Although effective visual social marketing in Dentistry is dependent upon elegant design, development of design literacy is ignored in most dental curricula. An interprofessional learning project in Dentistry and Architecture was developed to facilitate learning the skills for successful practice marketing and oral health promotion in published media.
OBJECTIVES: To develop design skills for promotion of the profession and oral health in visual media, to develop consultancy skills for graduate practice and to facilitate online social interactivity for effective learning.
METHOD: Architecture students consulted their Dentistry peers to create resume-portfolios displaying individual character strengths and clinical, health promotion and communication skills. Following face-to-face introduction, the students completed the online Signature Strengths Questionnaire prior to opening dialogue about vision for practice, qualifications, experience and design concept. Two types of portfolio were developed and assessed: the professional resume-portfolio (Dentistry) and a reflective consultancy portfolio (Architecture). Students took part in focus groups and completed the University's Unit of Study Evaluation Questionnaire to provide project feedback.
RESULTS: The quality of the portfolios has significantly improved compared with earlier cohorts. They have been used effectively in employment interviews. Peer feedback was constructive. A one-way ANOVA of evaluation questions found no difference between student cohorts in overall response to the learning experience apart from appreciation of Architecture's better design resources. Qualitative evaluation indicated that further development was required in online support of student interaction, clarification of consultancy and design roles and better access to resources to reduce workload.
CONCLUSION: The project was effective in facilitating skills necessary for community engagement. Development of a Web 2.0 platform to support virtual social interactivity was the key recommendation. The interprofessional project successfully enabled Architecture students to undertake an authentic client consultancy and Dentistry students to develop competency in graphic media for practice and health promotion.