Impact of a narrative dentistry program among health students : the voxelated curriculum
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background and objective: Narrative medicine, originally developed to enhance patient care through storytelling and reflective practices, has recently been adapted to medical education. Its application in dental education remains underexplored. This study evaluates the impact of a narrative dentistry program, integrated into the dental curriculum through a voxelization design, on students’ empathy and perceptions. Methods: A mixed-methods, single-center observational study was conducted over 26 months at the Faculty of Dental Surgery in Toulouse, France. Forty-two fourth-year dental students participated in a series of narrative-based interventions embedded within existing coursework. Empathy was assessed using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) at the beginning of the 4th year and mid-6th year. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 students to explore their experiences and perceptions. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test; qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results: Quantitative analysis revealed a stability in TEQ scores between 4th and 6th years of study (p = 0.90). Thematic analysis identified four major themes: (1) variability in student receptiveness to narrative methods, (2) enhanced emotional engagement and realism in learning, (3) reflective writing as a tool for self-assessment and emotional processing, and (4) improved pedagogical effectiveness through voxelization—integrating narrative elements across the curriculum. Conclusion: The voxelized narrative dentistry program positively influenced students’ empathy and fostered deeper engagement with clinical practice. While not universally embraced, the narrative approach enriched the educational experience by promoting reflection, emotional awareness, and patient-centered care. This study lays the groundwork for broader implementation and further research into narrative pedagogy in medical education. Antecedentes y objetivo: La medicina narrativa, desarrollada originalmente para mejorar la atención al paciente mediante la narración de historias y prácticas reflexivas, se ha adaptado recientemente a la educación médica. Su aplicación en la educación odontológica sigue siendo poco explorada. Este estudio evalúa el impacto de un programa de odontología narrativa, integrado en el currículo odontológico mediante un diseño de voxelización, en la empatía y las percepciones de los estudiantes. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio observacional de métodos mixtos, de un solo centro, durante 26 meses en la Facultad de Cirugía Dental de Toulouse, Francia. Cuarenta y dos estudiantes de odontología de cuarto año participaron en una serie de intervenciones basadas en narrativas integradas en el trabajo del curso existente. La empatía se evaluó utilizando el Cuestionario de Empatía de Toronto (TEQ) al comienzo del cuarto año y a mediados del sexto año. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas con 11 estudiantes para explorar sus experiencias y percepciones. Los datos cuantitativos se analizaron utilizando la prueba de rangos con signo de Wilcoxon; los datos cualitativos se sometieron a análisis temático. Resultados: El análisis cuantitativo reveló estabilidad en las puntuaciones del TEQ entre el 4.º y el 6.º año de estudio (p = 0,90). El análisis temático identificó cuatro temas principales: (1) variabilidad en la receptividad de los estudiantes a los métodos narrativos, (2) mayor implicación emocional y realismo en el aprendizaje, (3) escritura reflexiva como herramienta de autoevaluación y procesamiento emocional, y (4) mayor eficacia pedagógica mediante la voxelización (integrando elementos narrativos en todo el currículo). Conclusión: El programa de odontología narrativa voxelizada influyó positivamente en la empatía de los estudiantes y fomentó una mayor implicación con la práctica clínica. Si bien no fue adoptado universalmente, el enfoque narrativo enriqueció la experiencia educativa al promover la reflexión, la conciencia emocional y la atención centrada en el paciente. Este estudio sienta las bases para una implementación más amplia y una mayor investigación sobre la pedagogía narrativa en la educación médica.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.002 | 0.004 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".