The formation of ethical principles in students at the department for therapeutic dentistry, Volgograd State Medical University

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The profession of a doctor requires a serious approach to his/her professional duties and attentive, positive attitude to patients. Teaching deontological principles to students is a key element in molding future doctors [1, p. 57-58]. Dental ethics is an integral part of general medical ethics which studies the doctor-patient moral and ethical relationships, the medical team collaboration, etc. Therefore, every teacher must be well-versed, highly moral, have good theoretical and practical training, hold moral and ethical potential to teach students to be responsible toward patients for the quality of the work performed. At the Department of Therapeutic Dentistry, the students study not only theoretical material at practical classes, but also acquire practical skills at dental simulator classes and at clinical sites in real life setting. The second year students who lack sufficient theoretical and manual skills begin to conduct independent patient reception under the teacher’s supervision. At this stage, the contradictions of medical ethics come into view. On the one hand, we must protect the patient’s rights, on the other hand, it is impossible to educate and train a future professional by simulation exercises alone. Therefore, the teacher’s personal example and expertise are important at practical classes where he demonstrates the ways to build the doctor-patient relationship, the interaction with colleagues and nurses. Only at this level, the maximum internalization of medical ethics principles occurs. It is first communication and the ability to properly conduct a doctor-patient dialogue that gives the student a sense of confidence in his medical activities. At this stage, you need to teach the student to understand that a modern patient has a responsible attitude towards his health, and he wants to receive skilled care. Under the conditions of for-profit medicine, the patients who seek dental care want it to be provided by skilled doctors [2, p. 40-42]. Therefore, there are few people who wish to be treated by students. As a rule, these are close relatives who are interested in helping their children gain practical skills. In this environment, a student who receives his first patient is more relaxed and turns his knowledge into practice. However, the problem is the insufficient number of patients requesting an appointment with second-year dental students, which results in the lack of practical skills and experiences to perform patients’ evaluation and diagnosis. To solve this problem it is necessary to conduct role-playing in the classroom where one student acts as a patient and the second one as a doctor. The remaining students can act as experts who evaluate the work together with the teacher. The purpose of role-play is to develop students' professional thinking, practical skills and cooperation [3, p. 201-203]. This increases the students’ motivation to learn as the proposed clinical situation brings him closer to his professional activities [4, p. 25-27]. The number of classes for third-year students is insufficient (four classes per semester). It is difficult to arrange patients’ visits as a result the manual skills acquired in the second year are not reinforced. Therefore, our Department has organized patient reception in the evening student dental clinic under the teachers’ supervision. However, some students are reluctant to attend the evening clinic and fail to acquire manual skills. The use of interactive teaching methods allows improving the education quality, internalizing the principles of medical ethics and deontology [6, p. 28-30]. Medical school teachers need to pay attention to the formation of the future dentist’s personality (appearance, neatness, responsibility, goodwill) from the first years of studies. The students need to know that every professional is obliged to improve and update his knowledge, and perform only the duties that come under his authority. In the fourth and fifth years the students’ manual skills are reinforced in simulation environment and at clinical sites. The student clinical practice in therapeutic dentistry in the city and regional clinics provides the necessary experience in socializing with patients and medical staff [5, p. 34-35]. It is necessary to focus students’ attention on the emerging conflict situations during patients’ visits, to teach them the proper doctor-patient and doctor-nurse interaction. Dental care is ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ НАУЧНО-ПРАКТИЧЕСКИЙ ЖУРНАЛ 2 (24) 2019 sought by different patients of various age categories, nationality, religion, material well-being, with some of them having somatic disorders. Therefore, you need to be able to build relationships with regard to patients’ personal characteristics. Knowledge of bioethics principles will help in the future dentist’s practice. The future doctor should be able to analyze his activities, correctly evaluate and be responsible for the quality of the work performed, and have self-criticism. Using modern diagnostic methods the dentist should regard them as additional ones. The main methods are the survey and direct doctor-patient communication. Medical errors are more common in cases where no doctor-patient contact is established. The patients’ awareness of their health implies the dentist’s enhanced competence in building the doctor-patient relationship based on the dentist’s personal characteristics, his tact and intuition. Thus, the formation of a highly educated, harmonious doctor personality depends on the level of his professional training, qualifications and the use of deontological principles in his work.

About the authors

N. V. Piterskaya

Volgograd State Medical University

Email: piterskij.k@yandex.ru
Candidate of Medical Science, аssistant of the Department of Therapeutic Stomatology

I. V. Starikova

Volgograd State Medical University

Email: radyshevskaya@mail.ru
Candidate of Medical Science, аssistant of the Department of Therapeutic Stomatology

T. N. Radyshevskaya

Volgograd State Medical University

Email: radyshevskaya@mail.ru
Candidate of Medical Science, аssistant of the Department of Therapeutic Stomatology

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