Structured training linked to sustained dental student self-efficacy gains

Mean scores on a four-point scale rose from 2.94 before training to 3.34 immediately afterward and remained at 3.18 eight months later. The finding supports the feasibility of incorporating a compact communication-skills course into undergraduate dental curricula, but the study measured students’ own assessments of competence rather than independently evaluated performance. The course, called the Advanced Stop-and-Go Method, was delivered in undergraduate periodontology education through three elements: a 90-minute introductory lecture, preparatory material supplied through the Moodle learning platform, and a practical simulated-patient session.

The practical component addressed two clinically authentic scenarios using the Calgary–Cambridge framework and Agenda-Led Outcome-Based Analysis. The researchers identified clinical authenticity, thorough preparation of instructors and simulated patients, and an iterative sequence of practice, feedback, and rehearsal as core features of the format. Communication-related self-efficacy was operationalized as students’ self-assessed communication competence and measured with an 11-item questionnaire.

Participants completed the questionnaire before training, immediately after training, and eight months later. Responses used a four-point Likert scale, and the instrument had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 in the study. The questionnaire was accompanied by one item assessing attitudes toward patient-centered communication, while an additional 11-item questionnaire captured students’ evaluations of the course immediately after training.

Researchers analyzed changes over time with linear mixed-effects models and polynomial contrasts. The linear time trend was statistically significant, with an estimate of 0.17, a 95% confidence interval of 0.12 to 0.23, and p less than 0.001. The quadratic time trend was also significant, with an estimate of −0.23, a 95% confidence interval of −0.29 to −0.17, and p less than 0.001.

Together with the three mean scores, these estimates describe an increase after training followed by some attenuation at follow-up, while the eight-month average remained above the baseline average. Students evaluated the course consistently very positively. Attitudes toward patient-centered communication, however, showed a pronounced ceiling effect that prevented inferential analysis.

This meant the data collected by the single attitude item were insufficiently varied for the planned statistical assessment. The study therefore provides stronger evidence about changes in self-assessed competence and student course feedback than about how attitudes toward patient-centered communication changed over time. The analysis found no significant effect of sex and no significant interaction between sex and time.

These results indicate that the observed longitudinal pattern was not statistically dependent on sex in the analyzed model, although the study population and its size limit the scope of conclusions about differences among groups. The longitudinal pre–post structure also places the principal interpretation on the association between participation in the course and students’ subsequent self-ratings. Self-assessment is the clearest boundary on what the study can establish.

Students reported greater communication competence after the course, but the research did not use external measures to determine whether their observable communication performance changed in parallel. The authors noted that future evaluations should complement self-assessment with external measures. They also did not independently evaluate the contributions of individual course elements, leaving unresolved whether the lecture, online preparation, simulated-patient scenarios, instructor preparation, feedback, or rehearsal accounted for the observed pattern.

Within those limits, the findings suggest that a brief, structured communication course can be integrated into an undergraduate dental curriculum and may produce a durable improvement in how students judge their own communication competence. The eight-month follow-up extends the observation beyond the immediate classroom effect, while the decline from the post-training mean indicates that the gain was not entirely unchanged over time. The study’s design and self-reported outcome support a feasibility conclusion rather than proof of improved communication behavior or patient care, and the authors identified external assessment and evaluation of individual training components as priorities for subsequent research.

Subject of Research: Longitudinal feasibility evaluation of structured communication training for undergraduate dental students

Article Title: Implementing brief structured communication training in undergraduate periodontology education: a prospective longitudinal feasibility evaluation of dental students’ communication-related self-efficacy

Article References: Tur, D., Pürcher, P., Gerger, G., Dervisbegovic, S., Steurer, L., Salzmann, E., Holzinger, A., & Hladschik-Kermer, B. (2026). Implementing brief structured communication training in undergraduate periodontology education: a prospective longitudinal feasibility evaluation of dental students’ communication-related self-efficacy. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10293-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10293-9

Keywords: dental education, communication training, student self-efficacy, simulated patients, periodontology, patient-centered care, longitudinal study, medical education, Implementing, brief, structured, communication