can be used to justify attitude testing. Although there may be differences in the mode of implementation, few in the profession feel that a dentist needs to be unconcerned about his community. If that is true, some educators are advocating attitude testing as one device to search for that trait. There is no question about the inexact qualities of such attitude studies. Regardless of possible shortcomings, however, they present one more dimension by which an applicant to the profession may be judged. One attitude test, that was originally developed to examine community attitudes of community psychiatry residents, seems particularly adaptable to the dental setting. The Community Mental Health Scale, developed in 1967 by Doctors Frank Baker and Herbert Schulberg, has been used in settings in and out of the health field and can be utilized to evaluate dental school applicants.’I The administration of this instrument to entering students at the five West Coast dental schools, in 1974, provided information by which differences in community orientation among students could be recognized and measured. This served as a vehicle by which a cohort of entering dental students was identified for further investigation later in the course of their dental education.
MISPLACED EMPHASIS ON TECHNICAL COMPETENCE MENTION WAS made of the possible discrepancy between attitudes and actions and the negative connotations this may have on the value of attitude testing. It should be recognized, however, that there is also a discrepancy between the technical competence of a dentist and the quality of care he may deliver. Even though there have been efforts to introduce community-oriented programmes into dental curricula, those efforts continue to be overshadowed by a traditional interest in educating graduate dentists capable of adequately performing the technical aspects of dental care. 2 13 19 20 26 The rationale for this technical emphasis is that, if a dentist has the manual skills, he will deliver adequate dental care. As Feldstein pointed out, however, &dquo;Measurement of quality and the availability of those findings on an ’outcome’ basis are not encouraged by the dental profession. The process for producing high quality dental care involves minimum educational requirements, licensing examinations, and limitations
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
5 in the tasks that ’lesser educated’ persons may perform. &dquo;Once the majority of dentists have successfully completed all these process requirements, there is virtually no monitoring of their quality of care as a practis-
ing
dentist.&dquo;6
ATTITUDE TESTING Feldstein also indicated that it is not possible to infer that
lengthy, precise educational requirements and restrictions on task capability will insure that dental care practiced will be of high quality.
That is not to say that technical aspects of a dental education are unimportant. Obviously, technical competence is one prerequisite for the delivery of adequate dental care. However, it should be re-emphasized that this affects only one of the quality measurements-that relating to the population actually receiving care. With regard to the dental education process, it might be concluded that technical competence is of greater importance than a positive attitude toward the community. This hypothesis is based on the concept that the school’s primary role is to teach dental procedures to students, and not to deliver care to patients. It should be clear, however, that dental schools are obligated to consider the impact of their graduates on the community in which they will practise. Articles concerning the relation between manual dexterity and dental quality concentrate on the ability of a student to successfully complete his dental education, not on his ability to produce adequate patient care.45 16 18 21 27 28 The only attempt to relate technical ability with high quality care after graduation is one of &dquo;process&dquo;. It has been questioned whether this is any more valid than equating attitudes to potential actions.
CONCLUSIONS In the past few years the number of highly qualified applicants to dental schools has increased enormously. Under these circumstances undergraduate academic achievement diminishes in importance as a relative measure. There should be recognition that test instruments are available with which to evaluate applicants concerning their orientation to the community where they will eventually practice. This study should be viewed in a holistic perspective. It is not the claim of supporters of this new criterion that, if a dental student’s attitudes are &dquo;in the right place&dquo; in regard to the community, there will be any basic changes in the role of the dental practitioner within the society. Those types of changes cannot take place without alterations in the entire mode of the private practice of dentis-
try-a prospect
not
easily envisaged.
Nor is it meant as a call to eliminate academic success as an entrance factor to dental school, and the grade point average will probably remain the single most important criterion. It does, however, seem important to consider other factors, especially as the number of applicants increases. Dental school faculties have begun to recognize their obligation to the community to be as interested in the social responsiveness of a graduate who will be practising for many decades as they are in the ability of the potential student to perform adequately during his three or four years in school. They are reasoning that, if changes in the system are desirable, there ought to be changes in the method by which individuals are selected to enter the dental profession. *Schools participating in the study were the Umversity of Southern California, the University of California at Los Angeles and San Francisco, the University of the Pacific and the University of Oregon.
REFERENCES BAKER, F. and SCHULBERG. H. " The ctevelopment ot a community 1 mental health ideology scale." Community Mental Health Journal, :216-225, Fall, 1967. 3 2 BLUNT, J. S. "The mobile dental facility; an adjunct in a dental school’s program of community health." Journal of Dental Educa:761-763, December, 1971. tion, 35 CROWLEY. A. E., et al. "A longitudinal study of the career 3 development of health professionals." ERIC Document 063-500, American Educational Research Association, April, 1972. DEREVERE, R. E. "Comparison of dental aptitude tests with 4 achievement in operative dentistry." Journal of Dental Education, :50-56, March, 1961. 25 DWORKIN, S. F. "Dental aptitude test as performance predictor 5 over four years of dental school: analysis and interpretations." Journal of Dental Education, 34 :28-38, March, 1970. 6 FELDSTEIN, P. J. "Finding and payment of dental care: an analysis of possible alternatives." Oral Health Dentistry and The American Public. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 193-
244, 1974.
FRANCIS, S. R. "Cautions on capitation practice." Journal of The 7 :34-37, June, 1975. California Dental Association, 3(6) 8 GRAHAM, J. W. "Substitution of perceptual-motor ability test for chalk-carving in dental admission testing programs." Journal of Dental Education, :9-14, 36(11) November, 1972. 9HENRY, J. L. and SINKI-ORD, J. C. "Trends in dental education." Journal of Dental Education, 27 :197-200, September, 1960. 10 INGLE, J. "A plan to deliver preventive and therapeutic dental care to the children of America"—paper presented at the Conference of Dental Examiners and Dental Educators. Chicago, February 1-12, 1972. 22 pages duplicated. 11 KELLY, J. E., VAN KIR, L. E. and GRASST, C. Total loss of teeth in adults; United States. 1960-1962 Pitts Publication No. 1000, Ser. 11; Washington Government Printing Office, 1967. 23 pages. 12 KELMAN, H. C. "Attitudes are alive and well and gainfully em:310ployed in the sphere of action." American Psychologist, 28 324, May, 1974. 13 KURTLMAN, C.; FREED, J. and GOLDSTEIN, C. M. "Evaluation of treatment provided through two universities’ mobile dental pro:74-79, Spring, jects." Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 34(2) 1974.
KURTZMAN, C. "Concepts of social responsibility among entering students at five dental schools." Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of California at Los Angeles, 1975. 15 LA PIERE, R. T. "Attitudes versus actions." Social Forces, 13:230237, December 1934. 16 MANHOLD. J. H.; VINTON. P. H. and MANHOLD, B. S. "Preliminary study of the efficacy of the dental aptitude test in predicting fouryear performance in a dental school." Journal of Dental Education, 27:84-87, March, 1963. 17 MILGROM, P.; NASH, J. and ROVIN. S. "Identifying leadership careers in the dental profession." Journal of Dental Education, 14
38(3): 140-146, March, 18 PARKIN, G. L. "Report
1974. the results of
on
aptitude testing program."
:9-32, January, 1958. Journal of Dental Education, 22
19
PEMERSON. E. O. and SHEA. N. "Interaction of dental students with the educational environments provided by preventive and community dentistry: realism and reasonableness of the educational planning and implementation." Journal of Public Health :2-11, Winter, 1972. Dentistry, 32 20 PHAIR. W. P. and SIEELE. D. K. "The University of Iowa mobile dental project." Iowa Dental Journal, 57 :44-46, August, 1971. 21 PYSKACEK. P. A. "The dental admissions testing program and proposed changes." Journal of Dental Education, 35 :237-242, April, 1971. 21
RILEY, LINCOLN, "Disadvantages of HMO’s and capitation." Jour:40-47, September, California Dental Association, 1(3)
nal of The 1973.
23 R. A. "Community dentistry now; progress in dental ROBERTS, school programs." Journal of the American Dental Association, :918-930, May, 1974. 88 24
SCHOHELD, J. W. "A framework for viewing the relationship between attitude and action." Doctoral dissertation, Howard Univer-
sity, Washington, D.C., 1972. SCHONFELD, H. K. "Evaluation of the quality of oral care systems." Oral Health, Dentistry and The American Public. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, pages 230-278, 1974. 26 :2-4, STARK, M. M. "Mobile clinic for Israel." Cal Magazine, 34
25
October, 27
1971.
ZULLO, T. G. "A factor analysis of perceptual and of dental students." Journal
June, 1971. 28
of
Dental
motor
abilities
Education, 35 :356-361,
ZULLO, T. G. "Principal components analysis of the dental aptitude test battery." Journal of Dental Education, 35 :144-148, March, 1971.
Downloaded from rsh.sagepub.com at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on June 5, 2015
