10 Mindfulness in Allied Dental Education

Description

Mindfulness in Allied Dental Education Workshop (2.5 ceu’s) Wednesday, July 23, 2025  3:15 – 5:15 PM

Course Presenter: Deborah Holexa, RDH, MS 

The Dental Hygiene Accreditation Standard 1.2 invites dental hygiene programs to “commit to a humanistic culture” and to “ensure collaboration, mutual respect, cooperation, and harmonious relationships between and among administrators, faculty, students, staff, and alumni.”

The success of all health care providers hinges on patient satisfaction. Research in dentistry shows that patient satisfaction is not based on quality of technical care, but rather, on the quality of the clinician-patient relationship and the level of comfort during care. There is much anxiety around dental visits; how does one stay connected with a patient during a procedure that induces pain or arouses anxiety? Patient-centered care requires more than just saying and doing the right thing- it requires presence – mindful presence, characterized by qualities such as calm, attentiveness, and empathy.  In our world of tech distractions attentiveness has been noted by educators to be diminishing, as students increasingly tend to multitask with electronic devices (Lovas, Lovas, & Lovas, 2008). Equanimity, our ability to maintain sense of balance and calm under pressure, is being challenged by unprecedented levels of stress for all health care providers, especially because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The importance of the qualities of mindful presence underscores the need to incorporate mindfulness practice into any comprehensive model for patient-centered care.

The challenge becomes how do we as educators accomplish all this within an already packed curriculum. This workshop will provide mindfulness basics tailored to be integrated into the current dental hygiene curriculum by using experiential exercises, guided mindfulness practice and interactive discussions.  Elsevier’s  newly published “The Mindful Health Care Professional” by Dr. Carmelina D’Arro will be used as reference and available for review.

KEY WORDS – Mindfulness, Empathy, Communication, Anxiety, Patient-centered care

(This class limited to 30 participants)

All attendees must provide their personal email address when they register so we can confirm and send camp information to them. School emails block our list serv. So PLEASE send attendee’s personal email.

Our Policy:

Requests for cancellations must be received at least 2 weeks prior to the camp date (July 7, 2025).  However, for cancellations received after this deadline, if the cancellation is made prior to the class start date and time, 75% of the tuition may be applied toward future camps. Tuitions for no-shows will be forfeited NO EXCEPTIONS.

DH Methods of Education, Inc. is not responsible for reimbursement of non-refundable airline tickets and any other travel expenses due to missed flights (delays, cancellations weather related or otherwise) or if the course is cancelled.