Innovation and entrepreneurship in dental curriculum: from practice to creativity in the face of pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 virus spread has resulted in the most dramatic changes for all of us. The purpose of this article is to develop a curriculum and share teaching experience in innovation and entrepreneurship for dental students during the pandemic, in order to help train future dentists. This article made extensive use of the adaptive design thinking model, which included brainstorming, classroom presentation, reflection, and revision. Sixth year dental students from the academic years 2020 and 2021 attended, with 26 and 29 students, respectively. Students of both classes were divided into five groups. Each group was tasked with creating an innovative research proposal related to clinical dental issues encountered during the pandemic. After a 6 h team-based discussion that included a 2-time presentation, all dental students were able to develop an innovation research proposal and present it in front of the class. This study reveals the process of developing dental curricula and sharing teaching experiences in innovation and entrepreneurship with dental students during a pandemic. Future research should compare traditional study, online teaching, and blended learning in innovation-related topics among dental students. The application of this novel method to multidisciplinary student teams as well as clinical subjects is also a challenge.