Compassionate Patient Care Education With a Virtual Poverty Simulation Exercise: Pre‐Clinical Dental Students' Perceptions

INTRODUCTION: Oral health inequities have been persistently observed among individuals living in poverty. To most effectively deliver equity-centred care, dental students must be aware of the impact that poverty can have on their patients. The objective of this study was to describe and deliver a virtual poverty simulation exercise to second-year dental students prior to clinical experiences, and assess their perceptions of the exercise. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred and thirty-six second-year dental students at a U.S. School of Dentistry participated in a facilitator-led, virtual poverty simulation exercise utilising SPENT, a free online poverty simulation application and a facilitated post-exercise discussion to connect concepts learned during the simulation to financial barriers encountered in the dental setting and equity-based solutions that dentists can provide. Following the simulation exercise, students were invited to complete a voluntary 10-item survey on their perceptions of the exercise. RESULTS: One hundred twenty students completed the survey (response rate 88%). For all survey questions but one, a higher proportion of students reported positive perceptions of the simulation compared to those reporting negative perceptions. An open-ended question identified that students had improved empathy and a better understanding of the impact of income on healthcare choices after the exercise. DISCUSSION: Overall, a higher proportion of students reported positive perceptions of the simulation compared to those reporting negative perceptions. Across all post-simulation survey questions, students' most frequent individual response was the 'neutral' Likert-Scale response, indicating that many students were not fully confident in their understanding of poverty-related concepts following the simulation exercise. CONCLUSIONS: A virtual poverty simulation is an innovative method for introducing poverty concepts to pre-clinical dental students. However, ongoing training throughout the dental curriculum is essential to increase students' confidence in delivering equity-centred care to patients experiencing poverty.