February 2016 ■ Journal of Dental Education 133 Implementation of a Web-Based Patient Simulation Program to Teach Dental Students in Oral Surgery Carina Kruger Weiner, DDS, PhD; Maya Skålén, DDS; Dick Harju-Jeanty, DDS; Robert Heymann, DDS, PhD; Annika Rosén, DDS, PhD; Uno Fors, DDS, PhD; Bodil Lund, DDS, PhD Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate a web-based simulation of patients (Web-SP) program on learning skills in clini- cal reasoning and patient evaluation in the oral surgery education of third-year dental students. A secondary aim was to investi- gate the program’s effect on students’ learning, knowledge, and attitudes towards virtual patient simulations. Authentic virtual oral surgery patient cases were created at a dental school in Sweden using the Web-SP platform. The Web-SP program was intro- duced in a two-hour seminar. A 20-minute pre-seminar test (test A) was administered to assess the students’ knowledge of oral surgery prior to experiencing the Web-SP program. Ten days after the seminar, another test (test B) was administered to evaluate the increase in oral surgery knowledge as a result of using the program, and an emailed survey of the students was conducted. Of 70 students in the course, 67 (95.7%) agreed to participate in the study and took test A; of these, 59 (88%) took test B. Of the 59 students who took both tests, 28 (42%) completed the survey. The results of the two tests showed a statistically signifcant increase in knowledge, which was in accordance with the learning goals (p<0.0001). The survey results showed that the students had a positive attitude towards the teaching method. In this study, Web-SP was found to be a valuable tool for teaching clinical reasoning and patient evaluation in an undergraduate oral surgery education setting by improving learning outcomes in compari- son with traditional teaching alone. Dr. Weiner is Assistant Professor, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden; Dr. Skålén is in the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Dr. Harju-Jeanty is in the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Dr. Heymann is Assistant Professor, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden; Dr. Rosén is Professor, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Dr. Fors is Professor, Department of Computer and Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; and Dr. Lund is Associate Professor, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden. Direct correspondence to Dr. Carina Kruger Weiner, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; +46 8 585 839 50; Carina.kruger.weiner@ki.se. Keywords: dental education, oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral surgery, educational technology, patient simulation, computer- assisted instruction Submitted for publication 1/21/15; accepted 6/23/15 D ental education requires high-level learning by stimulating students to develop indepen- dent problem-solving abilities, good clinical skills, and professional thinking abilities. Clinical teaching is essential in both medical and dental education since a signifcant amount of the student’s professional development occurs when interacting with patients in a health care situation. However, clinical education has to adapt to the realities of de- creasing numbers of suitable patients and economic pressures facing universities, making it increasingly important to investigate the potential of alternative teaching tools. In Sweden, education in oral surgery has traditionally consisted of lectures to an entire class followed by clinical training in which dental students perform minor oral surgery procedures and tooth extractions under the supervision of an experienced oral surgeon. Today, patients increasingly demand that students treating them have prior practical train- ing. In addition, a study in which the oral surgery curriculum was changed from traditional education to interactive learning found that cost-effectiveness and student satisfaction increased. 1 Nevertheless, the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice in the surgery theater remains wide. There is a clear