Interactive multimedia patient simulations in dental and continuing dental education Louis M. Abbey, DMD Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, Post Office Box 980566, Richmond, VA 23298-0566, USA Any dentist knows that a dental student’s fondest hope is to learn what he or she needs to know to practice dentistry. A few have the insight that this wish is unrealistic if ‘‘what I need to know’’ equals ‘‘everything I need to know I must learn in school.’’ A more realistic wish for a competent novice graduate might be to learn a core of basic knowledge in various dental-related domains sufficient to allow transfer of what is learned to new situations. Practicing dentistry is only initiated in dental school. Practice pre- sents an infinite number and variety of problems to solve. Similar problems are different in many ways, and there are striking similarities in different problems. It is a major goal of dental schools to prepare students for a flexible adaptation to new problems and settings. This transfer application of knowledge from one setting to another is a hallmark of success in learn- ing and is essential for success in professions such as dentistry. Educators always have had tools available to aid the process of turning information into knowledge. No one would dispute that books, paper, pencils, libraries, teachers, and a plethora of other items are the tools of knowledge making. Lectures, independent study, large groups, small groups, experiential learning, and other teaching strategies keep adding to the grow- ing pile of choices. The computer is one of the more versatile educational technologies. It is so versatile and impressive that it tempts us to reach out to grasp it in a desperate attempt to find a solution to the chaos of strategies. This impulse is misdirected. We must look more critically at what we want to accomplish strategically in each educational venue and choose the best Dr. Abbey is the leader of the team that developed CASE STUDIES for Dentistry. This software is currently being marketed by newMentor, 360 Post Street, Suite 402, San Francisco, CA 94108, USA. E-mail address: labbey@vcu.edu (L.M. Abbey). 0011-8532/02/$ - see front matter Ó 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved. PII:S0011-8532(02)00007-1 Dent Clin N Am 46 (2002) 575–587